Posts tagged: Why take CMA

360: The Perfect Score

May 20, 2013, by No comments yet

 

Written By CMA exam Guest Blogger Ashley G.

Although I took my exam on 2/28/2012 (the last testing date of the testing window), I received my score on 4/12/2012 (talk about the waiting game). For all of the readers out there, I thought I would share my score and provide some advice. Some people might feel a perfect score is scoring the highest possible score; however, for me, 360 is the perfect score.

I once read an article a few years ago when I first began studying for the CMA (when it was a 4-part exam) where the author claimed that the goal is to achieve optimal efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to exam performance. Think of this as break-even analysis. This individual said that if you consume your life with studies and score an absolute perfect score, you have over-studied. Therefore, you have achieved effectiveness (by passing) but have missed the mark on efficiency. If you study and procrastinate, however, and fail the exam, you have achieved neither effectiveness nor efficiency.

When I studied for both the CPA and CMA, I used the 1-month approach (warning: this isn’t meant for everyone). I study for about 1 month for each section. This means being diligent 100% of the time and focusing on the finish line. The only time this did not work was when I sat for CMA Part II the first time (it took two tries). I scored a 330, which was as a result of not being diligent and letting work get the best of me. To study and work at the same time is the hardest and most admirable task I can think of (besides adding children and other obligations to the equation).

You have to stop to think what is best for YOU. Much like weight-loss, everyone is different! For myself, and I did learn this the hard way, studying for several months results in procrastination and putting off study plans. It would turn into “I can miss one day. What’s one day?” After this approach resulted in me failing the CMA and CPA several times, I changed my study routine (slow and steady did not win the race for me). For my lifestyle, 1 month has been the perfect plan, although I have no significant other and no children. I do, however, have an intense work environment, which requires traveling, minimal obligations, distractions, etc.).

What was my score you ask? A perfect 360. As a final note, I would like to give a huge thanks to my Support System. I would also like to thank Gleim for granting me the opportunity to document my experience (the ups and downs). This will definitely be a piece of history in my life that I share with future generations. It’s incredible having the ability to sit back and reflect on what I went through. I would encourage anyone out there to journal their progress – it helps. I hope my entries have helped the readers out there in their exam preparations.

Cheers!

 

CMA Studying: No Pain, No Gain!

March 14, 2013, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Lynn L. for the Gleim CMA Blog.

Greetings!

I hope all of you are doing well with your studying. This past week has been very unproductive for me. School has restarted, and I have three graduate-level courses to take. This is 20 hours of work every week and requires participation in student organizations where I am an officer. I only got a chance to spend 5 hours studying and have not finished a study unit yet. I guess it is time for me to adjust my study plan. I no longer have a full free day, even during the weekends.

Somewhere on this blog, I saw that a blogger compared studying for the CMA exam to a marathon. I agree that the biggest obstacle for both studying and completing a marathon is ourselves. How to keep studying consistently for the exam is a big problem. Sometimes, I lose interest in studying and take short breaks and watch some TV to relax. I also skipped some steps recently, such as taking the diagnostic quiz. I simply didn’t recall anything I studied for that study unit. I understand that I have not done enough practice questions from test prep yet. I hope to spend the last couple of weeks answering those questions in a test-like environment.

I am now planning to focus on the knowledge transfer outlines and test prep questions for the next couple of weeks. I know my weak areas are those conceptual questions, so I will also do some reviews of previous study units at the end of every week. There is not much time left for me to study and pass Part 1, so I am hoping to get into study mode in the coming week. I will also need to adjust my study plans to fit my work/class schedules.

The phrase, “no pain, no gain” always occurs to me. I know I have to give up some time for activities and friends and spend that time studying from now on. Friends or family may not fully understand your sacrifice and may no longer ask you to join them. However, I believe that once I successfully pass the exam and announce the result to everyone, they will start to understand everything. They will understand that this is an investment I made in myself and they will be proud of me. So let me be more focused with CMA studying, and I am sure I will make it!

 

New Beginnings: Middle of Week 1 (part 1)

March 12, 2013, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Ashley G.

Based on my new strategy, I have 5 weeks of being diligent and the remaining weeks to review. This shouldn’t be too much to ask of myself! As I mentioned in my previous entry, I plan on studying one study unit for an entire week. This will probably vary depending on how challenging the content is. I plan to read the Gleim book and then examine the multiple-choice questions (and my notes) on the weekends.

