CMA Course Stands for Cost and Management Accountant and it is a professional certification course. Cost and Management Accountant certification is a globally recognized certification course.
Most of the students get confused about opting for CMA USA and CMA in India. Therefore, we will discuss CMA in India in this article.
ICWAI (Institute of Cost and Works Accountant of India) was renamed as CMA course. Both ICMAI & CMA are two different words but they are used to describe one single thing except lateral meaning there is no other difference between ICWAI and CMA.
CMA course brief Introduction
CMA is a professional certification in management accountant and financial management.
In India, CMA (Cost & Management Accountant) certification course is issued by ICAI (Institute of Cost Accountants of India). ICAI is the conducting authority that conducts the CMA exam.
CMA program mainly focused on valuation issues, financial system analysis, working capital policies, External Financial reporting, etc.
Cost and Management Accountants is a globally organized certification program.
In India, the credentials of the CMA certification course are issued by ICAI (Institute of Cost Accountants of India). ICAI is a conducting authority.
CMA course levels:-
There are three levels:
- CMA Foundation Level
- CMA Intermediate Level
- CMA Final level
Every level has different eligibility criteria that you must need to know. Eligibility criteria will be discussed later in this article.
CMA course duration
The duration of this certification program is not certain. It is not fixed like Btech, BSc, Bcom, etc.
The duration of the CMA program basically depends on the student’s level of focus and determination. So it’s up to the student’s capacity that how much time they take to complete this.
However in India, normally students take 3-4 years to complete the course.
But in the USA, students complete the CMA course in just 6 months. On average they take 1 to 1.5 years to complete this course.
Eligibility Criteria
If the student wants to pursue the CMA program they must be well aware of eligibility criteria.
Let see the eligibility criteria for different level of CMA exam.
Eligibility Criteria of Level 1:
Students must pass class 12th from any stream in order to appear in the CMA foundation exam. Class 10th pass student can also fill the registration form but they can only appear in the exam right after class 12th.
Eligibility Criteria for Level 2:
There are various ways to enter in CMA intermediate. On qualify CMA foundation, Students are eligible to appear in CMA intermediate exam. Apart from that, if the student has cleared CA foundation or CA intermediate then they are also able to give CMA intermediate. Also, the graduate student with any field except fine arts, are competent to CMA intermediate.
Eligibility Criteria for Level 3:
Students must qualify CMA intermediate and training of 6 months in order to eligible for the CMA final.
So the Student of any age group can apply for CMA program.
CMA course syllabus/subjects
As you know there are three Levels. The CMA certification course comprises three levels and 20 Subjects. Every level has a different syllabus.
| Lavel 1 | CMA Foundation | 4 Papers |
| Lavel 2 | CMA Intermediate | Group 1: 4 Papers Group 2: 4 Papers |
| Lavel 3 | CMA Final | Group 1: 4 Papers Group 2: 4 Papers |
So the syllabus is distributed for each paper here
CMA Foundation:
- Paper 1: Foundation of Economics & Management
- Paper 2: Foundation of Accounting
- Paper 3: Foundation of laws & ethics
- Paper 4: Foundation of Business Mathematics & Statistic
CMA Intermediate:
- Paper 5: Financial Accounting
- Paper 6: Laws, Ethics and Governance
- Paper 7: Direct Taxation
- Paper 8: Cost Accounting and Financial Management
- Paper 9: Operation Management Information system
- Paper 10: Cost and Management Accounting
- Paper 11: Indirect Taxation
- Paper 12: Company Account and Audit
CMA Final
- Paper 13: Corporate Laws and Compliance
- Paper 14: Advanced Financial Management
- Paper 15: Business Strategies and Strategic Cost Management
- Paper 16: Tax Management and Practice
- Paper 17: Strategic Performance Management
- Paper 18: Corporate Finacial Reporting
- Paper 19: Cost and Management Audit
- Paper 20: Financial Analysis and Valuation
CMA Course Registration, Fee, and Exam Date
When to apply for CMA Course?
Registration for the ICWA course is active throughout the year. The candidate suggested filling the application form before 4 months of the examination. ICAI institutes conduct CMA/ICAW Exam twice every year in the month of June and December.
Candidates who are interested in the CMA exam in the month of June can fill the registration form before 31st January. And those who are interested in the month of December can fill the form before 31s July.
In this year 2020, all the dates get disturbed due to Covid-19.
Where to Apply for CMA Course?
Students can apply for both offline and online. Go to the official website icwar.in. You can take admission here by visiting the given site. In order to register for the CMA program, you will have to submit the application form with the relevant documents and
Every Indian State is divided into 4 regions. Regional Councils and area covered by the region are given below:
- Western India Regional Council: The state of Chattisgarh Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa. The Union Territories: Daman Diu, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli.
