Becoming a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is undoubtedly the best way advance your career in managerial accounting. But if you’re still learning about the exam, study strategies, and the best way to prepare, investing in a full-blown CMA Exam Review course may seem overwhelming. Learn first through these top free CMA study materials and ease your way into CMA success!
Summary
Free CMA study resources offer a helpful starting point to understand the two-part CMA exam's structure and content, questions, and demos of full study courses. That said, investing in a comprehensive review course is recommended for the deep understanding and robust support needed to ensure first-time passing.
What You Need to Know About the CMA Exam Before Studying
Before diving into exam preparation, it’s helpful to know what you’re up against. The CMA Exam is a comprehensive, two-part exam that’s designed to cover all the topics you need to be successful as a Certified Management Accountant.
Each exam part focuses on a specific topic area: Part One covers financial planning, performance, and analytics; Part Two focuses on strategic financial management. Each part contains 100 multiple choice questions (MCQs), plus two, multi-part essay or CBQ questions. Parts are scored from 0-500, with 360 points marking a passing score.
Passing the exam therefore requires deep understanding of many complex concepts, making your study strategy essential to your overall success.
Why Free CMA Study Materials Help (And When They Don’t)
If you’re questioning the purchase of a CMA Exam Review, free CMA study materials are a great place to start. They can provide supplemental support to a more robust CMA Exam Review experience, allowing you to get a taste of the CMA Exam questions and format without making any financial investment. This can also inform which CMA Exam Review course is best for you, as you test your learning style preferences and can then seek the resources that will best help you succeed.
However, free CMA study materials won’t fully prepare you for exam-day success like a complete CMA Exam Review course will. A course is designed to teach you all the exam concepts aligned with the most current IMA updates and syllabi, telling you what to study and when to boost your chance of success.
A great course (like Becker’s CMA Exam Review!) also provides you with:
- A robust study support system
- Advanced study tools to personalize your study experience
- Expert teaching and engaging lecture videos
- One-on-one tutoring sessions
- Unlimited, custom practice tests
- Simulated exams of the same length and format as the real thing
With all these resources, you can streamline your path to passing the CMA Exam on the first try. While it’s not impossible to pass using only free resources, these are not nearly as comprehensive and it will be much, much more difficult to pass on the first try. Remember: if you fail, you will have to invest more anyway, to pay the registration and exam fees for a retake. Becker’s Pro CMA Exam Review is backed by our Pass Guarantee, so you’re ultimately risking less in finances and disappoint by investing into passing the first time!
Top 5 Free CMA Study Materials
IMA Resources
The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) administers the CMA Exam and the CMA credential, and provides its CMA candidates with a number of free resources to get them started.
Get to know the IMA’s CMA handbook1 as your resource for all things CMA Exam details. From what to expect on exam day to a detailed outline of each part’s concepts per exam section, it contains everything that you should know going into exam prep.
The IMA also houses study tips, practice quizzes, and an exam simulator on its website—all free for you to explore as you’re getting ready for exam day.
CMA Exam Guide
Becker created a free, downloadable CMA Exam Guide to give you all the details of the CMA Exam itself, plus a compilation of exam study tips, test-taking insights, and more that we’ve learned over our decades of exam prep experience.
If you’re just dipping into your exam journey, this free CMA study resource is great to get you started with details you didn’t even know you need to know.
Free CMA Exam Practice Questions
One great way to study is by running through CMA Exam questions. While you shouldn’t rely on them as your sole source of study as it risks memorization over understanding, practicing with real exam-like questions helps you get a feel for the experience, while also testing your understanding of exam concepts and helping you learn from your mistakes.
Becker provides free CMA Exam practice questions that you can download, drill, and check your answers. These practice questions, as well as our full CMA Exam Review course, include practice case-base questions (CBQs)—the new question format from the IMA.
Online CMA Study Communities
Passing the CMA Exam, putting in the time to prepare, and juggling all your other priorities alongside it is not an easy feat. The process can take a mental and physical toll if you don’t have support. One of the most useful and important free CMA study materials is therefore the online community of CMA candidates who are going through the same process you are.
From Reddit to social media, there are groups of CMA Exam candidates who offer their questions and answers, celebrations of exam victories, and encouragement after failed attempts. In fact, your Becker CMA Exam Review includes entrance into a private Facebook group of candidates studying for that part of the CMA Exam—giving you the chance to immediately plug in to an active community of professionals in your same boat.
CMA Exam Review Free Trial
Perhaps the most useful of all free CMA study materials is a CMA Exam Review free trial. In the end, you’ll likely invest in a course; it’s extremely difficult to pass without it. But the last thing you want is to buy an exam review that doesn’t fit your learning needs. Becker’s 14-day free CMA Exam Review demo lets you experience the course, getting a taste for the teaching, interface, NewtTM AI assistant, custom study planner, and other personalization and study features.
Free CMA Exam Review: Taking the First Steps
Beginning your CMA certification journey can be daunting; free CMA study materials are a great way to begin slowly, without diving into a big financial investment before you get your bearings. Start with a free trial of Becker’s CMA Exam Review!
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