This checklist is a step-by-step guide to fulfilling the following general certification requirements:

1. Membership in the Institute of Management Accountants
   
2. Paying the Entrance Fee (The Entrance Fee expires in 4 years and is non-refundable)
   
3. Satisfying the Education Qualification
   
4. Satisfying the Experience Qualification
   
5. Passing scores (or a waiver) for all required examination parts
   
6. Compliance with the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice
   

All of these requirements must be completed before certification can be awarded. Please use this list to ensure that your certification experience is what you expect. If you have specific questions on this process, please contact: cmacfm@imanet.org.

1. To participate in the certification program, you must be a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA^®). Read more about the benefits of IMA membership. Access the IMA membership application.

2. The Entrance Fee for the certification program must be paid before taking the examinations. This fee covers the following: six months unlimited access to the CMA Assessment Tool, 3 free Advanced Exam Performance Reports (if applicable), access to four books of sample questions and answers for all four parts in pdf format, access to retired exam questions for the first three parts of the exam, review of educational and experience credentials, electronic access to the CMA Resource Guide, access to peer-to-peer networking, final score report upon completion of the exams, a personalized, numbered certificate, employer notification of achievement if desired, and maintenance of continuing education records. This fee can be paid when joining IMA or when registering for your first exam part.

3. To complete the Education Qualification, you must submit the proper documentation. All documents must be original, must be submitted in English, and must have the official logo, seal, or stamp of the issuing organization. These documents may be submitted at any time during the certification process but must be received prior to certification. Documents should be sent to:

Institute of Certified Management Accountants
10 Paragon Drive
Montvale, NJ 07645
USA

4. The Experience Qualification can be completed at any time during the certification process. The appropriate documents will be sent to you upon completion of all the exams. If you wish to complete the documents earlier, please click here. Employment is verified on a random basis.

5. If you are eligible for a Waiver of an exam part, direct verification of the qualifying certification must be received from the issuing organization. In addition, the waiver fee must be paid; this can be done when applying for IMA membership or when registering for an exam.

When you are ready to take an exam, you must submit an Exam Registration Form. You can take the exams in any order with the exception of Part 4 which must be taken after all others are passed. You will receive an acknowledgement of your registration, an authorization number, an authorization period, and instructions for scheduling your exam at a Prometric Test Center. It is your responsibility to schedule your exam within the given time period.

6. When applying for IMA membership, you will be asked to indicate compliance with the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice. It is understood that this compliance is an ongoing obligation; adverse reports are investigated.

Once you have completed the exams, refer to the Next Steps document.