Certified Management Accountant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.
You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (April 2007)

This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (November 2007)

The title Certified Management Accountant is a professional designation awarded by various professional bodies around the world. The CMA designation is a post-nominal award issued to individuals who have achieved a peer-based criteria of professional competency in the field of Management Accounting. Management accounting qualifications differ from those such as the ACA or CPA "Chartered" or "Public" accounting qualifications in a number of ways. Management accountants are primarily focused on internal cost measures and accounting for management review, whereas ACA/CPA specialists are focused on reporting financial results to external bodies such as tax departments, capital markets, investors and others.

The CMA qualification is offered in Australia, Canada, the United States, and many other developed countries. CMAs are granted a certificate from a professional body like the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), provided that they pass a rigorous examination, and meet the necessary educational and practical experience requirements. Due to their non-statutory status in the United States, CMAs in that country generally provide their services directly to their employers rather than to the public. American CMAs may also provide services to the public, but do so to a much lesser extent than a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

In the United States, the CMA credentials differ significantly from the CPA designation. More than 80% of accounting professionals in the U.S. work within organizations, building quality financial practices into the organization through decision support, planning, and control over the organization’s value-creating operations. For these managerial finance and accounting professionals, the CMA may be more appropriate as a best selection. Many professional accountants hold both CPA and CMA designations.

The profession of accounting in Canada also includes a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation. Canadian CMAs belong to the Society of Management Accountants of Canada. A similar title, Chartered Management Accountant, exists in the United Kingdom and is awarded to members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Other professional organizations which specialize in management accounting include the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India , Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan.

In order to earn the CMA designation in Canada, Australia, or the United States, an accountant must have mastered a comprehensive body of knowledge by demonstrating six key skill levels -- knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -- in the following areas:

Business Analysis (economics, internal controls, quantitative methods, financial statement analysis)
Management Accounting and Reporting (budget preparation, cost management, performance measurement, external financial reporting)
Strategic Management (strategic planning, corporate finance, decision analysis, investment decision analysis)
Business Applications (all of the above, plus organization management, behavioral issues, ethical considerations)