Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

CIMA provides the fundamental knowledge you need to build a successful career in business or finance, and helps you develop the critical skills that employers are looking for. There are two stages to the qualification:

1. CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting
2. CIMA Professional qualification

There are no entry requirements for the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting so you can start studying right now, no degree necessary. You will need a good understanding of both English and Maths, and a passion to succeed in business.

You will need to register with CIMA before you commence your studies. Please visit the CIMA website to find out more.

If you have any previous accounting experience you might be eligible for exemptions from subjects at this level or be eligible for full exemptions from this level and be able to move directly to the Professional level, find out more.

Reed Business School is a well-established CIMA tuition provider with a long history of delivering excellent results. We structure each level of the qualification in accordance with our winning formula (based on over 50 years in the business), while giving you the flexibility to complete modules at your own pace.

Reed Business School offer hybrid training, with classroom-based tuition or remote live-online classes. These run in conjunction with each other allowing for greater flexibility in learning. This hybrid approach enables both classroom and remote live-online students to hear and interact with one another and verbally contribute to the whole class.

At the present time we do not offer CIMA through the apprenticeship scheme.

The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting elevates people and businesses to success by developing skills and unlocking talent.

Exams: 4 Objective Tests
Time to complete: 12-18 months
Designation on completion: CIMA Cert BA

The Aim

BA1 focuses on the economic and operating context of business and how the factors of competition, the behaviour of financial markets and government economic policy can influence an organisation. It also deals with the information available to assist management in evaluating and forecasting the behaviour of consumers, markets and the economy in general. Students will gain an understanding of the areas of economic activity relevant to an organisation’s decisions and, within this context, the numerical techniques to support such decisions.

Syllabus structure

The syllabus comprises the following topics and weightings:

1. Macroeconomic and Institutional Context of Business (25%)
2. Microeconomics and Organisational Context of Business (30%)
3. Informational Context of Business (20%)
4. Financial Context of Business (25%)

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The Aim

BA2 teaches students fundamental knowledge and techniques that underpin management accounting. It identifies the position of the management accountant within organisations and the role of CIMA. The subject portrays the role of management accounting in the contexts of commercial and public sector bodies and its wider role in society.

Syllabus structure

The syllabus comprises the following topics and weightings:

1. The Context of Management Accounting (10%)
2. Costing (25%)
3. Planning and Control (30%)
4. Decision Making (35%)

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The Aim

In BA3 students will obtain a practical understanding of financial accounting and the process behind the preparation of financial statements for single entities. These statements are prepared within a conceptual and regulatory framework requiring an understanding of the role of legislation and of accounting standards. The need to understand and apply necessary controls for accounting systems, and the nature of errors is also covered. There is an introduction to measuring financial performance with the calculation of basic ratios.

Syllabus structure

The syllabus comprises the following topics and weightings:

1. Accounting Principles, Concepts and Regulations (10%)
2. Recording Accounting Transactions (50%)
3. Preparation of Accounts for Single Entities (30%)
4. Analysis of Financial Statements (10%)

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The Aim

In BA4 students will gain an understanding of the professional standards to be demonstrated for the benefit of all stakeholders. With this in mind, the place of ethics and ethical conflict is an essential underpinning for commercial activity. It includes the role of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and audit; and their increasing impact in the management of organisations. Wherever business is conducted the legal and administrative framework underpins commercial activity. With this in mind the areas of contract law, employment law, administration and management of companies is considered.

Syllabus structure

The syllabus comprises the following topics and weightings:

1. Business Ethics and Ethical Conflict (30%)
2. Corporate Governance, Controls and Corporate Social Responsibility (45%)
3. General Principles of the Legal System, Contract and Employment Law (15%)
4. Company Administration (10%)

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Producing competent and confident management accounting professionals who can guide and lead their organisations to sustainable success.

Exams: 12 (nine Objective Tests and three Case Study exams)
Time to complete: 3-6 years
Designations: CIMA Dip MA (completion of Operational level), CIMA Adv Dip MA (completion of Management level), ACMA CGMA (Admittance to membership)

The syllabus is split into three pillars and three levels, and comprises 12 exams: nine Objective Tests, and three Case Study exams.

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What do you learn in E1?

