Abhishek DhawanAssistant Manager – Editorial Content
CMA 2024 Exam Pattern: The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) has released the CMA exam pattern for Foundation, Intermediate and Final course. The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) releases the exam pattern of CMA 2024 for December and June sessions on the official website, icmai.in. ICMAI will be conducting the exam as offline centre-based test for all three courses. Last year, CMA exam for Foundation course was conducted as remote proctored exam, while exam for the Intermediate and Final courses was conducted as online test from centre. Each exam paper has a total of 100 questions to be answered within 120 minutes for the Foundation course and within 180 minutes for Intermediate and Final courses.
Scroll down for complete information on CMA 2024 exam pattern for Foundation, Intermediate and Final courses.
Q: What are the maximum marks in CMA exam?
Maximum marks in the CMA exam is similar irrespective of the course level. Papers under all three course levels have a maximum of 100 marks. Candidates answering all the questions correctly will get 100 marks. In the CMA Foundation eaxam, each exam paper has 50 multiple choice questions. Each question fetches two marks. Whereas, the CMA Intermediate and CMA Final have different marking scheme with descriptive and objective type questions. Marks for each question of Intermediate or Final exam paper ranges from seven marks to 15 marks.
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Q: What is the passing score for the CMA exam?
The passing score for all three levels of the CMA course levels are as follows:
- CMA Foundation Passing Score: Candidates securing a minimum of 40 per cent in all test papers and a 50 per cent aggregate score passes in the CMA Foundation exam.
- CMA Intermediate Passing Score: Candidates securing 40 per cent minimum score in each test paper of CMA Intermediate and 50 per cent in non-exempted papers of a particular group are considered pass.
- CMA Final Passing Score: Candidates securing 40 per cent minimum score in each test paper of CMA Final and 50 per cent in non-exempted papers of a particular group are considered pass.
Upvote Q: How many papers are there in CMA exam?
CMA exam has three course levels, namely CMA Foundation, CMA Intermediate and CMA Final. CMA Foundation course has four test papers. Candidates need to appear for all four test papers. The Intermediate course of CMA exam have two groups. Candidates appearing for CMA Intermediate exam will have option to appear for both the groups in one exam session. Candidates planning to attempt both groups of CMA Intermediate course have to appear for eight test papers. Passing test papers in both the groups of Intermediate course is mandatory. Candidates can appear for one group in one session or both the groups in one session.
Identical to CMA Intermediate, CMA Final course also has two groups with four test papers each. Candidates can choose to appear for the test papers under both the course groups in one session. Passing all the test papers will be mandatory to get the CMA destination.
Upvote Q: Can I appear for CMA exam twice in one year?
The Institute of Cost Accountants of India conducts CMA exam twice in one year. CMA students can appear for both the sessions. However, for every exam take, candidates need to fill and submit the exam form. The exam form releases along with the exam dates of a particular session. The exam fees is released along with the exam dates and form. Candidates need to pay the exam fees based on the course level and the exam centre (inland or overseas). Along with the release of the dates, candidates can find the available exam centres for the CMA test session.
