The CMA Entrance Exam (EE) is one of the toughest exams I’ve written. It is the sum of all accounting, finance and soft topics courses you have studied in university or the Accelerated Program (AP) , all condensed to 120 multiple choice questions. However, if you do your share of work, you can pass the exam in flying colors. It’s not going to be easy but the rewards are well worth the effort.
The idea is to study hard and study smart.
Start early (dugh!). I mean, if you are writing the June EE, then I would start as early as January. I know this is difficult for many students since some of you may still be finishing up your prerequisite courses. Nevertheless, have a look at what I did, and this worked out very well for me. I ended up with an 81% on EE.
- Financial Accounting. Go through every single chapter in your intermediate level accounting course text book. I used Keiso, Intermediate Accounting (Vol 1 & 2). Chances are you already know the material since you had to pass these courses at point in time, but read through them anyways. You don’t have to read every last word of it but try to understand the concepts. Do a few problems from each chapter to test your knowledge.
- Management Accounting. Go through several chapters in your Management Accounting text. I used Horngren, Cost & Management Accounting. Focus on the various costing methods (standard, normal, full, variable process etc.), variance analysis. You don’t have to cover all the chapters (at least in my experience) such as benchmarking
- Corporate Finance. Go through selected chapters in you university Corporate Finance text. Finance is an important area of the EE. You need to pass Corporate Finance and Management Accounting in order to pass the EE. The above three subject areas form the core of the Entrance Exam. These are split in terms of competencies such as Financial Reporting, Performance Management, Performance Measurement and Financial Management etc.
- Don’t forget the Soft topics. These include Marketing, Internal Control, Strategic management, Information technology and Human Resources. I strongly encourage you not pound over the university text books you may still have and focus on these subjects in the CMA issued study guides.
- Sign up for the Entrance Exam Prep Program. This is crucial for your success in the CMA Entrance Exam. Contact CMA to find out how you can sign up for the prep course. I took mine at the Toronto North location (York University) with the instructor Supinder Barbra. He’s one of the best in the business!
- Learn the subject matter prior to attending classes. These classes don’t come cheap so please make the sure you get the most out of them by preparing ahead of time so you can just sit back and absorb what the instructor is saying instead of scampering to take notes. You will only write down 10% of what they say anyways.
- Make notes on formulas and complex accounting rules and use flash cards. Buy cards in different colours and use a different colour for each subject. I used to carry around my notes everywhere I went. That’s right, I’m a nerd!
- You will start to get a different perspective once you start attending the prep program. They will teach you the core topics in detail and zero in on the subject matters that are most likely to be tested. Lucky you, you already have the knowledge in your immediate memory.
- Try out a sample exam under simulated exam conditions. 4 hours, no notes, no interruptions, no cheating! This will be a crucial learning experience for you. There are several sample exams available so make sure you print them off and the accompanying solutions. Try visiting the websites of other provinces for other samples exams. They may carry exams that your province does not. I remember CMA Alberta and CMA Nova Scotia had several sample exams that Ontario did not have.Remember, these are “sample” exams and not the real past exams. CMA does not release these.
- There are two mock exams in the prep program. Because you may have already attempted a practice exam under simulated conditions, you might be comfortable completing them. But if you are like most people you might have been tempted to cheat by going over the 4 hours. These mock exams force you to be in an actual exam environment.
Here’s what I believe will ensure you passing the EE. I saved it till the end so only dedicated readers get to know them.
- Some may say this is a myth but every CMA Entrance Exam has a couple of questions that I refer to as the death-trap questions. These are questions that are not meant to be answered. Sure enough you can get to the answer but this may take you 20 minutes. You have less than 2 minutes to answer each question. You will have to learn to identify what these questions are and avoid them. Save them till the end of the exam when you have time to spare, but guess what, you will most likely not.
- Create a strategy and stick to it. 240 minutes and 120 multiple choice questions. That leaves 2 mins per question? Sure, but turn that to your advantage. Some accounting and finance questions may take up to 5 or 6 minutes. Soft topics questions should take you a few seconds to answer. With these, either you know it or you don’t. Spend more time on problems and that save the soft topics till the last half hour.
