CMA, as good as a CPA?

April 20, 2011 6:45 PM

I am debating getting my CMA, certifed management accountant designation. It is a new term to me, and I work in finance with gaggles of CPAs. Is the CMA a recognized and respected designation?

I've decided that 2.5 years of pre-requisites is not worth it to me before then attempting a CPA. I have the professional experience to try for the CMA now. I am mainly interested in knowing how the two compare to hiring managers in finance. Is the CMA for slackers? Is the CMA organization just after my money?
Thanks hivemind. (my first ask)

posted by natasha_k to Work & Money (3 answers total)

My CPA husband sitting next to me says not to waste your time. They don't have a single CMA on staff in their firm, and he doesn't know of any CMAs working as professional accountants. He's pretty plugged into the local accounting industry (and omg that sounds so dorky, I swear he's fun and smart) and thinks you should save your money. He says "Go for the CPA!"
posted by Nickel Pickle at 8:17 PM on April 20, 2011

I am not an accountant nor I know anything about accounting. But my boss is both a CPA and a CMA, and he says that he does the same kind of work without the CMA "title", although he does show it in his business card. YMMV.
posted by cobain_angel at 6:13 AM on April 21, 2011

I've been around internal audit, accounting and finance for 20+ years and have never seen a CMA designation on a business card. How about CFA (Certified Financial Analyst)?

I've you want to get into Internal Auditing CIA (Certified Internal Audit) is pretty much required for higher level jobs- this is what I have. Hard core typed get a CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) too. CIA is pretty straight forward to get (got to theIIA.org if you want more information) and I've heard CFE isn't too hard either.

If I had to start again I'd go with the CPA. It's a lot of work but basically covers all the certifications I described plus about a million other options.
posted by JohntheContrarian at 7:36 PM on April 22, 2011