CMA
The CMA is the IMA's global credential for management accountants and corporate finance professionals — the qualification that moves you from bookkeeping into FP&A, controllership, and strategy roles. It is two separate four-hour parts, each blending 100 multiple-choice questions with written case work, and each scored 0–500 with a hard 360 cut. With only three testing windows a year and a three-year clock to clear both parts, a single failed attempt can stall a promotion by months. This page breaks down exactly what each part tests, how it's delivered, and how to pass it the first time.
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How the two CMA parts are built — at a glance
100
Each part opens with 100 MCQs in 3 hours, worth 75% of the score. You must answer enough correctly to "unlock" the written section — typically at least 50%.
2
Two essay or case-based questions in 1 hour, worth 25%. You write calculations and analysis against a business scenario; partial credit is awarded by human graders.
360
Raw scores convert to a 0–500 scale; 360 passes. Because it is scaled, 360 is not simply 72% correct — the MCQ and written sections are weighted and equated.
Part 1 (Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics) and Part 2 (Financial Decision Making) are scheduled and paid for separately. You can take them in either order, in the same window or across different windows, and you have three years from entering the program to pass both.
The IMA is replacing traditional essays with case-based questions (CBQs). The Jan/Feb 2026 window keeps essays; May/Jun 2026 lets you choose essays or CBQs; from Sep/Oct 2026 most English-language exams use CBQs only. A CBQ presents a ~250-word business case with interactive prompts (select-from-list, drag-and-drop, calculation) — but it is still graded for that same 25% of the part.
Eleven domains across two parts — bars show each domain's weight on its part (per the IMA Content Specification Outlines)
Financial statements, recognition and measurement of assets and liabilities, and the impact of US GAAP vs IFRS differences on reported results.
Strategic planning, budgeting concepts and methodologies, forecasting techniques, and the annual profit plan and supporting schedules.
Cost and variance analysis, responsibility centers, the balanced scorecard, and measuring performance against plan.
Cost concepts and behavior, costing systems, overhead allocation, supply chain management, and business process improvement.
Governance, risk and compliance, internal control frameworks, systems controls, and security measures.
Information systems, data governance, data analytics tools and visualization — a fast-growing area the IMA keeps expanding.
Ratio analysis, profitability and liquidity measures, and the effects of accounting choices on the reported numbers.
Risk and return, cost of capital, raising capital, working-capital management, and corporate restructuring.
Cost-volume-profit analysis, marginal analysis, pricing, and the largest single domain on the exam — worth extra prep.
Enterprise risk identification, assessment, and mitigation strategies across financial and operational exposures.
Capital budgeting, net present value and internal rate of return, and discounted-cash-flow analysis for project selection.
Ethical considerations for the individual and the organization, applying the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice.
Weights reflect the IMA Content Specification Outlines effective September 2024. Because every part mixes wide-ranging MCQs with deep written analysis, candidates who can compute fast but cannot explain their reasoning in writing tend to stall on the 25% written block — exactly the failure mode our help is built to prevent.
Both parts run on Prometric — two ways to sit, one strict ruleset
You sit the exam in a monitored testing room at a Prometric center. Staff verify your government-issued photo ID, store your belongings in a locker, and supply scratch materials. You schedule within one of the three annual windows after registering through your IMA account.
You take the same exam from a private room at home, monitored live through Prometric's ProProctor platform. Beforehand you run a system check, complete an ID verification, and do a 360° webcam scan of your workspace. A live proctor watches the full four hours.
A valid, unexpired government photo ID whose name matches your IMA profile exactly. The proctor captures your photo before the exam unlocks.
A clear desk, no second monitor, no phone within reach. Only an IMA-approved calculator is allowed; many candidates use the on-screen calculator the platform provides.
Stay in frame and on-camera for the full four hours. Optional breaks do not add time, and leaving the seat or losing connection can flag the session.
The CMA is built for in-house finance and accounting professionals
Credentials and experience are required to certify — not just to test
Difficulty: The CMA is demanding — global pass rates for each part hover around 45%, and the timed written section trips up even strong calculators. Most candidates invest roughly 150–170 hours of study per part. The breadth of Part 1 and the heavy Decision Analysis weight in Part 2 are exactly the pressure points our help is designed to remove.
The CMA is two high-stakes, four-hour parts sitting between you and a finance promotion — with only three testing windows a year and a three-year clock. Exam Assist pairs you with a vetted CMA specialist and works on a pay-after-you-pass model, so the risk sits with us, not you. No upfront fee, guaranteed results: Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end, and you settle only after the verified result.
Tell us which part you're sitting, your testing window, delivery method (center or ProProctor online), and your timeline. Takes a couple of minutes over WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
We review your window, your part, and the 360 cut, and tell you plainly whether it's realistic — before any money is discussed. If it isn't a fit, we say so.
Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end. You're matched with a CMA specialist who maps the work around the MCQ block, the 25% written section (essays or CBQs), and the Prometric environment — discreetly and confidentially.
You only pay once your passing result is confirmed on your official IMA score report. No verified result, nothing owed.
Tell us your part and window, get an honest feasibility answer, and see how the pay-after-you-pass model works.
Straight answers about the IMA CMA exam
Book your help and compare sibling finance credentials
Pair with a vetted CMA specialist on a results-first arrangement. No upfront fee — settle only after a verified passing result.
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