Cost Management Accountant and its Career Opportunities & Salary

Cost Accountancy is also the toughest examination in the country as far as the professional accountancy examinations are concerned after Chartered Accountancy.

The main purpose of designing of this course is to nurture young minds into business leaders of tomorrow, wherein cost accountants can play a very important role in decision making. Students are more inclined in understanding the concepts of costing and management accounting and applying them in the practical work of field, they usually opt for this course instead of Company Secretary or Chartered Accountancy Course.

The different stages of examination includes the following-

• Foundation Programme
• CMA Intermediate Programme
• CMA Final Programme

Course	Duration & Eligibility	Subjects
Cost and Management Accountant by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India	3-5 years standard duration for this professional course10+2 with a minimum 60% aggregateCourse if divided into three levels- Foundation, Inter and FinalPractical Internship is also required to be done by the candidates at a requisite interval of time frameMultiple attempts are also required to be taken sometimes by the candidatesMaximum attempts limit should be checked before pursuing the course	Business Mathematics and Statistics Laws and Ethics Accounting Economics Management Company Accounts and Audit Operation Management Information System Business Strategy & Cost Management

Admission Procedure

Foundation Syllabus

Eligibility for Admission:

(a)      A candidate should have passed Class 10 or equivalent from a recognized Board or Institution.

(b)      Passed Senior Secondary Examination under 10+2 scheme of a recognized Board or an Examination recognized by the Central Government as equivalent thereto or has passed National Diploma in Commerce Examination held by the All India Council for Technical Education or any State Board of Technical Education under the authority of the said All India Council, or the Diploma in Rural Service Examination conducted by the National Council of Higher Education.

Incumbents waiting for the result can apply for provisional admission

Fee:

Cost of Prospectus – Rs. 250/-

Documents to be enclosed with application form:

1.       Attested Copy of Matriculation Certificate

2.       Attested copy of 10+2 Certificate or Marks Statement

3.       3(Three) Passport size photographs – (One pasted on application form, one pasted on identity card and one to be attached with application)

(Attestation should be by any member of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India /The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India/ The Institute of Company Secretaries of India/Parliament/State Legislative Assembly or a Gazetted Officer or a Principal of a college)

Intermediate Course:

Eligibility for Admission:

(a)      Passed Senior Secondary School Examination (10+2)and Foundation Course of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India/ Graduation in any discipline other than Fine Arts/ Foundation (Entry Level) Part I Examination of CAT of the Institute/ Foundation (Entry Level) Part I Examination and Competency Level Part II Examination of CAT of the Institute

(b)      Passed Foundation of ICSI/Intermediate of ICAI by what ever name called along with 10+2.

(c)      List of other qualifying examination are given vide Annexure VI of prospectus.

Incumbents waiting for the result can apply for provisional admission

Eligibility : Any of following

• Passed 4^th semester / 2^nd year Graduation **
• Passed Graduation
• Passed 4^th Semester / 2 Year Eng. Graduation or equivalent
• Passed Engineering Graduation or equivalent
• Passed CMA Foundation
• Passed CAT Level – 1
• Passed CA IPCC Inter
• Passed CS Foundation – (CSEET is not eligible)
• Passed Post Graduation
• Passed Doctoral
• Passed ICSI
• Passed CIMA
• Passed CA
• Passed ACCA

Qualifying examination

It is  a very lucrative profession whcih opens up various career opportunities for the qualified candidates. Irrespective of their size, almost all companies need to have Cost Accountants.

Cost Accountants are well paid professionals

There is no doubt that CMAs gets handsome salary/ income from whatever option they chose. They are considered as highly paid in the companies and when it comes to practice/ own business there is no limit once they decide the type of business they chose to proceed with.

The take home salary once they decide can vary between Rs. 5 lacs to Rs. 10 lacs but with experience the rise and growth can be exponentially high.

Although the salary and remuneration depends upon the skill and experience of the candidate also but at the same time this profession brings atleast minimum security on account of financial front.

Salary Expectations

If we arbitrarily try to bring an estimate on the basis of experience of the candidate, then some picture may come out like below-

Years of experience	Salary can range upto
0-5 years	Rs. 8-9 lacs
5-10 years	Rs. 12-15lacs
10-15 years	Rs. 20-25 lacs
15-20 years	Rs. 30-45 lacs

Remuneration on the basis of professional capacity and profile

After qualifying chartered accountancy, the candidates have numerous options with themselves like getting into the job or doing their own professional business or practice or on partnership basis-

a. Costing Jobs

b. Taxation Jobs

c. Finance Jobs

They also act as business advisors and they may not always be in forefront but still an intrinsic part of the strategy making and planning. They also occupy various critical positions in business setting.

While acting as business advisors they also help the business owners to reach to a higher level of profits and excellent margins by rationalising the cost.

The demand for CMAs in the foreign market is getting higher and higher day by day and infact at a peak right now. If anyone has anytime dreamt of settling abroad then this is the right choice for him. The demand for CMAs in the foreign market is as much as the demand is in India.

As per the profile offered to them , their salary varies from role to role. For instance-

Role Profile	Estimated salary per annum
Financial officer in the company	Rs. 35 lakh
Costing executive	Rs. 5-10 lakh
Cost Accountant- in accounts deptt	Rs. 15-25 lakh
Finance controller job	Rs. 10-19 lakh
Managerial Role- Finance manager	Rs. 10-15 lakhs
Financial analyst profile	Rs 6- 8 lakh
Assistant Cost accounting manager	Rs. 5-7 lakh
Senior cost account executive	Rs. 4-5 lakh
Senior Cost Accountant	Rs 3.5- 5 lakh
Business analyst role	Rs 4- 5 lakh
Account assistant	Rs 2-5 lakh

Location based salary structure

The remuneration of the CMAs also vary from the location in which the job profile is posted, for example in Gurgaon the salary will be higher as compared to Punjab region. Similarly if we talk about Chennai or Mumbai region it will be even more than Gurgaon and far higher than Punjab region. Normally maximum Cost Accountants opt for working in and around Delhi region. Other regions include Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur as top locations among others across India. Also they are prone to opt for Government Jobs/ PSU jobs.

Top Paying industries for Cost Management Accountants

Oil and Gas	Rs. 19 lacs
IT services & Consulting	Rs. 10.1 lacs
Engineering / Construction	Rs. 7.8-8.5 lacs
Education & Training	Rs. 6.3 lacs
Analytics & KPO	Rs. 6.6 lacs
FMCG Companies	Rs. 5.7-7.3 lacs
Clinical Research	Rs. 3.9 lacs
Financial Services	Rs. 3.5 lacs

Annual Packages of Cost Management Accountants in Government Jobs

Government Companies	Job profile	CMA Salary
NAFED	Manager of Accounts	Rs. 6.5 lacs
Regional Centre for Biotech	Senior Accounts Assistant	Rs. 8.5 lacs
IWAI	CFO	Rs. 12 lacs