To help provide candidates with better tools and greater incentives to complete the CMA® exam, the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA®) will enact the following policy changes:

(1). Transition Program: Effective April 18, 2008, those who were enrolled in the previous Certified Management Accountant program, which ended on December 31, 2007 will now have the opportunity to meet that goal by passing Part 2 (Management Accounting and Reporting) and Part 4 (Business Applications) of the Revised program. This offer will only be available to active IMA members who had only one part of the prior exam remaining. The time limit to complete these two parts will be four years from the date you have passed your first part in the previous CMA program or April 30, 2009, whichever comes later.

(2). New calculator policy : Beginning May 1, 2008, candidates can continue to bring the simple six-function calculator that has been the standard for the exam, or they can bring either the Texas Instruments BA II Plus or the Hewlett-Packard 10BII, both of which perform net present value calculations.

(3). Higher and uniform exam fees : Effective July 1, 2008, fees for taking each exam part in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and internationally will be $190. This fee increase reflects ICMA's increasing costs and increasing value of the program, as well as matches the prevailing market rates for similar exams.

(4). Waiver Fee Increase to $190 per exam part Effective July 1, 2008.

(5). New spreadsheet program: ICMA is targeting April 1, 2009, as the date when candidates taking any exam part will have access during the test to an Excel-like spreadsheet program, which will make it easier to perform calculations, including net present value.

The following changes reflect ICMA's experience that candidates – for a variety of reasons, of course – tend to procrastinate on finishing the exam. These changes, discussed below, aim to encourage candidates to begin taking the exam promptly.

(6). Elimination of 50%: Effective July 1, 2008, the 50% credit that is now offered to candidates who decide not to take the exam after they have registered will be eliminated.

(7). Entrance fee changes: Effective July 1, 2008, the one-time entrance fee to take the exam will increase from $125 to $200. This increased fee represents increased value: included will be four electronic books (in pdf format) of sample questions and newly retired questions, as well as an the CMA Assessment Tool to help candidates determine which areas require further study (these materials together normally sell for more than $100).

In addition, this entrance fee will expire in four years. If a candidate has not completed the exam by that time, the entrance fee must be paid again.

(8). New $75 student fee: Beginning July 1, 2008, students will pay $75 when they enroll in the CMA program. Students will continue to receive a discount on their IMA membership fee and can take the CMA exam for half price. Included for the fee will be the four electronic books (in pdf format) of sample questions and exam content information, as well as the CMA Assessment Tool.

(9). New testing time window and schedule : Effective January 1, 2009, the exam will be offered according to the following schedule:

January and February: Parts 1, 2, and 3
March: no exam parts offered
April: Part 4 only
May and June: Parts 1, 2, and 3
July: no exam parts offered
August: Part 4 only
September and October: Parts 1, 2, and 3
November: no exam parts offered
December: Part 4 only

The implementation of windows will benefit candidates by encouraging the formation of live review courses. Further, it will provide candidates with a month to study and prepare for Part 4 once they have completed Parts 1, 2, and 3. Candidates will also receive their Part 4 results six weeks prior to the next Part 4 window (as opposed to the current two weeks), giving them more time to prepare should they need to re-take Part 4.

For additional information about any of these policy changes, please see the CMA Candidate Handbook, available on the IMA website athttp://www.imanet.org/pdf/handbook.pdf. Questions can also be directed to Dennis Whitney , CMA, CFM, vice president, ICMA, atdwhitney@imanet.org.

Original : http://www.imanet.org/newsletter/cma/icma_policies.asp