A Guide to Cost Management Accounting In India

Cost Management Accounting is one of the most sought out certifications in the business world. To become a Cost Management Accountant in India, you have to become a member of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and pass the examination. This article will discuss in detail all about becoming a Cost Management Accountant.

What is CMA?

Cost Management Accounting is a certified course for people who are interested in gaining advanced knowledge about the finance sector. It mainly focuses on financial accounting, cost management, corporate governance, and much more.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India is a statutory body in India that was established in 1959 by an Act of Parliament. In India, this course takes about 3-4 years to complete.

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Cost Management Accounting includes three levels – 

1. CMA Foundation Level
2. CMA Intermediate Level
3. CMA Final Level

Additional information about the details of the course is discussed further in the article.

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Why opt for CMA?

This course is considered a great choice and in some cases a necessity for a promising career in the field of management and accounting. A person with a Cost Management Accounting degree would be regarded as a highly valuable employee for any company that is hiring.

This degree will give you an edge above the rest and give you some valuable skills required to climb the corporate ladder. A CMA certificate in your resume shows that you are not just going to benefit the company in accounting, but you are willing to take on more responsibilities.

Companies trust the employees who can take on business-related projects and are given important roles in the corporation. It is seen that candidates with a CMA degree have a better chance of getting an entry-level job.

It is also seen that a Cost Management Accounting degree allows you to get a high paying job than a candidate with just a bachelor’s degree. All in all, Cost Management Accounting is an extremely valuable course for anyone who is looking to rise quickly in the marketing and accounting field.

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CMA India vs CMA USA

Although CMA India and CMA USA both have almost the same syllabus, there are some differences between the two.

1. CMA USA is examined by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) which is recognized globally, whereas CMA India is only restricted to India.
2. CMA US can be completed within 6 months to a year. In India, it generally takes 3-4 years to complete the course.
3. CMA USA practices the use of US GAAP and IFRS which is globally accepted. CMA India practices the use of IND AS (Indian GAAP) which is the Indian Accounting Standards.
4. CMA USA requires you to give 2 exams whereas CMA India requires you to attempt 20 papers.

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CMA USA Syllabus:

Part 1. Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics

External Financial Reporting Decisions

Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting

Performance Management

Cost Management

Internal Controls

Technology and Analytics

Part 2. Strategic Financial Management

Financial Statement Analysis

Corporate Finance

Decision Analysis

Risk Management

Investment Decisions

Professional Ethics

*CMA India syllabus is discussed further.

CMA India focuses on Indian laws and ethics while CMA USA teaches global practices. If you are looking to work out of India then CMA USA is the preferred course.

In this article, we will talk about CMA India.

Skills required for a cost accountant-

• Good negotiation skills
• Computer skills to use various accounting software
• Communications skills
• Decision-making skills

Role of a Cost Management Accountant

• Corporate Decision Making
• Resource Management
• Performance Management
• Financial Reporting & Strategy
• Optimization of Stakeholder’s value
• Risk Management
• Enterprise Governance
• Audit assurance and Taxation
• Sustainable Development
• Corporate Social Responsibility

Job Opportunities

Following are some of the job titles you can get after getting a Cost Management Accounting degree:

• Management Accountant
• Financial Analyst
• Cost Accountant
• Accounting Manager
• Senior Accountant
• Corporate Controller
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Investment Officer

Eligibility

CMA Foundation Level – Students can register for the course after passing the 10th std examinations. Students will only be allowed to attempt the exams after they have cleared their 12th std examinations.

CMA Intermediate level – Students can register for the intermediate course after they have cleared their 12th std examinations. Although they will only be allowed to take the exams after they have completed their graduation.

CMA Final Level – Students are eligible for the final level after they have passed the intermediate level.

When to apply?

Exams are held two times a year in June and December. For June Term examinations, one should apply before December 5 of the previous year and for December Term Examination apply before June 5 of the same year. The timing for applying is generally the same every year.

Where to apply?

ICMAI requires you to fill an online application form on their official website to register. Applicants can fill the form at the following link: https://eicmai.in/students-new/Home.aspx

Following are the addresses of the regional councils with their respective areas:

Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman Diu., Dadra, and Nagar Haveli – Western India Regional Council

“Rohit Chambers”, 4th Floor

Janmabhoomi Marg, Fort Mumbai – 400 001

Email: [email protected]

Web site: www. icwai-wirc.org

Ph: 022-22872010/ 22841138/ 22043406/ 22043416

Fax: 91- 022- 22870763

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,  Pondicherry, and Lakshadweep Islands

044-28554443/28554326/28528219 Southern India Regional Council 4, Montieth Road, Egmore, Chennai – 600 008

Email address: [email protected]

Website: www.sircoficwai.com

Fax: 91- 044- 28554651

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim, Andaman, and the Nicobar Islands, as well as foreign countries.

