CMA- Part1: Financial planning, performance, and Analytics

Providing the participants with the knowledge and Skills to prepare them to pass Part 1 exam of the CMA , The CMA program promotes mastery of financial planning, analysis, control, and decision support through a rigorous curriculum and an extensive exam process.

• External Financial Reporting Decisions (15% – Levels A, B, and C)

1.Financial statements

• Balance sheet
• Income statement
• Statement of changes in equity
• Statement of cash flows
• Integrated reporting

2. Recognition, measurement, valuation, and disclosure

• Asset valuation
• Valuation of liabilities
• Equity transactions
• Revenue recognition
• Income measurement
• Major differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS

• Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting (20% – Levels A, B, and C)

1. Strategic planning

• Analysis of external and internal factors affecting strategy
• Long-term mission and goals
• Alignment of tactics with long-term strategic goals
• Strategic planning models and analytical techniques
• Characteristics of a successful strategic planning process

2. Budgeting concepts

• Operations and performance goals
• Characteristics of a successful budget process
• Resource allocation
• Other budgeting concepts

3. Forecasting techniques

• Regression analysis
• Learning curve analysis
• Expected value

4. Budgeting methodologies

• Annual business plans (master budgets)
• Project budgeting
• Activity-based budgeting
• Zero-based budgeting
• Continuous (rolling) budgets
• Flexible budgeting

5. Annual profit plan and supporting schedules

• Operational budgets
• Financial budgets
• Capital budgets

6. Top-level planning and analysis

• Pro forma income
• Financial statement projections
• Cash flow projections

• Performance Management (20% – Levels A, B, and C)

1. Cost and variance measures

• Comparison of actual to planned results
• Use of flexible budgets to analyze performance
• Management by exception
• Use of standard cost systems
• Analysis of variation from standard cost expectations

2. Responsibility centers and reporting segments

• Types of responsibility centers
• Transfer pricing
• Reporting of organizational segments

3. Performance measures

• Product profitability analysis
• Business unit profitability analysis
• Customer profitability analysis
• Return on investment
• Residual income
• Investment base issues
• Key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Balanced scorecard

• Cost Management (15% – Levels A, B, and C)

1. Measurement concepts

• Cost behavior and cost objects
• Actual and normal costs
• Standard costs
• Absorption (full) costing
• Variable (direct) costing
• Joint and by-product costing

2. Costing systems

• Job order costing
• Process costing
• Activity-based costing
• Life-cycle costing

3. Overhead costs

• Fixed and variable overhead expenses
• Plant-wide vs. departmental overhead
• Determination of allocation base
• Allocation of service department costs

4. Supply chain management

• Lean resource management techniques
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
• Theory of Constraints
• Capacity management and analysis

5. Business process improvement

• Value chain analysis
• Value-added concepts
• Process analysis, redesign, and standardization
• Activity-based management
• Continuous improvement concepts
• Best practice analysis
• Cost of quality analysis
• Efficient accounting processes

• Internal Controls (15% – Levels A, B, and C)

1. Governance, risk, and compliance

• Internal control structure and management philosophy
• Internal control policies for safeguarding and assurance
• Internal control risk
• orporate governance
• External audit requirements

2. System controls and security measures

• General accounting system controls
• Application and transaction controls
• Network controls d. Backup controls
• Business continuity planning

• Technology and Analytics (15% – Levels A, B, and C)

1. Information systems

• Accounting information systems
• Enterprise resource planning systems
• Enterprise performance management systems

2. Data governance

• Data policies and procedures
• Life cycle of data
• Controls against security breaches
• Technology-enabled finance transformation
• System development life cycle
• Process automation
• Innovative applications

4. Data analytics

• Business intelligence
• Data mining
• Analytic tools
• Data visualization