- Don’t fall in love with a question. You may be a genius at process costing and may have spent hours studying to master it but you get stuck on the EE. Forget it! just move on. Like Supinder Babra says, there are 119 questions more to answer. This happened to me; after spending close to 50 hours just on process costing, I had to skip it on the EE.
You can pass the CMA Entrance Exam, just be confident and work hard. I wish everyone who is writing the Entrance Exam all the very best!
Please feel to share your thoughts on the comments section below. You do not need to sign up to leave feedback.
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Hey, Great post!
I just have a quick question. I plan to write the exam this coming June and find myself going through the Problems and Solutions guide from 2009, even though these aren’t the kind of questions that will be on the exam itself (long answer vs. multiple choice). Would you recommend the Problems and Solutions manual? Or, just go straight for the real thing and study past exams?
Thanks in advance,
James
Hi James, since it is now March and you have 3 more months before the exam, I will recommend studying the Problems and Solutions manual. During the four or five weeks leading up to the exam I would pound over all past exams available. The Study guide and P&S manual will give you an indepth understanding of the subject matter. When you do the practice exam, you will use that knowledge to respond the the multiple choice questions.
I believe the prep program is now mandatory so do attend the sessions and make sure you are not looking at any material for the first time.
Darran
Hi this is really nice post!
I am fairly new in this CMA discussion……I haven’t arrange any exams yet, but before that I want to make sure that I am doing the right thing. I live in NS and I have an MBA. I was debating if this is the right thing but now I am pretty sure.
The first question is if there is any difference between the American (IMA) and the Canadian CMA. I have red in some posts that the American one is recognized globally.
The other question is where I can find sample entry exams…and lastly if you recommend the acceleration program or the prep program or both…
Thanks in advance!
Angel
Hi Angel,
Its great that you have decided to pursue the CMA designation. You have made a wise choice. There is a CMA designation in the Unites States as well, however it is not as recognized as the CMA in Canada. They both however specialize in Management Accounting.
As far as global recognition of a Accounting designation goes, It’s very subjective. Many countries have their own Accounting designations. CPA in Singapore is different from CPA is the US. However, these varying organizations have mutual recognition. CPA Australia for example has mutual recognition agreements with CMA and CGA Canada. Others provide advanced standing in their programs if you have a Canadian Accounting designation.
All three Canadian accounting designations tout their world wide recognition horn but I would take these claims with a grain of salt.
From my understanding even an Alberta Chartered Accountant needs to tranfer his/her credentials to Ontario prior to practicing as a CA in the province of Ontario. This is mere paperwork related to public accounting but exhibits the problems involved in cross province/cross country recognition of Accounting designations.
In my opinion the CIMA is the true global accounting designation. Several commonwealth countries recognize CIMA and the exams are global. CMA Canada has mutual recognition with CIMA.
I wish you all the best. Do the CMA Accelerated Program. Talk to CMA and may be your MBA will provide you advanced standing in the program.
Hi Darren, thanks for posting this information. I found it extremely useful. I am preparing to write the Entrance Exam in June and I am enrolled in the prep program. I was wondering how you found the mock exams compared to the actual entrance exam.
Hi Mohammad,
When I did the prep program we had two mock exams and a number of “past” exams. Like I mentioned in the post, the past exams are really sample exams, not exactly actual past exams. Every year is different but the first mock exam we had was very similar to one of the sample past exams. The second one was a much harder one and was more reflective of the actual entrance exam.
There were a lot of differences in the harder version of the mock exam and the past sample exams. The actual entrance exam is very different from the past sample exams in the sense that the questions are much harder. Don’t be discouraged – you are not the only one who will find these hard. Time management is key. Don’t fall in to the trap of trying to solve my proverbial “death-trap” questions. There are only 2 or 3 of them.
Good luck and I am sure you will be successful in the exam.
Darran
Darran,
I just read your advice and it is spot on! Although I am the VP for CMA Ontario now, I used to prepare students for the CMA EE and CE and your advice regarding preparing for the exam and managing during the exam should be heeded by anyone viewing this blog.
Thanks for taking the time to post these thoughts.
Cheers!
Hi Janet,
Thanks for visiting my blog and posting your comment. I am glad you approve of my ideas for approaching the EE. It was a gruelling process but I made it!