Harish Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700 025 Eastern India Regional Council

Email: [email protected]

Ph: 033 -24553418 /24555957

Fax: 91 033-2455-7920

Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, and Kashmir

Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 Northern India Regional Council 3

Email: [email protected]

Ph: 011 – 24626678 / 24615788

Fax: 43583642

Fees

For people of Indian nationality-

1. CMA Foundation Course – ₹6000
2. CMA Intermediate Course – ₹22000
3. CMA Final Course – ₹25000

For foreign students-

1. CMA Foundation Course – $250
2. CMA Intermediate Course – $1100
3. CMA Final Course – $800

The fees can be paid in installments.

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Cost Management Accounting Course Syllabus and Exam Pattern

Cost Management Accounting comprises 20 papers distributed among 3 levels:

CMA Foundation Level-

Paper I- Basics of Economics and Management

Section A – Economics – 50 marks

1. Basic ideas of Economics
2. Varieties of Market
3. Money and Banking

Section B – Basics of Management – 50 marks   

1. Management Process

Total – 100 marks

Paper-II- Basics of Accounting

Section A – Monetary Accounting Basics – 80 marks

1. Accounting Basics
2. Accounting for Special Transactions
3. Preparation of Final Accounts

Section B – Basics of Cost Accounting – 20 marks

1. Basics of Cost Accounting

Total – 100 marks

Paper III- Basics of Laws and Ethics

Section A – Basics of Business Laws – 70 marks

1. Indian Contracts Act, 1872
2. Sale of Products Act, 1930
3. Negotiable Instruments Act,1881

Section B – Basics of Ethics – 30 marks  

1. Ethics and Business

Total – 100 marks

Paper IV- Business Arithmetic and Statistics Basics

Section A – Basics of Business Arithmetic – 40 marks

1. Arithmetic
2. Algebra

Section B – Basics of Business Statistics – 60 marks

1. A statistical representation of Data
2. Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
3. Correlation and Regression
4. Probability

Total – 100 marks

CMA Intermediate Level-

Paper V- Monetary Accounting

Section A- Accounting (Basics) – 25 marks

1. Basics of Accounting
2. Accounting for Special Transactions

Section B- Monetary Statements Planning – 40 marks

1. Preparation of Profit Oriented Organizations’ Final Accounts, Non-Profit Organizations’ Final Accounts, and Incomplete Records’ Final Accounts
2. Partnership Accounts

Section C- Royalties, rent Purchase & Instalment System, Branch & division Accounts, Self-Balancing Ledgers – 20 marks

1. Self-Balancing Ledgers
2. Royalties, Hire-Purchase and Instalment System
3. Branch and Division Accounts

Section D- Accounting Standards and Accounting in Computerized Environment – 15 marks

1. Summary of Computerized Accounting
2. Accounting Standards (Specified only)

Total – 100 marks

Paper VI – Law and ethics 

Section A- Business Laws – 30 marks

1. Laws of Contracts
2. Laws about Sale of Products
3. Negotiable Instruments Act,1881
4. Indian Partnership Act, 1932
5. Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008

Section B- Industrial Laws – 25 marks

1. Factories Act, 1948
2. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
3. Employees State Insurance Act, 1948
4. Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
5. Minimum Wages Act, 1948
6. Payment of Wages Act, 1936

Section C- Company Law – 35 marks

1. Companies Act, 2013

Section D- Ethics – 10 marks

1. Business Ethics

Total – 100 marks

Paper VII- Direct taxation

Section A- Income Tax Act – 10 marks

1. Introduction to Income Tax Act, 1961
2. Income that isn’t included in the total income (Section 10, 11 to 13A)

Section B- Tax Liability, Computation of Total Income and Heads of Income – 70 marks

1. Computation of Total Income under various heads and Heads of Income
2. Provisions for clubbing, set-off, and carry-forward of losses, and deductions
3. Assessment of Profits and tax responsibility of various entities

Section C- Income Computation and Disclosure Standards, Tax Management, and Administrative Procedures – 20 marks