• The central role that finance plays in an organisation, and how and why technologies used impact the finance function.
• How to use and examine data collected and processed by machines to create and preserve value for organisations.
• How the finance function is structured and shaped, and how it interacts with other parts of the organisation to achieve the objectives of the whole organisation.

What do you learn in P1?

• Why costing is done and what it is used for, including appropriate costing methods and techniques and where digital costing might be used.
• How budgets are prepared and implemented across the organisation, the impact these have, and how techniques are applied to ensure sound short-term decision making, against a backdrop of risk and uncertainty, by using appropriate risk management tools.

What do you learn in F1?

• Who the regulators are, what they do and why and how regulations are applied.
• How to prepare basic financial statements using financial reporting standards.
• How to distinguish between types of taxes, calculate corporation taxes and issues affecting taxation.
• What tools are used to ensure that the organisation has enough cash to ensure its continuing operations.

Each level of the CIMA Professional Qualification culminates in a Case Study Examination, which integrates the knowledge, skills and techniques from across the three pillars into one synoptic capstone examination. At the Operational level, the role simulated is that of an Entry level finance professional and the capstone Case Study Examination provides a simulated context, which allows candidates to demonstrate that they have acquired the required knowledge, skills, techniques and mindset for that role.

What do you learn in E2?

• The fundamentals of business models and how new business and operating models can be developed to improve the performance of organisations.
• How different styles of leadership can be used to improve the performance of individuals to achieve organisational goals and how to use performance management concepts and techniques to implement strategies effectively and efficiently.
• Use of project management concepts and techniques useful in implementing strategies.

What do you learn in P2?

• How to use cost management, quality and process management and value management to provide organisations with cost advantage.
• The criteria, process and techniques that are used to decide which projects to undertake, how to manage the performance of organisational units to ensure that they achieve their objectives.
• How to analyse risks and uncertainties that organisations face in the medium term, especially capital investment decision making, and managing those risks in the implementation of such decisions.

What do you learn in F2?

• The sources and types of funds and how much they cost.
• The key financial reporting standards on which financial statements will be based and the application of those standards to prepare group accounts.
• The International Integrated Reporting Framework and its components and how to conduct analyses of financial statements and their limitations.

Each level of the CIMA Professional Qualification culminates in a Case Study Examination, which integrates the knowledge, skills and techniques from across the three pillars into one synoptic capstone examination. At the Management level, the role simulated is that of a finance manager. The capstone Case Study Examination provides a simulated context allowing candidates to demonstrate that they have acquired the required knowledge, skills, techniques and the mindset required for that role.

What do you learn in E3?

• The foundation of strategic management and an understanding of the dynamics of the organisational ecosystem and how it affects the strategy of the organisation.
• Strategic choice and how options are generated, linking them to the purpose, values and vision of the organisation and how the options are evaluated, chosen and integrated coherently to form the strategy of the organisation.
• How strategy is implemented, how implementation objectives are achieved and how change is managed.
• What are the technologies that underpin digital transformation and various elements of digital strategy.

What do you learn in P3?

• How to identify, evaluate and manage enterprise risks.
• Where strategic risks emanate from, how to evaluate them and understand how oversight of these risks is critical to the governance of the organisation.
• How internal controls can be used effectively in the risk management process and how to identify, analyse, remedy and report strategic risks including cyber risks.

What do you learn in F3?

• The different strategic financial objectives and policy options that are open to organisations.
• The types of funds available to organisations to finance the implementation of their strategies, including where and how they access these funds at the right time, in the right quantities and at the right cost.
• The sources of financial risk, how to evaluate and manage financial risk appropriately, and techniques in business valuation to assess whether a company has created and preserved value within the organisation.
• The valuation techniques to calculate value of organisations and conditions applicable for such calculations especially intangibles in the digital world and how to report intangible value and their drivers in integrated reporting.

Each level of the CIMA Professional Qualification culminates in a Case Study Examination, which integrates the knowledge, skills and techniques from across the three pillars into one synoptic capstone examination. At the Strategic level, the role simulated is that of the senior finance manager. The Case Study Examination provides a simulated context which allows learners to demonstrate that they have acquired the required knowledge, skills, techniques and mindset for that role.