Essays

Exam topics Part 1 – Financial Planning, Performance and Control 4 hours, 100 multiple-choice questions and two 30-minute essay scenarios Planning, budgeting, and forecasting (30%) Performance measurement (25%) Cost management (25%) Internal controls (15%) Professional ethics (5%) Part 2 – Financial Decision Making 4 hours, 100 multiple-choice questions and two 30-minute essay scenarios Financial statement analysis (25%) Corporate finance (25%) Decision analysis and risk management (25%) Investment decisions (20%) Professional ethics (5%)

Essays This section provides a great opportunity to earn partial credit Be sure to show your work and assumptions Expect 3-6 questions for each essay scenario You can scroll between questions and scenarios within the essay section of the exam Helps to determine how much time you will need for responses

Essay Exam Strategies Pay close attention to verbs E.g., if it says compare or contrast, don’t define something Read the entire question to understand all requirements You may have more than one requirement, for example: “Define abc and interpret its applicability to xyz.” Grammar and writing skills Focus is on use of standard English, organization and clarity Graders are looking for effective writing skills

Essay Exam Strategies Be brief and to the point It’s ok to use bullet points Do not leave a questions blank If short on time, at least write an outline of your main points Graders are looking to give you points, not take them away Make it as easy as possible for graders to give you points!

Essay Exam Information Type your responses into a text box Similar to MS Word, but with more simple functionality Effective January 2013, the spreadsheet tool is no longer being used on the CMA exam Be sure to use all of the time available to you

IMA Essay Webinar Highlights Here are highlights from webinar. Roughly 75% of points come from multiple choice, essay only accounts for 25% of points. There are two essay questions for each section of the CMA exam. Each question will have 3-6 parts that must be answered. Be sure you skim all essay parts before begin answering. This will help you survey how much time to spend on each question from the beginning. Some will be easy, just asking for a definition. Some will require calculations. Show all your work. Even if your answer is wrong, showing your work will give you partial credit. Be sure to answer the question correctly. If the question asks you to compare or contrast something, don't define it. That is not what they are looking for.

IMA Essay Webinar Highlights There is a sample grading rubic for essay portion enclosed in slide presentation. This is interesting because this shows that the graders only give points for correct answers. They don't deduct for wrong answers. Notice on rubic for the second sample essay (slide 38), there are multiple points that could be earned for each question, but the total points for each question is less than the sum for all the possible answers. This means that there is more than one correct answer. Once you get the maximum points for this part, the grader moves on. You don't get more points for embellishing. Don't embellish. Be direct. Be simple. Use bullet points. Show your work, including calculations. Use proper grammar and English. Then move on to the next question. Practice answering essays online. This will get you used to how to type calculations and make bullet points. Use ALL the time you have on your essay questions, even if you pull time from your multiple choice section. The more you study, the better you will do. It is as simple as that.