I am currently preparing for the May 2010 Case Exam. Your video on GR Hotels (Steps to approaching a business case) is definitely helping me build a plan to take on the CE.
Thanks,
Darran
Hi Darren, thanks for posting this information. I found it extremely useful. I am preparing to write the Entrance Exam in June and I am enrolled in the prep program. I was wondering how you found the mock exams compared to the actual entrance exam.
Hi Amy,
When I did the prep program last year, we wrote two mock exams. The first one was a repeat of the sample entrance exam and was not hard. The second mock exam was a killer. It was much harder than the first one and was more indicative of how the actual entrance exam was going to be. Do not be discouraged by the level of difficulty of the mocks. It’s an opportunity for you to take it home and practice from your mistakes. After the writing the second mock, I changed my study pattern completely. I was more focused on the areas in which I needed help. This helped me score an 81% on the exam. You can do it too. Good luck.
Darran
Darren,
I’m considering writing the CMA entrance examination. The only hitch is that my degree is in English literature. I’ve taken one intro accounting course and scored well (A-); additionally, I’ve been a bookkeeper for several years.
Given this past experience, my tentative plan is this: take the fundamentals program to clean up my missing prerequisites (I already have the econ/stats requirements satisfied); finish the accelerated program and exam prep course; and, lastly, write the entrance exam.
So my question is this: can it be done? I’m confident in my work ethic and pretty sure I have an aptitude for accounting, but can’t help but wonder if this is too lofty a goal. In sum, can a humanties kid cross-on-over to accountancy, or should I have taken a commerce degree instead?
Hi Darran,
I am scheduled to write the EE in exactly a month from now and I am FREAKING out!!!! I am currently enrolled in the prep program and it had been very helpful thus far.
Could you please give advise on last minute study tips I am feeling like I do not have enough time.
Please advise.
Thank you
Hi Sandra,
STOP!!! freaking out. It’s not going to do you any good. The next 4 weeks is going to be crucial for you. At this point in time I would not recommend you to go through the steps 1 to 3 mentioned in my post above. That is, you should not go through the text books to build up your background knowledge of the various subject matter. What you should be doing is try out all the questions in as many past sample exams as you could. This does not have to be timed, (Yet) but it is an exercise meant to find out which areas you need the most help in. After completing each exam, mark them using the provided answers sheet. Find out which areas you need help in and study it. Then repeat with a different exam until you get it all correct.
You can use the CMA provided study guide to review areas you need help in. Alternatively, you can go back to your University (or CMA Accelerated Program) text books for additional help.
The timed practice exams you will write as part of the Prep program will be practice enough to time yourself. The exercise I mentioned above will help you familiarize yourself with the questions they throw at you in the CMA Entrance Exam.
Hope this helps. Good Luck! You can pass the CMA Entrance Exam.
Hi Matthew,
I have a BA in Social Sciences, I am now a Financial Analyst and two-thirds in to the CMA Professional Program. So to answer your question, yes you can cross over to Accounting & Finance from a non-busines degree. If you want to pursue a career in Finance then you have made the right decision to pick the CMA designation. The CMA is about Accounting, Finance and Strategic Management. If you have the quantitative skills and have an interest in this field then you can learn a lot from the CMA program.
During the initial stages of the qualification process such as the fundamentals program, AP then the Entrance Exam, the focus is on technical skills. Later on the program combined those technical skills with strategic thinking and soft skills.
Did you know that a significant portion of CMAs are not actively practicing Accountants? A number of them are in fields such as Marketing, HR, Operations etc. These fields need people which strong quantitative skills as well as knowledge in the various subject matters. CMAs bring that diverse skill set, and some one such as yourself can take your English major along with your CMA to embark on a career path that you never could have thought possible before.
I wish you call the best, you are on the right track with the Fundamentals > AP > CMA Entrance Exam and so on.
Hi …
can someone please help me …
I am going to be attending university this following fall
I was wondering say if I attend University of Toronto or Ryerson .. and graduate with my business degree.. can I write the CMA Exam …
does it matter what university you attend .. say after you get your cma degree does it really matter what university you attended…
Hi Rana,
Having a university degree is a prerequisite for entering the CMA program. It could be any University degree as long as it satisfies CMA’s requirement for an accredited University, and most do. Along with a University degree, you need to have the required prerequisite courses that CMA requires. Most undergraduate commerce or business degrees include these courses and you must achieve a grade of 60% or better on each course. Please refer here for an up-to-date list of courses.
