CMA Final 2024: Dec Exam Dates (OUT), Admit Card (Available), Syllabus, Pattern & June 2025 Admissions

If the preparation is right, CMA is not as hard as students complaint about the same. If the pass percentages is compared with ICAI CA exam, CMA pass percentage is comparatively less. However, the number of candidates appearing in CA Final if compared with CMA Final course is huge. The pass percentage of CMA Final course in December 2022 term stood at 6.85% for both the groups, and 17.77% for candidates who onlyu appeared for Group IV exam.

Out of 3751 candidates who appeared in both the groups of CMA Final course, 373 test takers passed the exam for only one course group, while 257 candidates passed the exam for both the groups of CMA Final course in December 2022 term.

Individual companies determine the specific qualifications required for a CFO position. Applicants with a CMA certification may have an advantage over those without, assuming all other qualifications are comparable. However, passing the CMA exam does not guarantee a CFO position. Other factors, such as experience in accounting and industry-specific knowledge, are also crucial considerations.

Completing a CMA course will lead to entry level positions in accounting firms.

ICMAI does not allow candidates to apply for re-evaluation of the CMA exam. However, candidates can apply for verification of the answer sheets. The verification of answer sheets will help scoring the answers in case there is a totalling error or omission to examine any answer. Additionally, the institute does not supply any details of the question-wise marks to the students. Candidates can apply for the verification of answer sheets within 30 days of release of the results. CMA students need to pay INR 250 for each subject for which they need to apply for verification of answer sheets.

CMA exam details are published on its official website. Candidates can access the CMA exam website for details on all three course levels, including Foundation, Intermediate, and Final. ICMAI releases the exam dates for each term separately. The notification with the CMA exam dates mentions the basic pattern, exam centres, exam form details, and result declaration date, and more.

CMA is a professional course that can lead to a higher earning potential. Once the candidates complete the CMA course, they become more likely to get job offers from Big Four accounting firms and top multinational companies. Even as a new graduate, candidates can expect a starting salary between 6 and 8 lakhs per year. 

There is always a growing need for CMAs in various industries like manufacturing, healthcare, finance, and technology. Companies hire CMAs to help them manage costs and increase profits. As businesses focus on improving their financial performance, the role of CMAs becomes even more important. This high demand can result in high salaries and good career opportunities for CMAs.

No. There is no negative marking in the CMA exam, irrespective of the three course levels. Candidates can answer all questions without worrying about deduction of the marks. All questions in the CMA Foundation exam will fetch two marks each. While the questions in the CMA Intermediate and CMA Final course levels have different marks range. The maximum marks ranges from six marks to 15 marks per question. Candidates will not face any deduction of the marks, if the recorded answer is incorrect or the question is unattempted.

The CMA exams in India are held twice a year, in June and December. Candidates who wish to appear for the June exam must complete their registration by January 31st of the same year. For those planning to take the December exam, the registration deadline is July 31st. These deadlines allow the exam organizers to prepare for the upcoming sessions and ensure that all candidates are registered and scheduled.

No, CMA exam is not available from home. Candidates need to appear for the offline exam from test centre allocated for the CMA exam. Previously, ICMAI had conducted the CMA Foundation exam in a home-based online mode during the pandemic, however, it was a temporary measure.

Currently, the CMA exams are conducted in a center-based pen and paper mode. Therefore, candidates need to appear for the exam at a designated exam centre.

The type of questions in the CMA exam varies based on the course level. The space below mentions the course-wise type of questions in the CMA exam based on the course levels:

• CMA Foundation course exams have multiple choice questions. Candidates have to answer as many as 50 MCQs with four answer options. Out of the four options only one is correct.
• CMA Intermediate course exam has both objective types questions and descriptive type questions.
• Similar to the Intermediate level exam, questions in CMA Final course exams are both objective and discriptive. 

You aren't eligible for the CMA final exam as for this you have to clear the CMA inter after clearing the CA final exams. 

To be eligible for the CMA foundation exam, candidates must have passed class 12th from a recognised board or college with at least 40 per cent marks. Candidates need to register for the foundation course by filling out the registration form and paying a fee of INR 6000 to the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

To be eligible for the intermediate exam, candidates must have either passed the foundation exam or completed a graduation degree from a recognised university. Candidates having a graduation degree can directly enter the intermediate course without taking the foundation exam.