As I compose this blog, I am sitting at my office desk finishing my lunch on a Friday. So, technically, I should be through most, if not all, of the first study unit by now. Well, I feel like I have achieved that. I have finished subunits 1 and 2. I am still working on subunit 3. I am hoping to have it finished by Saturday afternoon so I can get to the multiple-choice questions.

What has been my CMA exam study strategy? While going through these three subunits during the week, I have also listened to the Gleim lectures. Once I have completed this, I go back and re-read the entire subunit. If there is a formula, I create a notecard. While reading, I will highlight and make notations throughout the book. Once I have completed reading the entire subunit, I will go to the textbook multiple-choice section and essay section and complete them.

CMA subunits 2 and 3 are pretty lengthy and challenging sections for the good old memory bank. They primarily consist of formulas and ratio analysis. During these two subunits, I have been writing extensive notes and writing flashcards. This weekend, I plan on bringing out my easel board and write out formulas. Wow, writing that makes me sound like I should bring out my glasses, pocket protector, and abacus. It really works though! Having a flip chart handy always helps me visualize things better.

I will keep everyone posted on how the weekend goes and whether I was able to meet my goal of getting Study Unit 1 (subunits 1-3) down! Happy studying!

 

 

Reflecting On The Holidays – Struggled With Studying

January 4, 2013, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Ashley G.

I have always struggled with studying during the holidays. Holidays are a time to spend with family and friends. I realize that studying requires sacrificing other things, but I just can’t seem to make excuses for this one. The holidays have always been important to me. Along with this obligation to family and friends comes cooking, shopping, spending time with loved ones, etc.

I always try to use the saying “We always make time for the things we want to make time for” as a means of justifying proper time management when it comes to spending time with family and friends. During the holidays, this concept becomes more of a gray area instead of black and white.

Giving up time with family for studying seems selfish to me. Years from now, my family and friends might not be here. For instance, the mother of a friend of mine passed away the Monday before Thanksgiving. Not only is my friend struggling emotionally and financially over her mother’s passing, but it has sunk in that she will never have another holiday with her. I bet she never thought about this in 2011 over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It seems to me that holidays should be a chance to take a couple of days off from studying in order to be close to the people who one day may no longer be with us. I think it is a small sacrifice that is worth it at the end of the day. Others may or may not disagree with this, and that is okay. I just don’t want to become consumed with work and studying. I am thankful for my support system, my family, and friends.

 

An Exciting Day Of CMA Studying & Signing Up For The Exam

October 1, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Yesterday was an exciting day in terms of the CMA exam.  You might be thinking that I scored really well on a study unit that I had been struggling with or actually got my final results (I could only wish I was that far along).  Nope, I finally became a member of the IMA, paid the CMA entrance fee, and officially signed up for a specific testing window.  If you are not familiar with taking the CMA exam, there are specific testing windows each year of when you can actually take the exam.  I believe there are about 3-4 testing windows each year when you can take specific parts of the CMA exam.  The testing windows are normally 2 months long and usually you can only take each part once during a specific testing window.

After I signed up for the specific testing window and received my exam notification, I was then ready to go to the Prometric website.  The nearest testing center for me was about 30 miles away.  After I located my testing center, I could then find a good date to take the exam (VERY IMPORTANT).  You really need to think long and hard about when you want to take the exam within the testing window.  I normally try to take mine on the weekend, but sometimes the weekend is not available since it fills up quickly.  If you are going to take it during the week, I would make sure to take a vacation day because you will be totally drained by the end of the exam.  I like to take my exams in the afternoon so I do not feel rushed in the morning to make it to the testing facility.  It also gives me a little time in the morning to review any material that I still might be unsure of.  I’m not a huge advocate of cramming at the last second (based on what I tell my students) but it is almost inevitable when it comes to these big certification exams.  I remember taking the last part of the CPA exam and cramming all morning because, for some reason, I was having doubts about my tax and business law knowledge.

Another thing that I usually do before taking one of these exams is to also take the day before the exam off as well.  If I take a vacation day the day before the exam, it usually calms my nerves because I have the entire day before the exam to review major topics and to make sure I’m well rested.  When I took parts of the CPA exam, I did not get a lot of sleep the night before, but at least I tried.  It’s little things like these that put your mind somewhat at ease and makes the process a little less stressful.  Once you start, you will normally find a routine that works for you, and if it works, do not change it.

