ICMA Announces Changes for 2020 CMA Exams

The ICMA (Institute of Certified Management Accountants) has announced a few changes to the CMA exams effective with the January/February 2020 testing window.

  • CMA Part 1 has a new section on technology and analytics, and internal auditing has been removed.
  • CMA Part 2 has a new topic on social responsibility, and a few specific accounting topics have been removed.

Because these changes affect only about 10-20% of each exam, the current exams and the 2020 exams are interchangeable (there is no “transition” phase). That is to say, candidates can take one of the Parts under the 2019 syllabus and one of the Parts under the 2020 syllabus. Candidates studying now or starting to study in the next few months do not need to change their study plans.

There is a brief announcement about the change on the IMA web site here: https://www.imanet.org/cma-certification/getting-started/cma-2020-exam-changes, where you can also download the new 2020 Learning Outcome Statements.

HOCK will release updated study materials in advance of the new exams, and all HOCK customers who have purchased the CMA materials will have online access to the updated materials for the exam Part(s) they have purchased at no charge when they are released. If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be glad to help.