After passing the intermediate exam, candidates are eligible to take the CMA final exam.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India, also known as ICMAI, typically releases the CMA admit card a week before the exam date. CMA students appearing for any of the three levels of the CMA course will get the admit cards on the official examination website. Downloading the CMA admit card will require the candidates to provide their registration number as the login credential. CMA admit card for Intermediate and Final course exam releases on the same date. While the CMA Foundation admit card will release on a separate date.

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.

You can choose an exam centre while filling out the online exam application form provided by ICMAI. The Institute usually lists available exam centres based on geographical locations. You need to select the city or region where you prefer to take the exam.

Candidates are allowed to fill the CMA exam form. While filling the exam form, candidates need to choose desired exam city under the ICMAI regional chapter. ICMAI will try and allot a test centre in the city selected by the candidate. ICMAI may allot a the nearest test city if any exam centre does not have enough test takers.

Candidates can enroll for the CMA course through online mode. The following steps can be followed for successful registration in the course:

1. Visit the official website of the institute and click on the CMA registration process.
2. Fill in all the details required and click on save and continue.
3. Upload the documents required for registration and click submit.
4. Pay the course fees through an online payment method.
5. Print the application form for future use.

Documents required for registration:

1. Passport-sized photo
2. Specimen signature
3. Class 10th Marksheet
4. Class 12th Marksheet
5. Graduation degree and Certificates (if applicable)
6. CMA Intermediate Pass (both Group-I & Group-II
7. Marksheet/Certificate (For candidates applying for CMA Final Course)

CMA admission form refers to the application form to be filled by the candidate for enrolment into the CMA course. Candidates need to fill the CMA admission form to enrol tyhemselves into any of the three levels of CMA course. However, candidates must have fulfiled the eligibility conditions before filling the admission cum enrolment form for CMA.

The Institute of Cost Accountant of India hosts the admission form throughout the year for enrolment into any of the two exam terms, June or December. To take the CMA exam in the June term, candidates need to fill the application/admission form by January 31. On the contrary, to appear for CMA December term exams, candidates need to complete the enrolment process on or before July 31. ICMAI may change the deadlines to complete the CMA enrolmebt for a particular exam term. 

The CMA course fee varies for all three course levels, including Foundation, Intermediate and Final. Candidates can check this space for the CMA admission fee for all three courses along with the typical deadlines to pay the same.

CMA Foundation Course Fee

Candidates need to pay INR 6,000 as the CMA Foundation fee on or before January 31 if the candidate plans to take exam in June term. The fee is payable by July 31, if the candidate plans tro appear for the CMA December exam.

CMA Intermediate Course Fee

Candidates need to pay INR 23,100 as the CMA Intermediate fee on or before January 31 if the candidate plans to take exam in June term. The fee is payable by July 31, if the candidate plans tro appear for the CMA December exam.

CMA Final Course Fee

Candidates need to pay INR 25,000 as the CMA Final fee on or before January 31 if the candidate plans to take exam in June term. The fee is payable by July 31, if the candidate plans tro appear for the CMA December exam.

Candidates will have options to pay the Intermediate and Final course fee in two installments. However, candidates must complete the payment of complete fee before the final admission deadline.

Candidates planning to get admission into any of the CMA course levels have to fill and submit the CMA application/admission form before the stipulated date. The registration form for CMA enrolment can be filled and submitted online as well as offline. Candidates planning to submit the CMA application form offline can download the PDF copy of the forms from and challan copies the official website. Candidates must send the filled in copy of the application form to the following address:

The Secretary to the Council of
THE INSTITUTE OF COST ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA
12, Sudder Street, Kolkata - 700016

Candidates filling the CMA exam form for Final course have to pay the exam fees based on the choice of groups and exam centre preference. Candidates choosing to appear for one group of Final course have to pay the exam fee as mentioned below:

• Inland centres: INR 1,400
• Overseas centres: USD 100

Candidates choosing two group levels for CMA Final course have to pay the exam fee as mentioned below:

• Inland centres: INR 2,800
• Overseas centres: USD 100

The exam fees must be paid online by all the candidates choosing an inland exam centre preference. Candidates choosing to appear in an overseas exasm centre must send the exam form offline with a Demand Draft for the exam fees.

CMA exam form, also known as the exam application form, is the form to be filled by the CMA student to express interest to appear for the exam. Candidates filling the CMA exam form are marked eligible to take the exam in the specified session. No candidate is issued the CMA admit card without submission of the exam form. Only CMA students are eligible to fill and submit the exam form. The fee to be paid along with the CMA exam form varies based on the course level and centre chosen to appear for the exam.