- Southern India Regional Council: The state of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry. The Union Territory: The Lakshadweep.
- Eastern Indian Regional Council: The state of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim. The Union Territories: The Andaman & Nicobar Island & Foreign Countries.
- Northern India Regional Council: The states of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Uttranchal. The Union Territory: Chandigarh.
Registration Fee
The level wise registration fee of CMA course is given below:
Cost of Prospectus- ₹250
- CMA Foundation – ₹4000
- CMA Intermediate – ₹20000
- CMA final – ₹17000
For CMA intermediate, Students can pay the regional fees on installments. They can pay in two installments, one is of ₹12000 and another of ₹8000.
Important Documents
As you already read the CMA course/exam has a total of 20 papers. Each paper is of 100 marks and the duration is 3 hours. In the CMA exam, both the objective and subjective/descriptions questions asked by the respective level of examination.
- Contact Details – Proper Address, Mobile Number, and Email ID.
- Attachment Details –
- Coloured scanned copy of passport size in JPEG and JPG format.
- Age Proof Certificate in (pdf format) size not exceeding 300kb.
- Scan copy of signature (JPG or JPEG format)
- Education qualification certificates in (PDF format) not exceeding 300kb.
CMA Exam Pattern
There are no negative marks in any paper which is a plus point for the aspirant. Students have the option of giving an exam in Hindi or English language mode. The weightage os objective is 60% and subjective is 40%.
Career and Scope: CMA course
Most of the students confused about choosing between CMA USA or CMA India. So, guys, it is very simple to give preference in any one of them. Because in India the salary package is the same for both the course. But duration wise, CMA USA is better than CMA India as it takes an average duration of 1.5 years.
Some students complete CMA USA just in 6 months. So, in very less time, they get employed. Also, CMA India has three-levels whereas CMA US has two-part only.
There is a lot of job opportunity in the domestic and global market field. CMA course helps you to enhance your financial, accounting, planning, budgeting, management, possibility analysis, strategic management & Investment decision skill will develop your career potential. This will help you to stand out from the rest.
Job Roles: CMA Course
There are some job roles that you can expect after completing CMA courses are:
- CFO Chief Financial Officer
- Financial Analyst
- Corporate Controller
- Financial Controller
- Cost Accountant
- Chief Investment Officer
- Finance Manager
- Cost Manager
- Relationship Manager
- Chief Financial Risk Manager
Apart from those job profile, CMA candidate hired specially for:
- ST Audit
- Internal Audit
- Cost Audit
- Stock Audit
There are many MNC’s and big organizations that offer employment like PSUs, electricity, public/private limited companies, infrastructure companies, banking, insurance. The most preferable industry is the auditing and accounting industry.
The salary of CMA is exactly like the salary of CA & CS. However, the basic salary of fresher maybe 6-8 Lakhs but it just the minimum salary. If you are more skilled in this field and have better knowledge then you can also get a package of 15 to 20 lakh per year.
After getting more experience of around 10 years of experience, you will earn a much better salary than a fresher.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ans. The minimum eligibility criteria of the CMA course is to pass senior secondary school. A graduate student can also apply for CMA intermediate but graduation in fine arts are not eligible to pursue this course. The CS Foundation and CA intermediate qualified students are also eligible for this program.
Ans. Yes, you can register for CMA Foundation before completing class 12th standard. But, you can only appear for the exam after passing the 12th.
Ans. Yes, it is compulsory to undergo article-ship training. It is mandatory to complete a minimum of 6 months of practical training before the CMA final exam.
Ans. Both have the same scope it means if you want to do the job in India itself then both have the same opportunity for Indian candidates. Let see the difference that helps you to choose one of them for your bright future.
1. Institute of Management Accountants is the regular body of CMA USA and the Institute of Cost Management Accountants of India is the regulatory body of CMA India.
2. CMA US takes one year to complete the course whereas CMA India takes a minimum of 3years to complete the entire CMA program.
3. CMA US has two parts whereas CMA India comprises three-level.
4. Both 12th pass and graduation students are eligible for CMA US & India.
5. Pass criteria of CMA minimum of 360/500 and CMA India should obtain 40% for individual paper and 50% aggregate in each paper.
6. CMA US is globally recognized and CMA India is an Indian course only.
7. There are no articles in CMA US but there are 6 months of articles in CMA India.
Ans. CMA India stands for Cost and Manage Accountant. The credential of CMA is issued by the ICAI Institute of Cost Accountant of India. CMA India comprises of there level.
Level 1: CMA Foundation
Level 2: CMA Intermediate
Level 3: CMA Final
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Very internal knowledge I got