Once you have decided that you want to pursue the CMA, it would be prudent on your part to plan your courses in such a way that you have all the required courses by the time you graduate. I would periodically fill out CMA’s Free transcript evaluation form to make sure you’re on the right track.
You can pursue the CMA designation even if you don’t have all the prerequisite course or if you have a non business degree by enrolling in the CMA Accelerated Program (AP). This covers all the prerequisite courses that is required in order to wrote the CMA Entrance Exam.
Hope this helps!
Darran
Hi Darran,
Like Rana, I’m in the middle of making some tough choices and even though this might not be your expertise, I was hoping you could help.
I have a full-time job but am looking at getting my CMA designation. I’d like to stay at my job and do online courses at either MUN or Athabasca university.
At MUN they offer a BBA through online learning while at Athabasca they over a B Comm (but Athabasca’s tuition is also at least twice as much)
2 questions:
1) Would you recommend either of those options more than the other as it will prepare me more for the CMA courses down the road?
2) I heard that if you successfully complete your B Comm degree with an average of at least 75% you can be exempt from the CMA entrance exam – have you heard of this? If so, does this only apply to the B Comm? or the BBA as well?
Thank you for the great article, I will be sure to bookmark it and review 6 months before my exam. =)
Hi Darran,
I have 8 days left to writing the June Entrance Exam on June 15th 2010. I need some advice on strategy. I wrote the October Exam and failed miserably so I really hope this time, I pass
1) Soft Topics, when you say “focus on these subjects in the CMA issued study guides”. Do you mean reading the summaries from the CMA study guide good enough for the soft topics? How about looking at the sample exam soft topics questions? Did you find the soft topic questions on the actual Entrance Exam similar to the questions from Mock & Sample exams?
2) Flash cards, I have made notes from the CMA prep course that I just completed but I don’t think I have time for flash cards. I find that I am losing memory or something, when I study one topics for example Process Costing which I have spent 2-3 days a 3 weeks ago and did all the sample & mock exam questions related to process costing. I thought to myself that I got it & now I am good. But then this week when I started to drill sample exams or mock exams under timed condition, I find that I completely forgot how to do process costing and all the steps…its frustrating b/c now I have to spend time to review back my notes & teach myself again which is time consuming
…Since I only have 8 days so I prefer to spend it drilling sample/mock exams under time condition. I feel that my memory is limited and I can’t see to remember everything all at once 
…I find that I tend to forget concepts or topics that require alot of step or memory such as Process Costing and Capital Budgeting (NPV).
I think I have to pick & choose my topic/battle since I can’t seem to remember everything that I have studied
…Maybe I should start review all my old notes everyday for 1-2hours before I do the sample/mock exams so that all the formulas and concepts are fresh in my memory everyday ??
How did you manage to remember and pull so many concepts when you do the sample/mock and even the actual EE on exam day? There’s so many of them
2) In regards to “death-trap questions”. When you wrote the June EE last year, which topics/concepts did you find were the death trap questions ones besides Process Costing?
3) I agree with you about not falling in love with a topic/question. I spent so many hours on service department alloction- step down method and when it came to the actual exam in October, the question completely threw me off. I spent too much time trying to answer it and wasted so much time. I had to guess.
So which topics did you find in the June EE that you had to end up guessing as its wasting too much time to solve?
I will be writing the entrance exam on June 15th for the first time.
1) Soft topics I’m going to focus on Stragetic Management, Risk and Goverance and Internal Control (seems to be the trend on mock and sample exams)
2) The flash card idea was great. Taking them everywhere I go and is very handy remembering formulas.
3) I did Performance Management under timed conditions tonight and got a 50% (litttle scary cause I spend 8 hours on it today), but after reviewing my errors I could have easy scored higher if I had of carefully read the questions. I
This is a good forum. Thanks
Mary,
First of all I want you to know that, you have a higher chance of passing this time around than last. You’ve done the work and you’ve been exposed to the CMA exam writing environment. I believe CMA takes in to account repeat writers. There’s also a case of the CMA bell curve.
1) Some students tend to spend hours studying the volumes of Marketing, Operations and Internal Control textbooks for the Entrance Exam (EE). There is no time to do all that reading especially days before the EE. What I would suggest is just like you said is to review the CMA issued soft topic materials in the study guide. That should get you through the EE. I did not waste any time going over any text books.
The CMA study guides are a concise summary of volumes and volumes of material we had to pound over in University.
Study the sample exam soft topic questions. That will be worth your while. When we did our EE we had about 25 soft topic questions. In earlier exams there weren’t as many. Study the exam questions and go back to the CMA study guides and review the material. Jot down key points and stuff you remember on coloured flash cards and go over them.
You will have to be knowledgeable in IFRS as well.
They can’t throw a curve ball at you and try with soft topics. What appears on the exam must only be from the study guides.
2) This is what you do now. It is going to be crucial for you in the EE. TEMPLATES!!! Come up with a bunch of main principles and subject matter that are most likely going to be tested. These would be the obvious ones that appear in all EE sample exams such as, Process Costing, Department allocations ……Activity Based Costing??? etc. etc
Create a template or predefined format for the answer based on the solutions you have from previous exams. So when it comes to process costing, you know where the costs come from what fractions to use and where the numbers lead. Once you have a template, look at it and commit that to memory. When you see a process costing question, you must be able o visualize the template. It’s going to pop up in your mind and then all you have to do is plug in the numbers.
Make sense? Let me know if it doesn’t.
Yes, do that for the next few days, except the day before the exam. When you try the sample exam and make a mistake on a question, spend time dissecting that solution to figure out where you went wrong. Spend several hours on a handful of questions and build your template. Redo the questions until you get them all correct.
Key is to go over all concepts every day leading up to the exam. Do not do any work the day before the exam. Just relax.
2)
That’s a good one! Essentially a death trap questions I think varies from person to person. If you’re very smart then the number of questions that are death trap questions decrease. I for one studied hard on some topics but skipped it because the correct answer wouldn’t show up. The key point that I want to get across is to not spend several minutes on one question. At the end of the day the EE becomes a ratio game. The number of questions you get correct divided by the total number of questions. You can get additional marks on plus (+) questions but you can get the same by answering two easier questions.
3) When you get the exam envelope, go and complete the plus (+) questions first. You’ll be skipping from one page to another hunting for these plus(+) questions. Do the others later. Leave the soft topics till the very last minute. Few seconds should suffice for each question – do give time to read and understand the question. I believe I allotted the last half hour.
All the best! You can pass this one!
David, You seem to be on the right track. Good luck on the EE!
Hi Darran,
i hope i could read your blogs earlier. i just found your blog and my exam is next week, june 15th. i did not pass the 2 mock exams, though the second one is pretty easy and at least 70% people passed. i don’t know what to do now. i guess i will fail the real one. right now i just review those past exams and 2 mock exams. can you give me any suggestions of reviewing at the last three days before the exam? i only got sat, sun and mon to review it. and i really don’t know which one i should focus, past exams or the review topics given during the prep courses. please advise me…
Hi Jie,
Ok, so you have two days to go! I won’t advise to do any major studying on Monday June 14th. At this point in time what you should be doing is reviewing past exams. Start with the two mock exams. Spend all-day Saturday & Sunday reviewing finance/accounting sections of the two mocks. Review the study guides only on the problems you got wrong. Re-do the exam until you get all questions correct. Don’t time limit yourself self to 4 hours – you don’t want to stress yourself anymore. Furthermore, you also have had enough experience with the mock so take as long as you want to try out all problems in the mocks.
Use Monday June 14th to review soft topics. If you have notes, go over them. If you don’t review the study guide. Finish early on Monday – sleep 10 hours.
No studying on exam day please.
Please don’t walk in to the exam thinking you’re going to fail. Do the exam! If you fail there is always October. But do calm down and don’t panic during the exam.
Remember, plus(+) questions first, others later, soft topics last (during last half hour) (depending on how many there are of course). if you miss one question theres always 119 ore questions to go!