No, ICMAI releases the CMA exam form for all three courses via a separate window. Besides a separate login portal, ICMAI sets a separate deadline to fill the CMA Foundation exam form. While the deadline to fill and submit CMA exam form for Intermediate and Final courses has a separate deadline.

CMA Foundation students can fill and submit the exam form to appear for the test subjects under the Foundation course. Similar is the case with CMA Intermediate and Final course.

The CMA exam form releases along with the release of the exam dates. The exam form is to be submitted online, while the CMA admission form can be submitted online as well as offline.

ICMAI facilitates two forms for CMA course levels. CMA admission form is to be filled by the candidates who are not enrolled with the institute but are interested in pursuing the CMA course. Whereas, CMA exam form is to be filled by all the candidates who are enrolled in a course and are willing to appear for the CMA exam in the upcoming session. CMA admission form is facilitated throughout the year. While the CMA exam forms are released along with the CMA exam dates. Candidates may have the CMA enrolment but may not be willing to appear for the exam in the current session. Such CMA students are not required to fill the exam form.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India, also known as ICMAI, typically releases the CMA admit card a week before the exam date. CMA students appearing for any of the three levels of the CMA course will get the admit cards on the official examination website. Downloading the CMA admit card will require the candidates to provide their registration number as the login credential. CMA admit card for Intermediate and Final course exam releases on the same date. While the CMA Foundation admit card will release on a separate date.

It is important for candidates to note that once the CMA admit card is issued, the exam center cannot be changed under any circumstances. Candidates are required to take the exam only at the designated exam center mentioned on their CMA exam admit card. Therefore, it is crucial for candidates to make a well-informed decision while selecting their preferred test city in the CMA exam form. The examination authorities aim to allocate the test center based on the candidate's preference. However, in cases where there are an insufficient number of applicants for a particular city, the CMA test centre in that city may be canceled, and candidates will be allotted a test centre in the next preferred city.

CMA admit card is issued to all the CMA students who fill the exam form before the last date. The admit card is issued online on the official exam website. Candidates need to provide their registration number to download the CMA admit card for Foundation, Intermediate or Final course level. ICMAI will not entertain any requests from the students for an offline issuance of the CMA admit card. Besides offline issuance, ICMAI will not entertain requests for CMA admit card via an email.

Therefore, CMA students can only obtain the admit card via the login portal available on the official website.

CMA exam is conducted at three levels, namely Foundation, Intermediate and Final. The admit card for CMA course levels are released separately. Candidates can appear for one exam level in one exam session. Therefore, all three course leveles have a separate admit card for CMA exam. Candidates must complete the download process by providing registration number generated at the time of exam form submission.

The admit card download is hosted over the official exam website on separate days. Admit card for CMA Foundation is released on a separate date via a separate login widnow. While the CMA admit card Intermediate and Final course levels have a common login window released on a single day.

CMA Final exam has two-course groups. Candidates can either appear for a single course group or both course groups in one session. The space below mention the test papers for both the course groups of the CMA Final exam:

Final Course Group - III

• PAPER 13: Corporate and Economic Lawns (CEL)
• PAPER 14: Strategic Financial Management (SFM)
• PAPER 15: Direct Tax Lawns and International Taxation (DIT)
• PAPER 16: Strategic Cost Management (SCM)

Final Course Group - IV

• PAPER 17: Cost and Management Audit (CMAD)
• PAPER 18: Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR) 
• PAPER 19: Indirect Tax Lawns and Practice (ITLP)
• PAPER 20: One of the following subjects
  
  • PAPER 20A: Strategic Performance Management and Business Evaluation (SPMBV)
  • PAPER 20B: Risk Management in Banking and Insurance (RMBI) 
  • PAPER 20C: Entrepreneurship and Start Up (ENTS)

The CMA syllabus for all three course levels is as follows

CMA Foundation Course 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 Intermediate Course Syllabus:

• CMA Intermediate Course Group I
  • Paper 5: Business Laws and Ethics (BLE)
  • Paper 6: Financial Accounting (FA)
  • Paper 7: Direct and Indirect Taxation (DITX)
  • Paper 8: Cost Accounting (CA)
• CMA Intermediate Course Group II
  • Paper 9: Operations Management and Strategic Management (OMSM)
  • Paper 10: Corporate Accounting and Auditing (CAA)
  • Paper 11: Financial Management and Business Data Analytics (FMDA)
  • Paper 12: Management Accounting (MA)