Upvote CMA 2024 Exam Pattern
ICAI conducts CMA exam for three courses separately. All three CMA courses have a different exam pattern. Candidates can find the CMA exam pattern for December 2024 for the following courses here:
- CMA Foundation
- CMA Intermediate
- CMA Final
CMA Exam Pattern 2024 for Foundation Course
The space below mentions the CMA 2024 exam pattern for foundation courses:
| Exam Features | CMA Exam Details |
|---|---|
| Mode of CMA Foundation exam | Offline Centre-Based Test |
| Type of questions in CMA Foundation exam | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) |
| Total marks in each subject paper | 100 |
| Duration of CMA Foundation exam | 120 minutes |
| Number of subject papers | 4 |
There are four papers based on accounts in the CMA foundation course. The subjects below are as per the CMA 2024 syllabus:
- PAPER 1: Fundamentals Of Business Laws and Business Communication (FBLC)
- PAPER 2: Fundamentals Of Financial and Cost Accounting (FFCA)
- PAPER 3: Fundamentals Of Business Mathematics and Statistics (FBMS)
- PAPER 4: Fundamentals Of Business Economics and Management (FBEM)
CMA Sectional Weightage for Foundation Course
Each paper of CMA courses will have weightage from the syllabus as under:
Foundation Course Paper 1: Fundamentals of Economics and Management
| Sections |
Topics |
Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Section A - Fundamentals of Economics |
Basic concepts of Economics |
20 marks |
| Forms of Market |
20 marks |
|
| Money and Banking |
10 marks |
|
| Section B – Fundamentals of Management |
Management Process |
50 marks |
| Total |
- |
100 marks |
Foundation Course Paper 2: Fundamentals of Accounting
| Sections |
Topics |
Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Section A: Fundamentals of Financial Accounting |
Accounting Fundamentals |
35 marks |
| Accounting for Special Transactions |
20 marks |
|
| Preparation of Final Accounts |
25 marks |
|
| Section B: Fundamentals of Cost Accounting |
Fundamentals of Cost Accounting |
20 marks |
| Total |
- |
100 marks |
Foundation Course Paper 3: Fundamentals of Laws and Ethics
| Sections |
Topics |
Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Section A: Fundamentals of Commercial Laws |
Indian Contracts Act, 1872 |
40 marks |
| Sale of Goods Act, 1930 |
20 marks |
|
| Negotiable Instruments Act,1881 |
10 marks |
|
| Section B: Fundamentals of Ethics |
Ethics and Business |
30 marks |
| Total |
- |
100 marks |
Foundation Course Paper 4: Fundamentals of Business Mathematics and Statistics
| Sections |
Topics |
Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Section A: Fundamentals of Business Mathematics |
Arithmetic |
20 marks |
| Algebra |
20 mark |
|
| Section B: Fundamentals of Business Statistics |
Statistical representation of Data |
10 marks |
| Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion |
30 marks |
|
| Correlation and Regression |
10 marks |
|
| Probability |
10 marks |
|
| Total |
- |
100 marks |
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CMA Exam Pattern 2024 for Intermediate and Final Courses
The space below mentions the exam pattern for CMA intermediate 2024 and final courses:
| Exam Features | CMA Exam Details |
|---|---|
| Mode of CMA Intermediate and Final exams | Offline test from centre |
| Type of questions in CMA Intermediate and Final exams | Descriptive |
| Total marks in each subject paper | 100 |
| Duration of CMA Intermediate and Final exam | 180 minutes |
CMA Intermediate Course Papers
The course consists of two groups (Group 1 and Group 2) inclusive of 4 papers each (Papers 5-8) and (Papers 9-12)
| Group I | Group II |
|---|---|
| PAPER 5: Business Laws and Ethics (BLE) | PAPER 9: Operations Management and Strategic Management (OMSM) |
| PAPER 6: Financial Accounting (FA) | PAPER 10: Corporate Accounting and Auditing (CAA) |
| PAPER 7: Direct and Indirect Taxation (DITX) | PAPER 11: Financial Management and Business Data Analytics (FMDA) |
| PAPER 8: Cost Accounting (CA) | PAPER 12: Management Accounting (MA) |
CMA Final Course Papers
CMA Final Course will consist of two groups (Group 3 and Group 4) inclusive of 4 papers each (Papers 13-16) and (Papers 17-20)
| Group III | Group IV | |
|---|---|---|
| PAPER 13: Corporate and Economic Laws (CEL) | PAPER 17: Cost and Management Audit (CMAD) | |
| PAPER 14: Strategic Financial Management (SFM) | PAPER 18: Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR) | |
| PAPER 15: Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation (DIT) | PAPER 19: Indirect Tax Laws and Practice (ITLP) | |
| PAPER 16: Strategic Cost Management (SCM) | PAPER 20: One of the following subjects | PAPER 20A: Strategic Performance Management and Business Valuation (SPMBV) |
| PAPER 20B: Risk Management in Banking and Insurance (RMBI) | ||
| PAPER 20C: Entrepreneurship and Start Up (ENTS) | ||