Study Advice

If you are new to accounting, you must complete the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting before moving to the next stages of the qualification. The certificate level will introduce you to management accounting and give the basics of accounting and business. If you have already studied a relevant qualification - like a degree or a professional qualification in accounting or business then CIMA may grant you exemptions from some (or all) of the five papers at the Certificate level. This will allow you direct entry to the Professional Qualification

You can sit the five Certificate subjects in any order and in any combination to suit your own individual study requirements. At this study level, exams are held by computer-based assessment at CBA Centre’s. A CBA may be taken at any time of year. Acorn does offer CBA please e-mail tufal@acornlive.com for more information.

Study advice for certificate level

You can sit the five Certificate subjects in any order and in any combination to suit your own individual study requirements. If you are new to study perhaps try one subject only, study this subject for about 8 hours a week for 3 months, 50% of the time should be question practice and 50% of the time should be reading and understanding the syllabus content. Set yourself goals every week to do this. After about 2 months into your study programme consider booking your computer based assessment for this subject. You may want to start with a subject you are more interested in or a subject you perhaps may have studied before, otherwise we recommend you start with C02 - Fundamentals of Financial Accounting; this is an essential exam for the ‘backbone’ to accountancy. A full syllabus view of all certificate level subjects are available on the below links.

Please click on the below subject links to view full syllabus for each certificate level subject:

• C01 - Fundamentals of Management Accounting
• C02 - Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
• C03 - Fundamentals of Business Mathematics
• C04 - Fundamentals of Business Economics
• C05 - Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law

Once you complete your last computer based assessment for the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting, CIMA will send your certificate, you should receive it normally within 4-6 weeks. For more information about how to go about registering with CIMA or to find out about any exemptions you may be entitled to email: cima.contact@cimaglobal.com

You will need to have completed the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting for direct entry to the CIMA Professional qualification, unless you have been awarded exemptions from the five papers at Certificate level.

If you wish to sit Operational or management exams, for the May exam diet you must complete all Certificate level computer-based assessment (CBA's) by 1 March, and for the November exam diet, you must complete all CBA's by 1 September.

The CIMA Professional Qualification

The syllabus comprises three learning pillars:

• Enterprise pillar
• Performance pillar
• Financial pillar

Within each learning pillar there are three syllabus subjects, each subject being positioned at one of the three progressive levels. Each of the nine subject examinations has a duration of three hours, with a further 20 minutes of pre-examination reading time. The pass mark for each of these examinations is 50%. In addition to completing all examinations within the three learning pillars, students must successfully achieve the requirements of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting.

Exam entry for the CIMA Professional Qualification takes place online:

• February to mid-March for May exams
• August to mid-September for November exams

Study advice Operational and Management Level

Students are advised by CIMA to sit and pass the operational level subject examinations before sitting the management level subjects. However, examinations from these different learning pillars, at either operational or management level, may be sat concurrently. Students are recommended to sit no more than three examinations at any single diet, in order to optimise the probability of success.

The pass mark for each of the operational and management level subject examinations is 50% and permanent credit is awarded for any paper in which the candidate scores 50% or more. Students must pass all operational and management level subject examinations, in each learning pillar, before attempting the strategic level subjects.

On successful completion of all operational level subjects, students are awarded the CIMA Diploma in Management Accounting. On successful completion of all management level subjects, students are awarded the CIMA Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting.

Please click on the below subject links to view the full learning syllabus for each subject

CIMA Operational Level

• Paper P1 Performance Operations
• Paper E1 Enterprise Operations
• Paper F1 Financial Operations Management level

Please click on the below subject links to view the full learning syllabus for each subject

CIMA Management Level

• Paper P2 Performance Management
• Paper E2 Enterprise Management
• Paper F2 Financial Management

The CIMA Professional Qualification

The syllabus comprises three learning pillars:

• Enterprise pillar
• Performance pillar
• Financial pillar

Within each learning pillar there are three syllabus subjects, each subject being positioned at one of the three progressive levels. Each of the nine subject examinations has a duration of three hours, with a further 20 minutes of pre-examination reading time. The pass mark for each of these examinations is 50%. In addition to completing all examinations within the three learning pillars, students must successfully achieve the requirements of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting.

Exam entry for the CIMA Professional Qualification takes place online:

• February to mid-March for May exams
• August to mid-September for November exams

Study advice Strategic level

To enter for Strategic level you need to have completed all 6 subjects at Operational and Managerial level.

When attempting the strategic level subjects, students must sit all three examination papers (Papers E3, P3 and F3) together at the first sitting. At any subsequent examination attempts, these papers may be taken in any order and combination. The pass mark for each of the strategic level subject examinations is 50% and permanent credit is awarded for any paper in which the candidate scores 50% or more. Students must pass all three strategic level subject examinations before attempting the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting.

Please click on the below subject links to view the full learning syllabus for each subject

CIMA Strategic Level

• Paper P3 Performance Strategy
• Paper E3 Enterprise Strategy
• Paper F3 Financial Strategy

To sit the TOPCIMA exam you need to have completed and passed all three Strategic level papers.

The Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting comprises two component parts that must both be achieved in order to complete the test. Credits are used to measure success, rather than marks. To pass the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting, students must achieve an aggregated minimum of 75 credits – comprising a minimum of 50 credits for Part A (maximum 50 credits) and a minimum of 25 credits for Part B (maximum of 50 credits). Students are advised to undertake Part A and Part B concurrently, although either can be taken in any order once all strategic level examinations have been completed. The overall result for the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting can only be given when both component parts have been completed.

Part A

Initial Professional Development – Work Based Practical Experience (maximum 50 credits) Students must prepare and submit a ‘CIMA Career Profile’ for assessment of their personal work based practical experience and skills development. An approved Career Profile is awarded 50 credits – the amount needed to meet the requirements for Part A of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting.

Part B

Case Study Examination (maximum 50 credits). Students must sit and pass the Case Study Examination – a three hour assessment of competence, completed within a supervised examination environment. 25 credits must be awarded to meet the minimum requirements for Part B of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting. On successful completion of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting, students apply to be elected as members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Registered CIMA students who have passed examinations (or been awarded exemptions from examinations) at the managerial, strategic or TOPCIMA level of the CIMA 2005 syllabus, will be given credits for subjects in the new CIMA 2010 syllabus, as shown in the table below.

For CIMA students, who have taken and passed subjects prior to the CIMA 2005 syllabus, please contact gary@AcornLive.com for further information.

2005 CIMA Syllabus	2010 CIMA Syllabus
CIMA Managerial Level	CIMA Operational Level
P1 Management Accounting Performance Evaluation	P1 Performance Operations
P4 Organisational Management and Information Systems	E1 Enterprise Operations
P7 Financial Accounting and Tax Principles	F1 Financial Operations
CIMA Managerial Level	CIMA Management Level
P2 Management Accounting Decision Management	P2 Performance Management
P5 Integrated Management Paper	E2 Enterprise Management
P8 Financial Analysis Paper	F2 Financial Management
CIMA Strategic Level	CIMA Strategic Level
P3 Management Accounting Risk and Control Strategy	P3 Performance Strategy
P6 Management Accounting Business Strategy	E3 Enterprise Strategy
P9 Management Accounting Financial Strategy	F3 Financial Strategy
Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting	Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting
Paper 10 Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting	PAPER T4 Part B Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting – Part B