CMA Examination Candidates for CMA certification must complete all required examination parts.
| Part 1 | Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics | 4 Hours | 100 MCQs & 2 Essays |
| Part 2 | Strategic Financial Management | 4 Hours | 100 MCQs & 2 Essays |
Each MCQ carries 4 Marks, and each essay question carries 50 Marks. The Maximum mark for US CMA for each part is 500. You will have three hours to complete the multiple-choice section and one hour to complete the essays. The essays will be presented after you have completed the multiple-choice section of the exam or after three hours, whichever comes first. You must answer at least 50% of the multiple-choice questions correctly to be eligible to take the essay section. Once you complete and exit the multiple-choice section of the exam, you cannot go back. The essay section consists of approximately 10-12 written response or calculation questions based on two scenarios, describing a typical business situation.
Passing Score for the CMA Exam
| Maximum marks for each part | 500 Marks |
| The pass mark for each part | 360 Marks |
The Certified Management Accountant exam is based on a series of Learning outcome statements developed by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA). Candidates should use the LOS to ensure they can address the concepts in different ways or through a variety of question scenarios. The content tested on the CMA exams is at an advanced level – which means that the passing standard is set for mastery, not minimum competence. Completing the CMA exams requires a high level of commitment and dedication of up to 170 hours of study for each part of the CMA exam. Your success in completing these exams will rest heavily on your ability to create a solid study plan and execute that plan.
Calculator Policy
Small battery- or solar-powered electronic calculators restricted to a maximum of six functions— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square root, and percentage—are allowed
Declaration of Results
Exam results will be emailed and posted to your online profile approximately six weeks from the end of the month in which you tested
Changes in GAAP/ IFRS Policy
Changes in GAAP and/or IFRS are reflected on the CMA exam one year after the effective date.
Mode of Examination
The CMA examination is given in a computer-based format.
The CMA exam is administered by Prometric Testing Centres. There are currently 10 test centers in India:
- Ahmedabad
- Allahabad
- Bangalore
- Chennai
- Gurgaon
- Hyderabad
- Kolkata
- Mumbai
- Trivandrum
Exam time frame, registering for exam
Parts 1 and 2 are offered during the following three testing windows:
a) January/February
b) May/June
c) September/October
Registrations for Parts 1 and 2 will close after the 15th of February, June, and October.
Candidates can take the exam on any weekday within the testing windows, which cover six of the 12 months each year.
CMA Exam Passing Rates
| Exam Part | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Part – 1 | 36% | 35% | 35% | 40% | 35% | 36% |
| Part – 2 | 55% | 52% | 50% | 50% | 50% | 50% |
Specific passing statistics for India are unavailable, but based on the data we have, Asian candidates have a better than average pass rate.
However, the Americas and Europe put up the highest passing rates.
