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Study Tips For US CMA Exam – shared by Amrita

by Sailaja Simandhar Simandhar Education - CPA, CMA, CA, IFRS

Hi Everyone!

I hope you’ve all been keeping well. I recently passed my CMA part-2 exam and I’d like to share my experience and give some pointers which helped me get here.

First, I want to wholeheartedly thank the faculty – Sripal sir, Suraj sir and Amir sir – for all the resources, support and guidance I’ve been readily provided with.

All the resources given immensely help with the preparation for CMA part -2 exam. Regularly following classes, Becker videos, reading the text and making notes will give sufficient understanding of all the sections. For the MCQs, unit MCQs provided for the all the sections and essays available on the Simandhar portal is very helpful. Practicing essays on word and timing yourself provides better edge.

Section A – For this section, understanding ratios and its analysis is very important in CMA syllabus. The Special issues part is important for both the essays and the MCQs. You need to be able to interpret the ratios as interpretation is heavily tested.

Section B – Cost of capital, Working capital and Corporate restructuring are very important for essays. Personally, a lot of questions in my exam were based on cost of capital. You need to understand all the seven topics mentioned in this section.

Section C – This is the most important section. Marginal analysis is heavily tested. BEP is very essential as well. Sales mix problems are very very important, I cannot emphasize on this enough. Pricing and its strategies are asked in essays.

Section D & F – These are small topics but extremely important. A lot of theory is asked from these sections. Risk map is important.

Section E – all the capital budgeting methods are important. Stages of cap budgeting, Differences between methods, Risk in capital budgeting, Sensitivity analysis are commonly asked in essays.

Now, for some pointers –

  • Never go by the percentage provided for each section, each section is equally important. My window tested investment decisions and corporate finance heavily.
  • Time yourself well. Try to complete the MCQs in 2 hrs and 45 minutes so you have an hour and 15 minutes for the essay section.
  • While writing the essays, use the simplest language possible to define terms and keep it professional.
  • Make use of the flashcards in Becker in order to be thorough with the definitions- you NEED to be thorough with the definitions.
  • Keep the four days immediately before your exam for revision and only revision. Revise for both the MCQs and the essays.
  • CMA Part 2 has a lot of formulae so make a list of formulae and revise it every day. 
  • Revising the entire textbook as many times as you can is important – 2 or 3 times is ideal.
  • Doing Becker at least two times is advisable as well. I noticed two direct questions from Becker in the exam.
  • Do not forget to go through the appendix given in the book.

Focus on your understanding of the CMA course concepts. Try to stay calm and composed throughout your prep, before and during the exam.

Best,
Amrita

SIMANDHAR EDUCATION

Simandhar Education is India’s No.1 training provider for US CMA, US CPA, Enrolled Agent IFRS and HRCI professional courses.


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About Sailaja Simandhar Innovator   Simandhar Education - CPA, CMA, CA, IFRS

15 connections, 0 recommendations, 66 honor points.
Joined APSense since, January 25th, 2021, From Hyderabad, India.

Created on Apr 19th 2021 07:01. Viewed 278 times.

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