Central Greenwich College

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

The CIMA Professional Qualification is one of the most relevant financial qualification for business today - this is why it is recognised around the world. It gives you the financial expertise and strategic ability to make giant leaps towards your career goals.

Benefits of CIMA membership

The CIMA Professional Qualification is highly regarded and recognised by business around the world CIMA pride themselves on the commercial relevance of their syllabus which is regularly updated to reflect the latest business developments and employer needs.

The superb technical knowledge you will gain through your qualification really will give you the premium opportunities.

CIMA Course Setup

One of the greatest strengths of the CIMA syllabus is the flexibility it allows you to have whilst studying.

The Certificate in Business Accounting is the pre-requisite for the Professional qualification, examined by computer based assessment you can take papers as and when you wish.

The Managerial and Strategic level papers are divided in to pillars. You will develop decision making and management skills, as well as an expertise in technical accounting matters.

TOPCIMA is based upon a case study and set within a simulated business context. By passing this exam you will prove that you have the ability to transfer your strategic and practical knowledge to a real life business situation.

For full details of the CIMA qualification click here

The full syllabus

CIMA will give you the key strategic, management accounting, management and project management skills to succeed in many areas of business. This is a modern syllabus for a complex business world.

The full syllabi for –

The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting
The CIMA Professional Qualification

"The support and guidance offered throughout the course has really helped me apply what I have learnt both in and out of the classroom."

Homero Monteiro, Brazil

If you are new to business or accounting studies and you do not already have an exempting qualification you will start by gaining the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting.

When you have completed the Certificate, or if you already have a qualification that gives you direct entry, you can begin studying for the CIMA Professional Qualification.

Certificate in Business Accounting

The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting is an entry requirement to the CIMA Professional Qualification and a recognised qualification in its own right.

It will give you a solid grounding in the basics of management accounting and business skills.

The syllabus and transition arrangements

The table below shows the five syllabus subjects for the 2000 Certificate syllabus and for the new 2006 Certificate syllabus . Full syllabi for each qualification are available to download - It is essential that you read the subject syllabus before starting your studies

If you have passed any of the assessments (or been awarded exemptions) from the 2000 syllabus before the 2 March 2007, you will be given credits for subjects within the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting 2006 syllabus, as shown in the table below:

2000 Syllabus		2006 Syllabus
Paper C1	Management Accounting Fundamentals	Paper C01	Fundamentals of Management Accounting
Paper C2	Financial Accounting Fundamentals	Paper C02	Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
Paper C3	Business Mathematics	Paper C03	Fundamentals of Business Mathematics
Paper C4	Economics for Business	Paper C04	Fundamentals of Business Economics
Paper C5	Business Law	Paper C05	Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law

Assessment
CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting 2000 syllabus

Assessments for the 2000 syllabus will be available until 1 March 2007.
You will be examined by computer based assessment (CBA).

CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting 2006 syllabus

Assessments for the 2006 syllabus will be available from 2 October 2006.
You will be examined by computer based assessment (CBA).

Exemptions

These qualifications will give exemptions from the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting. Therefore you will have direct entry into the CIMA Professional Qualification:

A relevant degree that specialises in accountancy or business
The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Technical level
The Open University (OU) Certificate in Accountancy

For more details please visit www.cimaglobal.com

Professional qualification

The CIMA Professional Qualification is highly regarded and recognised by business around the world.
The syllabus is made up of three elements:

The Managerial level – six exams
The Strategic level – three exams
The Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting (TOPCIMA) – one exam based on a case study

All of the exams are three hours long and have a pass mark of 50%.

Managerial level

This level is made up of six subjects:

Paper P1 Management Accounting Performance Evaluation
Paper P2 Management Accounting Decision Management
Paper P4 Organisational Management and Information Systems
Paper P5 Integrated Management
Paper P7 Financial Accounting and Tax Principles
Paper P8 Financial Analysis

You will develop decision making and management skills – as well as an expertise in technical accounting matters.

When you complete these subjects you will receive the "CIMA Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting"

Before you decide whether to accept any exemptions look at CIMA syllabus and exam papers to make sure that your knowledge is up to date. It is important that you are confident that you have a good understanding of the subject - this will give you a greater chance of success in future CIMA exams.