In my next blog entry, I will give some helpful tips about the days leading up to the exam and the exam day itself.  If you have never taken one of these exams, you will soon realize that little things leading up to it can make a world of difference.

Kind regards,

 

Jason S.

 

Gleim CMA Practice Exam

September 12, 2012, by 1 comment

It is our top priority that you pass the CMA exam on your first attempt. As a result, we have released the Gleim CMA Practice Exam. The CMA Practice Exam is 4 hours long and contains 100 multiple-choice questions and two essays, just like the actual CMA exam. Therefore, it tests you not only on the content you have studied, but also on the question-answering and time-management techniques you will need to learn in order to pass your exam(s). Dr. Gleim recommends that you take the Gleim Practice Exam AFTER you have completed all study units of your CMA Review and shortly BEFORE you take the actual exam to gain experience in the computer-based exam environment.

The Gleim CMA Practice Exam is complimentary with your purchase of the Gleim CMA Review System. Our mission is to provide easy-to-use, affordable review materials that allow you to maximize your results within the constraints of your valuable study time. The Gleim CMA Review System will provide you with a grasp on the topics covered and make you an expert at test-taking skills, including (but not limited to) educated guessing and time management. The CMA Practice Exam is an integral component of the Review System as it tests a candidate’s proficiency on both content and test-taking skills.

 

 

CMA Exam Studying Update

August 28, 2012, by 2 comments

 

Greetings –

Here is the second update on my CMA studying so far. When I provided my first update, I had completed test prep questions for Study Units 1 through 4 of Part I (Financial Planning, Performance, and Control). Since then I have completed Study Units 5 through 9. The results have been somewhat similar to the first four study units, but I am not overly confident about the exam at the moment (however, I am not overly pessimistic either). I completed all of the questions in the test prep software for Study Units 5 through 9 and my scores were between 78% and 88%.

Based on the scores, I am moving right along, and it appears that I know the material after reading the study unit and taking some good notes. The hardest study unit for me in this specific block of study units was Study Unit 7 (Cost and Variance Measures). The reason that Study Unit 7 was giving me problems is because there are so many formulas to know in that one specific study unit. In my opinion, you need to know a lot of equations for the CMA exam (or at least for Part I). I’m trying to keep a pretty good detailed list of equations that I will need to know for the exam. Some equations I already have memorized from teaching managerial/cost accounting courses in the past. However, there are many that I still need to have written down so I can memorize them for exam day.

Also, my time per question has moved down from 1 minute 45 seconds to 1 minute 38 seconds. This was in large part due to the fact that Study Unit 9 (Internal Controls I) has no computations and most of the questions were pretty short.

So far, I’m very happy with the fact that I am almost done with all test prep questions from Study Units 1 through 10. After I am finished, I can then focus on trying to put everything together and begin working on preparing for the essay part of the exam. The CMA exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 essay questions. My thought is that if I can really focus on doing well on the multiple-choice question part of the exam, it will take some pressure off the essay part.

On a future blog I will update everyone on my essay studying and how I’m truly approaching that part of the exam.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jason S.

 

 

IMA National Conference – Share Your Images With Us!

August 27, 2012, by No comments yet

 

The IMA’s Annual Conference was in Las Vegas this year. It provided members with the opportunity to network with colleagues while learning new things about the industry and staying current with the latest professional standards. Gleim had a great time at the Solutions Showcase where attendees were able to visit with vendors and learn all about how Gleim can help get management accountants certified in a timely and affordable manner.

 

Did you pass with Gleim?

Setting up the Gleim Booth for the IMA Conference. We hope you came by and saw Dr. Gleim and our new CMA System!

The Gleim booth at the IMA Conference with Melissa and our two student representatives.

 

Dr. Gleim takes a minute to pose with this successful CMA candidate!

 

 

The conference also celebrated the CMA Exam’s 40th Birthday. Gleim was proud to be one of the sponsors for this and provide frames for the attendees to display their own “red carpet” photos. Here are a few of our photos from the event. Please share your photos with us.

 

Dr. Gleim and Melissa at the CMA Celebration at the IMA National Conference.

