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The Financial and Managerial Accounting Associate (FMAA™) is a foundational certification that equips young professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to begin a career in accounting or finance. The FMAA certification and exam are developed and offered by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA®) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA®).
There are a lot of great reasons to earn your FMAA certification:
There are no education or experience requirements you have to meet to become certified, so students can earn the FMAA before graduating.
If you’re early in your career and are trying to enter the workforce, the FMAA can help you get your foot in the door of the accounting and finance industry. The FMAA is also a good way to establish a path for growth and move up in your career. Because there are no education or experience requirements, the FMAA is perfect for students and young professionals looking to propel their careers forward.
You can earn your FMAA and begin reaping the career benefits for under $500. IMA requires a $299 fee to sit for the exam, and you can prepare with our FMAA Test Prep for $199.
Once you’re certified, IMA requires FMAAs to pay a $49 annual renewal fee. You aren’t required to pay for IMA membership to take the FMAA exam, but if you’re an IMA member, you won’t be required to pay the annual $49 fee.
The FMAA is an achievable and cost-effective certification designed to help young professionals start their careers strong. This investment in your career will pay off quickly since you’ll be equipped to begin your career with a certification already under your belt.
| FMAA Exam Costs | |
|---|---|
| IMA FMAA Exam Fee | $299 |
| Gleim FMAA Test Prep | $199 |
| Total Initial Cost | $498 |
| Annual Renewal Fee (for non-IMA members) | $49 |
The FMAA exam tests five key topic areas to ensure candidates have the necessary foundational knowledge in accounting and finance.
The exam is two hours long and has 80 multiple-choice questions. On average, you’ll need to study for about 50 hours to prepare for the FMAA exam.
This table breaks down the content tested on the FMAA exam. Go to IMA’s FMAA page Opens in new window to see the detailed Learning Outcome Statements, Content Specification Outline, and FMAA Handbook.
| FMAA Exam Content | |
|---|---|
| General accounting and financial management | 25% |
| Financial statement preparation and analysis | 25% |
| Planning and budgeting | 20% |
| Cost management and performance metrics | 20% |
| Professional ethics | 10% |
Your options for when to take the FMAA exam depend on what language you’re taking it in. IMA offers the FMAA exam in English, Arabic, and Chinese.
IMA offers continuous testing for the English FMAA exam. You don’t have to wait to take the exam in specific testing windows, and you can schedule your exam with Prometric whenever you’re ready.
The Arabic FMAA exam is offered in specific testing windows:
Visit IMA’s page Opens in new window to learn more about the Chinese FMAA exam and testing windows.
Go to IMA’s FMAA page Opens in new window to register to take the FMAA exam. When you register, you’ll be required to pay the exam fee. You don’t need to be an IMA member to sit for the exam, but you’ll need to create an account with IMA to register for it. Once you register for the FMAA exam, your registration is valid for six months.
Once you’ve registered and received your authorization from ICMA, you’ll schedule your exam appointment with Prometric Opens in new window where you’ll choose your testing center location and your appointment date and time.
Don’t delay scheduling your exam! You only have your six-month authorization period to take the FMAA exam, so it’s a good idea to secure a testing appointment in advance.
If you cancel within 5–45 days of your scheduled appointment, Prometric will charge a fee. If you cancel with less than five days’ notice, you’ll forfeit your exam fees and be required to register for the exam again with ICMA and pay the fee again.
Head to Prometric’s site Opens in new window to cancel or reschedule, and be sure to have your confirmation number on hand.
See the following table for Prometric’s detailed rescheduling and cancellation policy.
| FMAA Exam Cancellation/Rescheduling Guidelines | ||
|---|---|---|
| Period | Policy | Fee |
| 46 or more days before appointment | Cancellation/rescheduling permitted | No fee |
| 5 to 45 days before appointment | Cancellation/rescheduling permitted | $70 fee |
| Less than 5 days before appointment | Cancellation/rescheduling not permitted | Full exam fee forfeited |
| Fails to appear for the appointment | Cancellation/rescheduling not permitted | Full exam fee forfeited |
| Arrives 30 or more minutes after scheduled start time | Cancellation/rescheduling not permitted | Full exam fee forfeited |
Canceling your appointment with Prometric allows you to reschedule to another date within the same testing window. If you want to transfer your exam appointment to the next testing window, you can pay a fee and submit an Exam Switch Opens in new window request to ICMA. You must do this at least five days before the scheduled appointment. If you already have an appointment scheduled, you’ll need to cancel it before your transfer request can be processed.
On FMAA exam day, you should plan to arrive at the test center at least 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. When you arrive, you’ll be required to sign into the log book and show valid identification before you can go into the exam room.
You’re required to prove your identity to take the FMAA exam, and you can either show one form of primary ID or two forms of secondary ID. The name on your ID must exactly match the name on your authorization letter, your photo must look like you, and your signature must match the test center roster. All identification must be current and original—expired IDs and photocopies will not be accepted.
These are the accepted forms of ID:
On exam day, you’ll have the option to use the calculator within the exam software, but you’re also allowed to bring a calculator to your exam as long as it meets IMA’s requirements.
Your calculator must be a non-programmable six-function (or fewer) calculator that is battery- or solar-powered.
Here is a list of approved calculators:
We recommend studying with the same calculator that you’ll bring to the test center on exam day so that you’re already comfortable using it. Don’t forget to put in new batteries before your exam day!
The FMAA exam passing score is 200 on a scale ranging from 0 to 300.
The exam is scored by taking the number of items you answered correctly on the test and transforming them to this scale. No two candidates get exactly the same exam, and the questions asked vary from test to test.
ICMA uses statistical exam equating methods to ensure all candidates meet the same standards, no matter what form of the exam they take. So scaled scoring and exam equating help maintain standards and keep score reporting uniform regardless of the exact questions you get.
If you take the English FMAA exam, your exam results will immediately be displayed when you finish your exam. You’ll also get an email from Prometric with your results.
If you take the Arabic FMAA exam, you will not see your results immediately after completing your exam. Instead, your results will be emailed to you and posted to your profile about four weeks after the end of the month that you tested in.
If you fail the FMAA exam, you’ll receive a performance report email from Prometric that notes what areas your performance was satisfactory, marginal, or unsatisfactory in.
If you take the English exam, you should receive this report shortly after you take the exam. Arabic exam test takers will receive their performance reports around 14 days after exam results are posted to their profile.
Financial and Managerial Accounting Associates need to meet IMA’s requirements for maintaining their certification status. These requirements include: