Cost and Management Accountancy Course offered by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India
The main purpose of designing 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
CMA Inter is the second stage of the professional course of Cost Accountancy. The Inter stage is basically designed to inculcate skills and competence of Inter program passed students. The main objective is to make students capable and competent to act as Costing Executive in companies or in professional and consultancy firms).
It’s a national level examination. 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.
Students can apply for the inter program through the foundation programme or direct entry route provided by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.
Understanding Syllabus of CMA Intermediate 2023
The Institute has prescribed detailed syllabus w.r.t. each paper and content which will be part of the test. Following are the topics and subjects which are required to be part of the test. Students are expected to understand and have a proper grip on the topics. A proper SWOT analysis should be done by the students w.r.t. topics. The focus should be more on the topics/ subjects which seems tough or difficult for them.
| Syllabus – 2022: Intermediate Course Curriculum | Syllabus – 2016 Intermediate Study Material |
| GROUP – I PAPER 5: BUSINESS LAWS AND ETHICS (BLE) PAPER 6: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING (FA) PAPER 7: DIRECT AND INDIRECT TAXATION (DITX) PAPER 8: COST ACCOUNTING (CA)GROUP – IIPAPER 9: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (OMSM) PAPER 10: CORPORATE ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING (CAA) PAPER 11: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS DATA ANALYTICS (FMDA) PAPER 12: MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (MA) | Paper-5 Financial Accounting Paper-6 Laws and Ethics Paper-7 Direct Taxation Revised Edition January 2023 Paper-8 Cost Accounting Paper-9 Operations Management & Strategic Management Paper-10 Cost & Management Accounting and Financial Management Paper-11 Indirect Taxation Revised Edition January 2023 Paper-12 Company Accounts & Audit |
Syllabus – 2022: Intermediate Course Curriculum
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 5 BUSINESS LAWS AND ETHICS (BLE) |
| Section A: Commercial Laws | Introduction to Law and Legal System in IndiaIndian Contracts Act, 1872Sale of Goods Act, 1930Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881Indian Partnership Act, 1932Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 |
| Section B: Industrial Laws | Factories Act, 1948Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952Employees State Insurance Act, 1948The Code on Wages, 2019 |
| Section C: Corporate Laws | Companies Act, 2013 |
| Section D: Business Ethics | Business Ethics and Emotional Intelligence |
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 6 FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING (FA) |
| Section A: Accounting Fundamentals | Accounting Fundamentals |
| Section B: Accounting for Special Transactions | Bills of Exchange, Consignment, Joint Venture |
| Section C: Preparation of Financial Statements | Preparation of Final Accounts of Commercial Organisations,Not-for-Profit Organisations and from Incomplete Records |
| Section D: Partnership Accounts | Partnership Accounts |
| Section E: Lease, Branch and Departmental Accounts etc. | Lease AccountingBranch (including Foreign Branch) and Departmental AccountsInsurance Claim for Loss of Stock and Loss of ProfitHire Purchase and Installment Sale Transactions |
| Section F: Accounting Standards | Accounting Standards |
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 7DIRECT AND INDIRECT TAXATION (DITX) |
| Section A: Direct Taxation | Basics of Income Tax ActHeads of IncomeTotal Income and Tax Liability of Individuals & HUF |
| Section B: Indirect Taxation | Concept of Indirect TaxesGoods and Services Tax (GST) LawsCustoms Act |
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 8COST ACCOUNTING (CA) |
| Section A: Introduction to Cost Accounting | Introduction to Cost AccountingCost Ascertainment – Elements of CostCost Accounting Standards (CAS 1 to CAS 24)Cost Book Keeping |
| Section B: Methods of Costing | Methods of Costing |
| Section C: Cost Accounting Techniques | Cost Accounting Techniques |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 9OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ANDSTRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (OMSM) |
| Section A: Operations Management | IntroductionOperations PlanningDesigning of Operational Systems and ControlApplication of Operation Research – Production Planning and ControlProductivity Management and Quality ManagementProject Management, Monitoring and ControlEconomics of Maintenance and Spares Management |
| Section B: Strategic Management | IntroductionStrategic Analysis and Strategic PlanningFormulation and Implementation of StrategyDigital Strategy |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 10CORPORATE ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING (CAA) |
| Section A: Corporate Accounting | Accounting for Shares and DebenturesPreparation of the Statement of Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet (As Per Schedule III of Companies Act, 2013)Cash Flow StatementAccounts of Banking, Electricity and Insurance CompaniesAccounting Standards |
| Section B: Auditing | Basic Concepts of AuditingProvisions Relating to Audit under Companies Act, 2013Auditing of Different Types of Undertakings |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 11FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ANDBUSINESS DATA ANALYTICS (FMDA) |
| Section A: Financial Management | Fundamentals of Financial ManagementInstitutions and Instruments in Financial MarketsTools for Financial AnalysesSources of Finance and Cost of CapitalCapital BudgetingWorking Capital ManagementFinancing Decision of a Firm |
| Section B: Business Data Analytics | Introduction to Data Science for Business Decision-makingData Processing, Organisation, Cleaning and ValidationData Presentation: Visualisation and Graphical PresentationData Analysis and Modelling |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 11FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ANDBUSINESS DATA ANALYTICS (FMDA) |
| Section A: Financial Management | Fundamentals of Financial ManagementInstitutions and Instruments in Financial MarketsTools for Financial AnalysesSources of Finance and Cost of CapitalCapital BudgetingWorking Capital ManagementFinancing Decision of a Firm |
| Section B: Business Data Analytics | Introduction to Data Science for Business Decision-makingData Processing, Organisation, Cleaning and ValidationData Presentation: Visualisation and Graphical PresentationData Analysis and Modelling |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 12MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (MA) |
| Section A: Introduction to Management Accounting | Introduction to Management Accounting |
| Section B: Activity Based Costing | Activity Based Costing |
| Section C: Decision Making Tools | Marginal CostingApplications of Marginal Costing in Short Term Decision MakingTransfer Pricing |
| Section D: Standard Costing and Variance Analysis | Standard Costing and Variance Analysis |
| Section E: Forecasting, Budgeting and Budgetary Control | Forecasting, Budgeting and Budgetary Control |
| Section F: Divisional Performance Measurement | Divisional Performance Measurement |
| Section G: Responsibility Accounting | Responsibility Accounting |
| Section H: Decision Theory | Decision Theory |
Syllabus – 2016: Intermediate Course Curriculum
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 05FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING |
| Section A: Accounting – Basics | 1. Fundamentals of Accounting 2. Accounting for Special Transactions |
| Section B: Preparation of Financial Statements | 3. Preparation of Final Accounts of Profit Oriented organizations, Non-Profit Organizations and from Incomplete Records. 4. Partnership Accounts |
| Section C: Self Balancing Ledgers, Royalties, Hire Purchase & Installment System, Branch & Departmental Accounts | 5. Self-Balancing Ledgers 6. Royalties, Hire-Purchase and Installment System 7. Branch and Departmental Accounts |
| Section D: Accounting in Computerised Environment and Accounting Standards | 8. Overview of Computerised Accounting 9. Accounting Standards (Specified only) |
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 06LAWS & ETHICS |
| Section A: Commercial Laws | 1. Laws of Contracts (Advanced level) 2. Laws relating to Sale of Goods (Advanced level) 3. Negotiable Instruments Act,1881 (Advanced Level) 4. Indian Partnership Act, 1932 5. Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 |
| Section B: Industrial Laws | 6. Factories Act, 19487. Payment of Gratuity Act, 19728. Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 19529. Employees State Insurance Act, 194810. Payment of Bonus Act, 196511. Minimum Wages Act, 194812. Payment of Wages Act, 193613. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 |
| Section C: Corporate Laws | 14. Companies Act, 2013 |
| Section D: Ethics | 15. Business Ethics |
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 07DIRECT TAXATION |
| Section A: Income Tax Act Basics | 1. Introduction to Income Tax Act, 19612. Income which do not form part of Total Income (Section 10, 11 to 13A) |
| Section B: Heads of Income and Computation of Total Income and Tax Liability | 3. Heads of Income and Computation of Total Income under various heads4. Clubbing Provisions, Set off and Carry forward of Losses, Deductions5. Assessment of Income and tax liability of different persons |
| Section C: Tax Management, Administrative Procedures and ICDS | 6. TDS, TCS and Advance Tax7. Administrative Procedures8. ICDS |
| Section D: Ethics | 15. Business Ethics |
| Intermediate Course (Group – I) | Paper 08COST ACCOUNTING |
| Section A: Introduction to Cost Accounting | A. Cost Ascertainment – Elements of CostB. Cost Accounting StandardsC. Cost Book Keeping |
| Section B: Methods of Costing | Methods of Costing |
| Section C: Cost Accounting Techniques | Cost Accounting Techniques |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 09OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT &STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT |
| Section A: Operations Management | 1. Operations Management – Introduction2. Operations Planning3. Designing of Operational Systems and control4. Production Planning and control5. Productivity management and quality management6. Project Management7. Economics of Maintenance and Spares management |
| Section B: : Strategic Management | 8. Strategic Management Introduction9. Strategic Analysis and Strategic Planning10. Formulation and Implementation of Strategy |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 10COST & MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGMENT |
| Section A: Cost & Management Accounting | 1. Cost and Management Accounting – Introduction2. Decision Making Tools3. Budgeting and Budgetary Control4. Standard Costing and Variance Analysis5. Learning Curve |
| Section B: : Financial Management | 6. Introduction to Financial Management7. Tools for Financial Analysis and Planning8. Working Capital Management9. Cost of Capital, Capital Structure Theories, Dividend Decisions and Leverage Analysis10. Capital Budgeting – Investment Decisions |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 11INDIRECT TAXATION |
| Section A: Canons of Taxation – Indirect Tax GST | IntroductionLevy and Collection of TaxLevy and Collection of TaxInput Tax Credit (ITC)Registration under GSTTax Invoice, Credit and Debit Notes and Other Documents under GSTAccounts and Records under GSTPayment of TaxTDS and TCS under GSTReturns under GSTMatching Concept under GSTAudit under GSTE-waybills under GST |
| Section B: CUSTOMS LAWS | Customs Law – Basic ConceptsTypes of DutiesValuation under CustomsImport & Export ProceduresCustoms Rules, 2017 |
| Intermediate Course (Group – II) | Paper 12COMPANY ACCOUNTS & AUDIT |
| Section A: Accounts of Joint Stock Companies | 1. Accounting of Shares and Debentures2. Presentation of Financial Statements (as per Schedule III) 3. Cash Flow Statement4. Accounts of Banking, Electricity and Insurance Companies 5. Accounting Standards (AS – 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19) |
| Section B: Auditing | 6. Auditing Concepts7. Provision relating to Audit under Companies Act |
Change in the sequence of papers from CMA 2016 to CMA 2022
The sequence of papers has been revised as follows
- Paper 5 & 6 of Old inter syllabus are Paper 6 & Paper 5 in Inter New Syllabus
- Paper 7 (Direct Taxation) & Paper 11(Indirect Taxation) have been merged into one paper i.e. Paper 7 (Direct & Indirect Taxation)
- Paper 10 of Inter Old syllabus has been split into two papers of Inter new syllabus i.e. Paper 12 (Management Accounting) and paper 11 (Financial Management and Business Data Analytics) with new subject of Business Data Analytics been included in Paper 11 of Intermediate New Syllabus
- Paper 12 of Intermediate Old Syllabus is Paper 10 in Intermediate new.
Some important questions
- Till when CMA 2016 syllabus is valid?
The syllabus 2016 is valid till August 2023 and last term in which students can take exams under the syllabus 2016 is June 2023.
- How Will CMA Intermediate Exemptions Work if a student switches From Syllabus 2016 to Syllabus 2022?
Following exemptions can be granted for the students who are currently pursuing the CMA Intermediate Course under Syllabus 2016, and at the same time have either qualified in the Groups in Intermediate Course under Syllabus 2016-
| Syllabus 2016 | Syllabus 2022 |
| Cleared Group I of the Intermediate course | Exempted from appearing in Group I of the Intermediate Course under syllabus 2022.Students must appear and pass Group II of the Intermediate Course to complete the entire Intermediate Course. |
| Cleared Group II of the Intermediate course | Exempt from appearing in Intermediate Course Group II.Students must appear and qualify in Group I of the Intermediate Course to complete the entire Intermediate Course. |
| Syllabus 2016 | Syllabus 2022 | Explanation |
| Under the 2016 syllabus, a student who has obtained 60% or higher in any subject or subject. | will be exempted from appearing in those subjects under the syllabus 2022 for three consecutive terms. | If a student scores 60% in a subject under the 2016 syllabus, the subject will be exempted from examination for three years in a row under the 2022 syllabus. |