CMA Final Course Syllabus

• CMA Final Course Group III
  • Paper 13: Corporate and Economic Laws (CEL)
  • Paper 14: Strategic Financial Management (SFM)
  • Paper 15: Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation (DIT)
  • Paper 16: Strategic Cost Management (SCM)
• CMA Final Course Group IV
  • Paper 17: Cost and Management Audit (CMAD)
  • Paper 18: Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR)
  • Paper 19: Indirect Tax Laws and Practice (ITLP)
  • 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)

For more detailed information, you may visit the Shiksha CMA Exam page. (https://www.shiksha.com/accounting-commerce/accounting/cma-exam-syllabus).

Candidates can find the CMA syllabus on the official website. The CMA 2022 syllabus PDF and CMA 2016 syllabus PDF are available on the official student website. Candidates can download the course level-wise curriculum from the student website. Candidates need to follow the steps mentioned below to get the CMA syllabus PDF:

1. Visit the official website and click on the student's tab
2. Click on the 'Syllabus 2022' tab from the sidebar
3. Click on the course level and group PDF to access the CMA syllabus

Candidates can also find the CMA syllabus on the shiksha's CMA syllabus webpage (https://www.shiksha.com/accounting-commerce/accounting/cma-exam-syllabus)

CMA syllabus is far more in-depth when it is compared to BCom or MCom. Similarity in the syllabus of B.Com Honours and CMA depends on the major chosen by the candidate in the graduate degree course. CMA does not deal with selective/non-core subjects, including Economics, Marketing, Capital Markets, Statistics, etc. In contrast, CMA course has major accounting subjects, such as Financial Management, Taxation, Law among others. BCom syllabus can only be compared with the CMA Intermediate or CMA Foundation syllabus. On comparing CMA Final syllabus with any other Commerce course, the CMA syllabus is far more thorough.

Candidates choosing a major subject in BCom carefully can help them prepare for a CMA course.

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.

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. 

CMA foundation course has four papers. All four papers of CMA Foundation exam will have 50 multiple choice questions of two marks each.

CMA Intermediate course have two groups with four papers each. Each paper of CMA Intermediate has eight questions. Out of these questions, the first question is compulsory, while candidates have to attempt any five questions from the remaining seven questions. While some papers have five questions, first question is compulsory, and out of remaining four questions, three are mandatory.

Similarly, CMA Final course have different question numbers in different test papers.

CMA exam is conducted at three course levels, namely Foundation, Intermediate and Final. CMA exam for all three course levels are conducted as an offline centre based exam. In the past sessions, ICMAI, the conducting body of the CMA exam, had conducted the Intermediate and Final course exams as an online centre based exam. While the CMA Foundation was conducted as a remotely proctored exam from home. However, the mismanegement in the online exams led ICMAI to shift back to the offline centre based exam.

ICMAI may change the mode of the CMA exams in the upcoming exam sessions. Stay tuned to shiksha's CMA exam pattern article for key developments in the test structure from time to time (https://www.shiksha.com/accounting-commerce/accounting/cma-exam-pattern)

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.

CMA results are declared for all the CMA students who appear for the exam as per the stipulated dates. The results for all three levels of CMA exam are issued online on the official exam website. Candidates need to provide login credentials, including their registration number to check the CMA results for Foundation, Intermediate or Final course level. ICMAI releases the CMA results separately for Foundation course. While the results for both Intermediate and Final exams are released on the same day.

ICMAI does not entertain any requests for offline showcase of the CMA results. Therefore, candidates can check the results from the official website only.

Yes. Candidates need to pay INR 250 for each subject paper where they wish to get the answer sheets verified. However, the processing fee is refundable on account of an error in marking the answers. The score can be increased after verification of answer sheets only in cases of:

• Totalling error
• Omission to examine any answer

Candidates can apply for verification of answer sheets within 30 days of release of CMA results. To apply for verification of answer sheets, candidates need to fill a form online.

No. CMA results are released within 3 months of the exam date. as per the CMA test structure, the CMA Foundation exam is held as an OMR based test. Therefore, candidates are evaluated only after they have submitted their OMR based answer sheets. On the contrary, CMA exams for Intermediate and Final courses have subjective questions. Therefore, evaluating the performance of each candidate can be done via a subject matter expert.

Therefore, candidates cannot check the CMA results immediately after the submitting their answer sheets.