Practical Experience
You must gain at least three years’ relevant practical experience before you can achieve your Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) status. Your practical experience must cover three areas: Basic, Core and Supplementary and they are as under:
| Area 1 Basic Experience | |
| 1a | Preparing and Maintaining Accounting Records |
| 1b | Statutory and Regulatory Reporting |
| 1c | IT Desktop Skills |
| 1d | Systems and Procedure Development |
| Area 2 Core Experience | |
| 2a | Preparation of Management Accounts |
| 2b | Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting |
| 2c | Management Reporting for Decision-Making |
| 2d | Product and Service Costing |
| 2e | Information Management |
| 2f | Project Appraisal |
| 2g | Project Management |
| 2h | Working Capital Control |
| Area 3 Supplementary Experience | |
| 3a | Financial Strategy |
| 3b | Corporate Finance |
| 3c | Treasury Management |
| 3d | Taxation |
| 3e | Business Evaluation and Appraisal |
| 3f | Business Strategy |
| 3g | External Relationships |
We do not expect you to cover every element within each area, but you will need to gain wide experience across all three areas. The only requirement is that you get at least 18 months of your experience within the Core area.
You will record your practical experience as part of your ‘Career Profile’, and we recommend that you update this regularly. After you pass your final exams, you will have five years in which to submit your completed Career Profile and apply for CImA membership.
The Career Profile is made up of the following three sections:
After you register you will receive our Student Resource File; the full practical experience and Career Profile guidelines are within that document.