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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.
There are many great reasons to earn your FMAA certification:
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 educational or experience requirements, the FMAA is perfect for students and young professionals looking to propel their careers forward.
IMA requires a $299 fee to sit for the exam. Once certified, IMA requires FMAAs to pay a $49 annual renewal fee. You are not required to pay for IMA membership to take the FMAA exam.
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.
The FMAA exam tests five key topic areas to ensure they have foundational knowledge in accounting and finance. It’s two-hours long and contains 80 multiple-choice questions. On average, you’ll need to study for about 50 hours to prepare for the exam.
The table to the right 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% |
The FMAA exam is offered in both English and Arabic, and there are different testing windows depending on which language you plan to test in.
In 2025, the English FMAA exam windows will be in January, May, and September. Registration is currently open for the January and May 2025 windows.
Registration is opening soon for the September 2025 English window and the 2025 Arabic testing windows.
| FMAA Exam Windows | |
|---|---|
| English | Arabic |
| January 2025 | January 26 to February 3, 2025 |
| May 2025 | May 11 to May 19, 2025 |
| September 2025 | September 14 to September 22, 2025 |
Go to IMA’s FMAA page Opens in new window to register to take the FMAA exam in one of the available testing windows.
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.
You can cancel your appointment with Prometric and reschedule it to another date within the same testing window as long as you do this at least 72 hours before your appointment.
If you cancel within 30 days of your scheduled appointment, Prometric will charge a fee. And if you cancel with less than 72 hours of notice you’ll forfeit your exam fees and be required to register for the exam again.
Head to Prometric’s site Opens in new window to cancel or reschedule, and be sure to have your confirmation number on hand.
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:
Primary
Secondary
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. It must be a non-programable 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.
Your FMAA exam results will be emailed to you and posted to your profile 6-8 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 around 14 days after exam results are posted. The report will note what areas your performance was satisfactory, marginal, or unsatisfactory in.
You can’t test twice in the same testing window
If you fail the FMAA exam, you’ll have to schedule your re-take in the next testing window.
Once you pass the exam and have your FMAA certification, you’ll need to meet IMA’s requirements for maintaining it. These requirements include: