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CMA Exam Exemption on Requirements at a Glance
The CMA exam requirements are pretty simple: a bachelor degree in any discipline.
It’s good enough for most candidates in the US, but in places where university degrees are less prevalent, IMA offers exemption and partial recognition of the local professional qualifications.
Here is a list for major countries for your reference. Please refer to the complete list in the link at the bottom of this post.
CMA Exam Requirement Exemptions
Holders of these certificationa either don’t require a bachelor degree to take the CMA exam, or have alternate paths to meet the education requirement:
Australia
- CA
- CPA
Canada
- CPA
- Legacy CA
India
- Associate or Fellow, Institute of Cost Accountants of India
- CA, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
Kenya
- CPA, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK)
Pakistan
- Associate or Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan
- Associate or Fellow (ACMA or FCMA), Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan
Saudi Arabia
- Fellowship, Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants
United Kingdom
- Associate or Fellow, ACCA or FCCA
- CA, Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales
- Chartered Member, CIMA
- CPFA, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
United States
- CFA, CFA Institute
- CIA, Institute of Internal Auditors
- CFE, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- CTP, Association of Financial Professionals
There are also approved certifications from Bangladesh, China, France, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Taiwan. Please refer to the link below for details.
Are there Ways to Waive One Part of the CMA Exam?
No, not that I know of. Since there are only two parts in the current version of the CMA exam, it is hard to expect waivers.
For Your Further Reading
About the Author Stephanie Ng
I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley) and the publisher of this and several accounting professional exam prep sites.
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Hello team,
I’m a CA intermediate from India and I don’t have a bachelor degree. Is it possible for me to do CMA ?
Hi Dhakshay, Indian CA is on the list but typically they require full membership status. You may want to ask IMA directly. They respond very quickly. They can be reached at ima@imanet.org. Good luck!
Hi
What is the worth of CMA USA over the world and this membership certification is equillant to which level? I mean greater than Bacholars, equillant to Masters or greater to Masters etc? Please reply with thanks.
Hi Faisal, it’s hard to compare because a professional qualification is different from a degree. For a degree, the value varies greatly depending on which school you went to. For CMA certification it’s all the same. You may want to check out the relevance of CMAs across countries: https://ipassthecmaexam.com/is-cma-worth-it/
Hi
I am Sai Veer from India I want to write the CMA Part 1 Exam in the Upcoming may and june testing window in USA I wanted to know if the visiting Visa is enough for Writing the exam or are there any specific requirements to write the exam in USA
Hi Sai, you don’t need to travel to the US for the CMA exam. I suggest that you take it in your own country. For more info please check out this site: https://ipassthecmaexam.com/cma-exam-location/
If a student completes ICWAI without training, will she be able to all exemption for US IMA or training is compulsory? Please do reply.
Hi Nidhi,
I believe you need to be a full ICWAI member to take advantage of the mutual agreement, but I am not sure if you are one without training. It is best to check with ICWAI or IMA directly.
Hi I am a Chartered Accountant from India with bachelor degree from authorized university.
What exemption or other way to complete CMA with such qualification
Hi Kasturi,
A bachelor degree is the basic requirement, and the CA unfortunately isn’t helpful for this exam. There are only two exam parts so there is no way that one can get further exemptions on the exam itself. Regards, Stephanie