IMA® has confidently described the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) certification as the leading global credential in management accounting. We assert this is not “PR.” Our certainty is based on rigor, relevance, and continuous trust, in addition to the program’s global growth. This means that we aspire to even greater heights to enrich careers, organizations, and the public interest.
Employers can be assured that every CMA they hire has passed a rigorous exam, with an educational requirement, experience requirement, and commitment to lifelong learning through continuing professional education. This is true of the nearly 50,000 professionals who have earned their CMA since the program’s inception in 1972. Other global management accounting certifications that purport to be “leading” can’t make that claim with their high proportion of grandfathering, which means certified professionals who haven’t actually sat for an equivalent exam. IMA’s focus is on enabling competent and ethical business professionals to succeed in a highly competitive marketplace. Rigor and robustness are critical elements in the exam’s credibility, relevance, and applicability to the global business environment. And the CMA program is growing at double-digit rates.
You can see our strength in our numbers and our global presence, which we believe results from an exam validated regularly with the body of knowledge in practice:
28,000: There are 28,000 CMA candidates around the world.
3,500: ICMA® (Institute of Certified Management Accountants) certified more than 3,500 new CMAs during fiscal year 2015, the highest number in any fiscal year.
500: The exam is offered at more than 500 testing sites in more than 160 countries.
60%: IMA’s Annual Global Salary Survey shows a CMA premium where CMAs can earn 60% more in total compensation than non-CMAs.
2: The CMA is prominent in the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China.
1st: IMA is the first global management accounting body to offer secure computer-based testing.
The CMA is the solidifying thread in connecting all these efforts and reaching excellence. Wear those letters proudly. Be assured that we will not rest on CMA achievements to date. Rather, we plan to take the program to the next level—a step change—to create even greater global awareness of the CMA. That includes the U.S. We believe stronger and more ethically capable professionals and organizations will be the result.
What are your thoughts?
March 2016
