[mw798]

With the CPA material still fresh, who else is going for the CMA next?

[OnMyWay732]

I've thought about it but I think most people don't what it is so I don't know how much it will help me out. I'll rethink once I'm done with CPA

AUD - July 2014 - 76
REG - August 2014 - 82
FAR - November 2014 - 78
BEC - January 2015 - 81

DONE!!!!

Used Becker online. Who needs a text when you can burn your eyes out staring at the screen for months on end?

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

[Anonymous]

I heard that CMA would become kind of “obsolete” with some changes coming up to that certification. Is that true?

[mw798]

Are you referring to the competition posed by the CGMA now that it requires an exam? I predict that the CGMA is going to lose a lot of popularity now that it requires and exam and as it stands now it's a useless credential. AICPA's CITP has not overtaken the CISA and AICPA's CFF has not overtaken the CFE. I predict the CGMA will be another useless credential that they AICPA has tried to issue and monetize. The CMA has been around for over 40 years and is extremely popular internationally.

[Anonymous]

@Coquipr41 – The AICPA is starting the CGMA and hoping it will replace the CMA, but only time will tell if it does or not.

I've planned to get the CMA, but recently have been questioning if it will really help me or not. I'm already a CPA and can get an MBA for free (or books only) since I work at a college, and would really like to get the MBA. Not sure what value the CMA would really add beyond that, and given that it's $220/yr and has annual CPE, the long-term costs are a bit imposing as well. (In my state, CPE and license renewal is every 2 years and offhand I want to say renewal is just $100.) So, I'm reconsidering. For the last 3-4 years (since senior year in undergrad), my plan was CPA, CMA, and MBA, but now considering skipping the CMA part.

[mw798]

@Lilla – Go for you MBA first then consider the CMA. AS for the CPE, you only need 30 hours of CPE per year for the CMA and assuming you need 80 per CPA renewal, you can apply the CPE for maintaining your CMA towards your CPA renewal. The only real incremental cost as a dual CPA and CMA holder is the annual IMA fee of $220/year. The pro in my opinion is having your CPA, MBA, and CMA would really set you apart from the competition.

[Anonymous]

@Lilla – Thats exactly what I meant. I feel like you, I would hate getting the CMA and later down the road finding out that the certification is not competitive anymore or completely obsolete.

[Anonymous]

@Coquipr41 Yeah, I know what you mean. Maybe if in 5-10 years it's still the standard for management accounting, then I'll consider it. Though even now, it doesn't seem very well known.

@mw798 It'll be a couple years probably before I start an MBA, so my plan had been to do CMA between CPA and MBA, but I'm debating if it will really add $200/yr of assistance to my resume. Part of the reason, though, is that I'm in a very rural area with pretty low education levels (last stat I saw was 10% of residents age 25+ in my county have a Bachelor's), so I think that in this job market, CPA and MBA will already be a lot…and that employers are likely to not even know what the CMA is. 😐 So, it may be something to get if/when I am looking at a career change that will be aided by it, but not to bother getting it “just because”. In a more educated and competitive job market, I do think the trio would be useful, but with the small-town companies here and the limited candidate pool, it may be less beneficial.

[mw798]

I live in the north east and pretty much every accounting and finance professional has their CPA and MBA. In order to stand out from the rest of the pack you have to bring something extra. This is a more recent phenomenon, which I think was caused by the recession. Undergrads who couldn't find jobs back in 2008 through 2011 went straight to grad school and took the CPA exam. Now you got entry level hires with their MBA and who have passed the CPA exam which in turn forced experienced workers to update their credentials in order to remain competitive in the future. Here an MBA is equivalent to a bachelors degree, its something expected from candidates.

[Author]

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