 

More Celebrating at the IMA National Conference.

 

Find your IMA images here and share them with us!

 

 

Is It Worth Earning More Than Just The CPA Designation?

August 24, 2012, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Mr. Dom Savini (Please see his bio)

Although the answer to this question depends on a host of matters that encompass personal and professional circumstances and aspirations, generally speaking the answer is most certainly, YES.

In a recent survey of 300 global CEO’s 76% agreed that current reporting systems are too focused on financial statements and 75% agreed that more emphasis is needed on communicating non-financial business value.[1]  Additionally, as governments face the current global economic climate they are reviewing ways to better report performance, cost accounting, and budget information to their citizenry.[2]  Lastly, standard-setters have initiated research projects that deal with improving commentary, disclosure and analysis about an organization’s financial health and operations.[3]

What does this mean to you?   Although the CPA designation has been and continues to be considered the “gold-standard”, its focus is primarily on public accounting and auditing.[4]  As such, although it is an outstanding and robust foundation and professional achievement, its current scope does not really focus on areas such as strategic cost management, governance, risk management, organizational theories and employee behavior. In fact, just read any business newspaper and you will see that these are the areas that are the root cause to many of the financial problems whether on Wall Street, Main Street, or City Hall.  Now, in order to gain this proficiency you can decide to either enter into a multi-year masters degree program paying thousands of dollars or consider taking The Gleim CMA or CIA review courses and becoming certified within a matter of months as opposed to years.

Other reasons to consider earning either the CIA or CMA designation include: securing greater advantages such as increased earnings & promotion potential, demonstrating increased level of proficiency & professionalism, meeting globalized demand for services, leveraging your existing skills across diverse disciplines, and most importantly, remaining a relevant professional in today’s highly competitive global environment.  The ball is in your court.

Footnotes:

[1] Rebooting Business: Valuing the Human Dimension,  January 2012.  AICPA and CIMA. http://www.cgma.org/Resources/Reports/Pages/rebooting-business.aspx

[2] FASAB Active Projects, Performance Reporting and Reporting of Budgetary Information in Financial Reports. http://www.fasab.gov/projects/active-projects/performance-reporting/

[3] FASB Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee Recommends Improvements to Financial Reporting, News Release 10/03/11 and IPSASB Active Project, Reporting Service Performance Information. http://www.ifac.org/public-sector/projects/reporting-service-performance-information

[4] The AICPA’s content specification outlines (CSOs) for the four sections of the Uniform CPA Exam include: Auditing & Attestation, Financial Accounting & Reporting, Regulation, and Business Environment & Concepts. http://www.aicpa.org/becomeacpa/cpaexam/examinationcontent/contentandskills/pages/default.aspx

CMA Studying – A Sprint, Not A Marathon

August 23, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Greetings –

I just have to keep telling myself that these certification exams are not a sprint but a marathon.  In a marathon, you would not start sprinting or use all your energy in the first half of the race. If you did, chances are you might not finish the race. When you are studying, you definitely have to be aware of how fast you are going and make sure that you do not burn yourself out too soon. It’s typical when you begin to set lofty goals of how quick you might become a CMA, CPA, or whatever you’re working toward. A smart marathon runner (or “distance runner”) will pace themselves from the beginning and will be aware that there could be low points during the race. The key thing is to manage your low points effectively and know that they are only temporary. I’ve learned to pace myself when it comes to these exams. My initial goal each week is to complete at least one study unit (reading it, taking notes, and doing the test prep). If I’m feeling really good, I will attempt another study unit, but never more than two study units per week. Sometimes I achieve my goal and maybe a little more, but there are those weeks when unexpected things come up. With the CMA exam, a candidate has ample time to pass both parts of the exam. Once you get close to the end of the marathon you will probably feel worn out. However, if you trained properly, you could probably push yourself a little faster and dig a little deeper. I try to study the study units one by one, but when I start my final review, I like to put everything together and make one final push toward the finish line. It’s all part of the process, and if you keep moving forward, you will eventually get to the end.

 

Just in case anyone is wondering I love running and have ran 11 marathons and 4 ultramarathons. I relate a lot of what I do to running because there are some similarities (and yes there are plenty of differences). However, these exams and distance running take lots of determination, perseverance, and a drive to never give up.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jason S.