1. Administrative Procedures
2. TDS, TCS, and Advance Tax

Total – 100 marks

Paper VIII- Cost Accounting

Section A- Introduction to Cost Accounting   

1. Cost Book Keeping
2. Cost Accounting Standards

Section B- Cost Accounting Techniques – 30 marks

Section C- Methods of Costing – 30 marks

Total – 100 marks

Paper IX- Operations Management & Strategic Management (OMSM)

Section A- Operations Management – 70 marks

1. Operations Management – Introduction
2. Operations Planning
3. Designing of Operational Systems and Control
4. Production Planning and Control
5. Productivity Management and quality management
6. Project Management
7. Economics of Maintenance and spares management

Section B- Strategic Management – 30 marks     

1. Strategic Management Introduction
2. Strategic Analysis and Strategic Planning
3. Formulation and Implementation of Strategy

Total – 100 marks

Paper X- Accounting and Managerial Accounting (Cost and Management Accounting and Monetary Management)

Section A- Cost & Management Accounting and Monetary Management – 50 marks

1. Cost and Management Accounting – Introduction
2. Decision Making Tools
3. Budgeting and Budgetary Control
4. Standard Costing and Variance Analysis
5. Learning Curve

Section B- Monetary Management – 50 marks 

1. Introduction to Monetary Management
2. Tools for Monetary Analysis and Planning
3. Working Capital Management
4. Capital Budgeting – Investment Decisions

Total – 100 marks

Paper XI- ITX

Section A – Customs Laws -20 marks

Section B – Indirect Tax GST – 80 marks

Total – 100 marks

Paper XII – CAA

Section A – Joint Stock Company Accounts 

1. Accounting of Shares and Debentures
2. Presentation of Monetary Statements
3. Cash Flow Statement
4. Bank, electricity, and insurance company accounts

Section B – Auditing            

1. Auditing Concepts
2. Provision about Audit under Companies Act

Total – 100 marks

CMA Final Level

Paper XIII- CLC

Section A- Companies Act – 60 marks

1. The Companies Act, 2013

Section B- Other Corporate Laws – 25 marks

1. SEBI Laws and Regulation
2. The 2002 Competition Act and its Implications for Company Governance
3. Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
4. Laws about Banking Sector
5. Laws about Insurance Sector

Section C- Company Governance – 15 marks

1. Company Governance

Total – 100 marks

Paper XIV – SFM

Section A- Investment Decisions, Project Planning and Control – 25 marks  

1. Investment Decisions, Project Planning and Control
2. Leasing Decisions

Section B- Monetary Markets and Institutions – 20 marks

1. Institutions in Monetary Markets
2. Instruments in Monetary Markets
3. Capital Markets
4. Commodity Exchange

Section C- Portfolio Management and Security Analysis – 25 marks

1. Portfolio Management and Security Analysis

Section D- Monetary Risk Management- 35 marks

1. Monetary Risks & Management
2. Monetary Derivatives – Instruments for Risk Management
3. Monetary Risk Management in International Operations

Total – 100 marks

Paper XV- SCMD

Section A – Cost Control – 20 marks

1. Cost Control

Section B – Strategic Value Management Tools and Techniques – 50 marks

1. Decision-Making techniques
2. Standard Costing in Profit Planning
3. Activity-Based Value Management – JIT and ERP

Section C – Strategic Value Management – Application of Statistical Techniques in Business Decisions – 30 marks

1. Strategic Decision Making Using Operational Research and Statistical Tools

Total – 100 marks

Paper XVI- DIT

Section A- Direct Tax Laws (Advanced) – 50 marks

1. Tax Management, Return and Assessment Procedure
2. Grievance Redressal
3. Penalties and Prosecutions
4. Business Restructuring
5. A different aspect of Tax Planning
6. CBDT & Other Authorities
7. Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS)
8. Black Money Act, 2015

Section B- International Taxation – 30 marks

Section C- Analysis of Case Studies – 20 marks

1. Double Taxation and Avoidance Agreements [Sec. 90, 90A and 91]
2. Transfer Pricing

Total – 100 marks

Paper XVII- CFR

Section A- Accounting Standards and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles – 20 marks

1. Accounting Standards

Section B- Business Combinations & Restructuring Accounting – 20 marks

1. Restructuring and Accounting of Business Combinations

Section C- Consolidated Monetary Statements – 20 marks       

1. Group Monetary Statements (Ind AS)

Section D- Developments in Monetary Reporting – 25 marks   

1. Recent Trends in Monetary Reporting
2. Monetary Instruments Valuation, Accounting, and Reporting, among other items (Ind AS)
3. Share-based payments (Ind AS)