Good luck and tell me how everything went. You too can pass the CMA Entrance Exam. If not June then October!
Hi Darran,
In CMA EE for +questions how much time you spent? how about for soft topics? In your EE the processing costing is asking for FIFO, (includes normal & abnormal spoilage units) or the three columns TI, DM, CC per unit cost.
I’m on the AP for now and hopefully to take Oct 2010 EE.
Thanks
Hi everyone,
In regards to those who were struggling in the AP program. I myself have failed the first exam Module 1 in FA. I think I got 40%. I then studied really hard for Module 2-FA and pulled myself up to average a 60%. The trick is to read the notes that they provide and go attempt the In Class Problems. Focus on the In Class Problems, look at the solution and learn it well. Atleast memorize the format/template on how to approach the question so that atleast when you write the Exams, you will get part marks for getting the stem…I just redid the In Class problems over and over again to help with my memory. When I got the the actual Exam, I just did the In Class Problems and even had no time to even do M/C section. I just guessed and put all C down when I ran out of time on the test. I still ended up passing the AP program overall…That’s my tip for those who don’t have time to study, just focus on the In Class Problems, select a few good & hard ones and do it over & over again….Write really good notes and know your theory & concepts well as it will help you out alot with the June EE.
I just wrote the June 15, 2010 EE yesterday. I am so happy & reliefed that its over b/c I studied my ass off. I studied for this exam even way harder then when I studied for the AP program so thats why I said when you do the AP, make sure to write really good notes/templates on how to approach the questions as you will use it/review it for the EE…
My overall feedback about the June 15, 2010 EE:
-Extremely similar in format, writing style and the types of questions as the Sample 2010 like 80-90% for the FA, MA & Corp Finance/Tax questions.
Total Q# =100 with 21 soft topic (Strategic Mgt, Risk, Internal Control, Governance), format & lay-out similar to sample 2010.
Overall, the topics that were most challenging to me on the June EE to me was Joint Process Costing, Service Department Costs, Transfer Pricing, Special Order, Leases, EPS, A/R if change in policy, were most twisted and different from previous mock/sample exams…I feel confident about this exam and I think that they Mock & Sample 2010 exams this year have prepared me well for this June EE compared to last year. The Mock 2010 exams this year were much better, similar in writing style and structure to the actual June EE compared to Mock 2009. I found the October 209 exam last year was much more difficult then this June EE but then again last year I was not as knowledgeable and prepared as this year with the right strategy from Dorothy & Supinder
I just wrote the June EE, and I think I did fairly well. However, judging by alot of people’s reaction after the exam alot of people were happy, which is great news! However, I’m a little worried now as my passing probability is relative to how other people scored. I need to find out as soon as possible, so I can know whether to repeat study for October’s EE!
For those of you who are wondering how many times can you write the CMA Entrance Exam?
You are allowed to write it up to 4 times and then appeal to write it the 5th time. After that then you have to start the AP program again and get another 4-5 times. So I think they give you tons of chances so don’t worry. I have emailed CMA about this question and that’s what they told me
Also, my prof told me that the June EE is usually easier than the October EE. I think its b/c they get the first batch of SLP students from the June EE. After that the Oct EE, gets the left over students so maybe if they get most of the quota from June EE, then they don’t need as much students from Oct? LOL…I am just guessing
Hi Darran,
thank you very much for your advise. i have finally finished the exam. though i am not confident with the result, i will got 6 weeks free at least .
i still did not get enough time to finish the test. but i sticked to your advise. leave those soft topics till the last 20 minutes.
to be honest, i am praying everyday to pass it. if not, i have to do it in oct.
i will let you know the final result. and i really appreciate your help.
Hi Jie,
I will be praying with you. I wrote on the 15th and ran out of time towards the end.
Goodluck!
I made mistake about the # of times that you can re-write the CMA EE in the post above. I have verified with CMA Ontario. The max amount of time you can write the Exam officially is 3 times. You can appeal for the 4th try depending on the situation. Best to pass on the 3rd try if you can
I have the following question regarding the Oct 2009 EE…
1) Was there a hedging question (calculation)?
2) What type of cash flow questions was on it? How many? Was there a theory one and one calculation?