Certified Management Accountant (CMA)

Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is a professional certification credential in the management accounting and financial management fields. The certification signifies that the person possesses knowledge in the areas of financial planning, analysis, control, decision support, and professional ethics. There are many professional bodies globally that have management accounting professional qualifications. The main bodies that offer the CMA certification are: Institute of Management Accountants USA; Institute of Certified Management Accountants (Australia); and Certified Management Accountants of Canada. Since the Canadian body merged with the CPA Canada in September 2015, there are only 2 global bodies that offer the CMA certification, IMA (USA) and ICMA (Australia). However, the certification pathways for the two bodies – in terms of entry requirements, study syllabi and experience requirements are very different and will be explored next. The U.S. based Institute of Management Accountants USA is one of the two global bodies that offers the CMA Certification. Only authorized partners of IMA can provide coaching to students for CMA USA.[2] CMA (USA)-certified professionals work inside organizations of all sizes, industries, and types, including manufacturing and services, public and private enterprises, not-for-profit organizations, academic institutions, Government entities (USA), and multinational corporations worldwide. To date, there are more than 40,000 active CMAs with more than 80,000 candidates in the current pipeline.[3] To obtain certification, candidates must pass a rigorous exam, meet an educational requirement, experience requirement, and demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning through continuing professional education (CPE).