Section E- India’s government accounting – 15 marks  

1. Procedures and Requirements for Government Accounting

Total – 100 marks

Paper XVIII- ITP

Section A- Indirect Taxation and Practice (Advanced Indirect Taxation and Practice) – 80 marks

1. Customs Law
2. Goods and Services Tax Act & Rules
3. Foreign Trade Policy

Section B- Procedures and Practices of Taxation – 20 marks

1. Case Study Analysis

Total – 100 marks

Paper XIX- CMAD

Section A- Management Audit – 15 marks

1. Management Reporting issues under Cost Audit
2. System, Efficiency, Energy, Propriety Audits
3. Impact of environmental pollution

Section B – Cost Audit – 35 marks

1. Cost auditing nature, scope, utility, and benefits
2. Professional Ethics, Misconduct, Offences and Penalties
3. Cost Accounting Standards
4. Cost Auditing and Assurance Standards
5. Cost Audit Report Format – Main Features

Section C- Internal auditing, operational auditing, and other matters related to auditing – 25 marks

1. Concept of Internal Audit

Section D- Performance Analysis Case Study – 25 marks

Total – 100 marks

Paper XX- SPBV

Section A- Management of Strategic Performance– 50 marks  

1. Conceptual Framework of Performance Management
2. Performance Evaluation & Improvement Tools
3. Enterprise Risk Management

Section B- Business Valuation – 50 marks

1. Business Valuation Basics
2. Valuation in Mergers and Acquisitions
3. Fair Value in Accounting Measurement
4. Valuation of Intangibles

Total – 100 marks

Study Material

The study material for all the papers is available for free on the institute’s website in pdf format.

Placement options

ICMAI organizes campus placements for the freshly qualified Cost Management Accountants from the June and December batches. It is generally held in October for the June batch and in March for the December batch.

Placements are held in 4 cities – Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, and Kolkata.

Following is the list of some of the companies which offered job placements in ICMAI:

1. Assam Brooke Ltd. 
2. Ashok Leyland Ltd. 
3. Aparna Carbons Private Limited
4. Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals 
5. ART Affordable Housing Finance
6. Bata India Ltd. 
7. Berger Paints
8. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd 
9. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 
10. Castrol India Ltd. 
11. Coal India Ltd. 
12. Dunlop India Ltd. 
13. Ford India Ltd. 
14. Gail
15. Genpact Ltd. 
16. Hindustan Zinc Ltd. 
17. IDBI Bank 
18. ICICI Bank 
19. ITC Ltd. 
20. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. 
21. JK Paper Limited
22. Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited
23. MMTC 
24. Nestle
25. NTPC 
26. ONGC Ltd. 
27. Prism Cement
28. Reliance Industries Limited
29. Saint-Gobain
30. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. 
31. Tax Connect
32. Vedanta 
33. Wipro BPO
34. Yes Bank

Practical Training

From January 2008, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India introduced a scheme of practical training according to which, students are supposed to undergo 3 years of practical training with various organizations who help students learn about this industry.

ICMAI has partnered with many organizations to enroll its students under the training scheme. ICMAI also arranges for mentoring programs where senior executives teach practical skills required in the industry to the students. A certificate of training needs to be issued by the organization and a completion certificate by the institute.

The objective of the practical training:

1. Exposure to the work environment
2. On the job experience
3. Developing disciplined attitude required by professionals
4. Awareness of ethical values in the work environment

Recognized areas for training:

1. Management Accounting 
2. Accountancy
3. Monetary Accounting 
4. Monetary Management 
5. Auditing 
6. Regulatory compliances 
7. Direct Taxation 
8. Indirect Taxation 
9. Company Laws, Industrial Laws, Business Laws 
10. Systems Analysis, Data Technology (including ERP system) 
11. Project Management 
12. Banking Operations 
13. Insurance 
14. Valuation 
15. Monetary Services 

FAQs

1. What is a Cost Management Accountant’s salary?

Freshers on average start with a salary of 7 lakhs per annum if cleared on the first attempt.

2. Are CMAs in demand?

The demand for CMA’s has been on an exponential rise recently in India.

3. How many attempts are allowed for CMA?

The maximum number of attempts allowed by ICMAI is five.

4. Is internship compulsory for CMA?

Yes, all students have to complete their practical training in their CMA Final.

Final Words

Cost Management Accounting certification is a great way to give a boost to your career, now that the process has been made much simpler. The journey of becoming a Cost Management Accounting is still very rigorous and requires a lot of hard work, but the process has been made much smoother by the ICMAI.

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