You must complete all of the Managerial level, either through exemptions or exams, before you can move onto the Strategic level.

For further details please visit www.cimaglobal.com

Strategic level

The Strategic level focuses on key strategic issues and business practices.
This level is made up of three subjects:

Paper P3 Management Accounting Risk and Control Strategy
Paper P6 Management Accounting Business Strategy
Paper P9 Management Accounting Financial Strategy

The Managerial level syllabus content may also be relevant for the Strategic level exams. For example, content in the Paper P1 Management Accounting Performance Evaluation syllabus may also be relevant in the Paper P6 Management Accounting Business Strategy exam.

You must pass all three Strategic level subjects before you can sit the TOPCIMA.

TOPCIMA

The Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting

TOPCIMA is the final exam you will sit. You must sit this exam after you have completed all other exams in line with guidelines produced by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

It is based upon a case study and set within a simulated business context. By passing this exam you will prove that you have the ability to transfer your strategic and practical knowledge to a real life business situation.

The TOPCIMA has no specific syllabus content. Material from any of the Managerial and Strategic level subjects could be relevant.

Below are the learning aims, rationale, the learning outcomes and the assessment strategy for the TOPCIMA.

Learning Aims

The aim of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting (TOPCIMA) is to test the capabilities and competence of students, to ensure that they:

have a sound technical knowledge of the specific subjects within the curriculum;
can apply technical knowledge in an analytical and practical manner;
can extract, from various subjects, the knowledge required to solve many-sided or complex problems;
can solve a particular problem by distinguishing the relevant information from the irrelevant, in a given body of data;
can, in multi-problem situations, identify the problems and rank them in the order in which they need to be addressed;
appreciate that there can be alternative solutions and understand the role of judgement in dealing with them;
can integrate diverse areas of knowledge and skills;
can communicate effectively with users, by formulating realistic recommendations, in a concise and logical fashion;
can identify, advise on and/or resolve ethical dilemmas.

The Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting (TOPCIMA) comprises a case study that requires students to primarily apply strategic management accounting techniques to make and support decisions within a simulated business context.

Rationale

The TOPCIMA will provide an integrated test of syllabus content that is mainly included within the three Strategic level papers. However, it will also draw upon content covered within the six Managerial level papers.

The TOPCIMA will require the student to deal with material in less structured situations than that encountered in previous Strategic level papers, and to integrate a variety of tools in arriving at a recommended solution. It is unlikely that there will be a single right answer to a complex business problem and students will be expected to recognise the possible alternatives in dealing with a problem.

The emphasis will be on assessing candidates' capabilities and competence in the practical use of appropriate, relevant knowledge, the ability to demonstrate the application of the higher level skills of synthesis, analysis and evaluation, and skill in effectively presenting and communicating information to users.

Learning outcomes

Students will be required to go through the following stages to prepare for, and to answer, the requirement of the case, set within the TOPCIMA:

A - Preparatory to the TOPCIMA exam:

analyse and identify the current position of the organisation;
analyse and identify the relevant problems facing the organisation.

Note: Activities undertaken using published ‘pre-seen’ case study materials.

B - TOPCIMA exam:

appraise possible feasible courses of action available;
evaluate and then choose specific proposals;
identify and evaluate priorities related to the proposals;
recommend a course of action;
prepare and present information in a format suitable for presentation to senior management.

Assessment Strategy

There will be a three-hour written TOPCIMA examination paper, with a limited number of questions (requirements). They will normally be answered through a report and/or presentation, with supporting documents, to a variety of users. The questions will be based upon a case study, which will be published on the CIMA website, at least six weeks in advance of the examination. This will provide sufficient time before the examination to allow the student to undertake preparatory analysis based upon the pre-seen material. Further information regarding the case will be added as part of the examination paper.

As a guide to the volume of material within the case, it is likely to be between fifteen and twenty sides of A4, published in advance of the exam and up to six sides of A4 contained within the examination paper.

Questions will test the student’s capabilities and competence in the application of appropriate knowledge and the processes undertaken in dealing with the problems identified in the examination, together with their ability to present and communicate information.

A 'TOPCIMA Assessment Matrix' will be published on the CIMA website, with the pre-seen case material. The matrix will identify the list of assessment criteria, performance bands and range of marks that will be used to assess the capabilities and competence of candidates.

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