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CGMA Qualifications framework

The framework comprises of the Certificate in Business Accounting and the CIMA's CGMA Professional Qualification.

AWARD / Membership of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants® and the CGMA designation

 
Assessment of practical experience +
 

In order to become a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), you need a minimum of three years' verified relevant work-based practical experience.

Strategic level

 

Strategic case study exam +
 

The focus of Strategic level is on the long term and setting the strategy for the business. In the Strategic Case Study exam, your role will be that of a Senior Finance Manager.

E3
Strategic
Management

P3
Risk
Management

F3
Financial
Strategy

 

Covers:

  • The Strategy process
  • Analysing the organisational ecosystem
  • Generating strategic options
  • Making strategic choices
  • Strategic control
  • Digital strategy

You will learn:

  • The foundation of strategic management and an understanding of the dynamics of the organisational ecosystem and how it affects the strategy of the organisation.
  • Strategic choice and how options are generated, linking them to the purpose, values and vision of the organisation and how the options are evaluated, chosen and integrated coherently to form the strategy of the organisation.
  • How strategy is implemented, how implementation objectives are achieved and how change is managed.
  • What are the technologies that underpin digital transformation and various elements of digital strategy.
 

Covers:

  • Enterprise risk
  • Strategic risk
  • Internal controls
  • Cyber risk

You will learn:

  • How to identify, evaluate and manage enterprise risks.
  • Where strategic risks emanate from, how to evaluate them and understand how oversight of these risks is critical to the governance of the organisation.
  • How internal controls can be used effectively in the risk management process and how to identify, analyse, remedy and report strategic risks including cyber risks.
 

Covers:

  • Financial policy decisions
  • Sources of long term funds
  • Financial risks
  • Business valuation

You will learn:

  • The different strategic financial objectives and policy options that are open to organisations
  • The types of funds available to organisations to finance the implementation of their strategies, including where and how they access these funds at the right time, in the right quantities and at the right cost.
  • The sources of financial risk, how to evaluate and manage financial risk appropriately, and techniques in business valuation to assess whether a company has created and preserved value within the organisation.
  • The valuation techniques to calculate value of organisations and conditions applicable for such calculations especially intangibles in the digital world and how to report intangible value and their drivers in integrated reporting.
 
Management level

AWARD
CIMA's Advanced Diploma In Management Accounting (CIMA ADV DIP MA)

Management case study exam +
 

The focus of Management level is on the medium term and monitoring and implementation of strategy. In the Management/Gateway Case Study exam, your role will be that of a Finance Manager.

E2
Managing Performance

P2
Advanced
Management
Accounting

F2
Advanced
Financial
Reporting

 

Covers:

  • Business models and value creation
  • Managing people performance
  • Managing projects

You will learn:

  • The fundamentals of business models and how new business and operating models can be developed to improve the performance of organisations.
  • How different styles of leadership can be used to improve the performance of individuals to achieve organisational goals and how to use performance management concepts and techniques to implement strategies effectively and efficiently.
  • Use of project management concepts and techniques useful in implementing strategies. (Project management is linked to capital investment decision-making which is covered in P2D).
 

Covers:

  • Managing the costs of creating value
  • Capital investment decision making
  • Managing and controlling the performance of organisational units
  • Risk and control

You will learn:

  • How to use cost management, quality and process management and value management to provide organisations with cost advantage.
  • The criteria, process and techniques that are used to decide which projects to undertake, how to manage the performance of organisational units to ensure that they achieve their objectives.
  • How to analyse risks and uncertainties that organisations face in the medium term, especially capital investment decision making, and managing those risks in the implementation of such decisions.
 

Covers:

  • Financing capital projects
  • Financial reporting standards
  • Group accounts
  • Integrated reporting
  • Analysing financial statements

You will learn:

  • The sources and types of funds and how much they cost.
  • The key financial reporting standards on which financial statements will be based and the application of those standards to prepare group accounts.
  • The International Integrated Reporting Framework and its components and how to conduct analyses of financial statements and their limitations.
 
Operational level

AWARD
CIMA's Diploma In Management Accounting (CIMA DIP MA)

Operational case study exam +
 

The focus of Operational level is on the short term. In the Operational Case Study exam, your role will be that of a Finance Officer.

E1
Managing Finance in a Digital World

P1
Management
Accounting

F1
Financial
Reporting

 

Covers:

  • Role of the finance function
  • Technology in a digital world
  • Data and information in a digital world
  • Shape and structure of the finance function
  • Finance interacting with the organisation

You will learn:

  • The central role that finance plays in an organisation, and how and why technologies used impact impact the finance function.
  • How to use and examine data collected and processed by machines to create and preserve value for organisations.
  • How the finance function is structured and shaped, and how it interacts with other parts of the organisation to achieve the objectives of the whole organisation.
 

Covers:

  • Cost Accounting for decision and control
  • Budgeting and budgetary control
  • Short term commercial decision making
  • Risk and uncertainty in the short term

You will learn:

  • Why costing is done and what it is used for, including appropriate costing methods and techniques and where digital costing might be used.
  • How budgets are prepared and implemented across the organisation, the impact these have, and how techniques are applied to ensure sound short term decision making, against a backdrop of risk and uncertainty, by using appropriate risk management tools.
 

Covers:

  • Regulatory environment of financial reporting
  • Financial statements
  • Principles of taxation 
  • Managing cash and working capital

You will learn:

  • Who the regulators are, what they do and why and how regulations are applied.
  • How to prepare basic financial statements using financial reporting standards.
  • How to distinguish between types of taxes, calculate corporation taxes and issues affecting taxation.
  • What tools are used to ensure that the organisation has enough cash to ensure its continuing operations.

Enterprise
pillar

Performance
pillar

Financial
pillar

 
Certificate level

AWARD
Certificate in Business Accounting (CERT BA)

 

BA1
Fundamentals
of Business Economics

 

BA2
Fundamentals
of Management Accounting

 

BA3
Fundamentals
of Financial Accounting

 
  • Macroeconomic and Institutional Context of Business25%
  • Microeconomic and Organisational Context of Business30%
  • Informational Context of Business20%
  • Financial Context of Business25%

 
  • The Context of Management Accounting10%
  • Costing25%
  • Planning and Control30%
  • Decision Making35%

 
  • Accounting Principles, Concepts and Regulations10%
  • Recording Accounting Transactions50%
  • Preparation of Accounts for Single Entities30%
  • Analysis of Financial Statements10%

BA4
Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law

 
  • Business Ethics and Ethical Conflict30%
  • Corporate Governance, Controls and Corporate Social Responsability45%
  • General Principles of the Legal System, Contract and Employment Law15%
  • Company Administration10%

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE / LIFELONG LEARNING

Study options

Browse and purchase CIMA approved courses, resources and products for the Certificate in Business Accounting and Professional Qualification, all in one place on the CGMA Study Hub.

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CGMA Competency Framework

The framework shows the skills abilities and competencies that finance professionals need to increase the success of organisations.

Find out more

CIMA Professional Qualification

Find out about the CIMA Professional Qualification syllabus, on-demand assessments and case study exams.

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CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting

Find out about the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting syllabus and explore the updated 2017 syllabus and assessments.

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