CMA Part 1 Cheat Sheet

External Reporting

15% of exam
Statements Revenue Inventory Ratios GAAP vs IFRS Reporting Picker

Planning + Budgeting

20% of exam
Strategy Master Budget Forecasting Budget Picker Budget vs Forecast

Performance Management

20% of exam
Variances Responsibility Centers Transfer Pricing Scorecards ROI vs RI

Cost Management

15% of exam
Cost Behavior Costing Systems CVP ABC Relevant Costs

Internal Controls

15% of exam
COSO ERM Audit Fraud Control Picker

Technology + Analytics

15% of exam
Data Governance BI Analytics Types Visualization Tech Picker

Quick Facts

Exam CMA Part 1
Title Financial Planning Performance Analytics
Format 100 MCQ + 2 CBQ sets
Time 4 hours
Scoring MCQ 75%; second 25%
Pass 360/500 scaled
Gate 50% MCQ minimum
Windows Jan-Feb May-Jun Sep-Oct
Provider Prometric centers
Blueprint Sep 1 2024
Transition Sep 2026 CBQ standard

Accounting Equation RE

Assets equal claims.
Assets Liabilities Equity A=L+E

GAAP vs IFRS RE

GAAP

Rules-based
LIFO allowed
FASB codification

IFRS

Principles-based
No LIFO
IASB standards
Rules vs principles

Reporting Picker RE

Point-in-time position → Balance sheet ( A=L+E )
Period performance → Income statement
Cash source/use → Cash flows ( CFO/CFI/CFF )
Unrealized AFS gain → OCI ( Equity bypass )
Multiple obligations → ASC 606 ( Allocate price )
Lease over year → ROU model ( ASC 842 )
Rising prices → FIFO/LIFO analysis ( Income flips )
Related entities → Consolidation ( Control exists )

Statements RE

Balance sheet A=L+E
Income statement Period performance
Cash flows CFO/CFI/CFF
Equity statement Owner changes
OCI Bypasses net income
Consolidation Parent controls sub
Integrated reporting Financial + sustainability
Accrual Earned/incurred timing

Revenue Steps RE

Contract, obligations, price, allocate, recognize.
Contract Obligations Price Allocate Recognize

Finance vs Operating Lease RE

Finance

Front-loaded expense
Interest amortization
Control-like asset

Operating

Straight-line expense
Single lease cost
Use-like asset
Ownership economics differ

Recognition + Valuation RE

ASC 606 Five revenue steps
Contract asset Earned not billable
Contract liability Paid before performance
Variable consideration Estimate then constrain
Finance lease Interest + amortization
Operating lease Straight-line expense
Impairment test Carrying not recoverable
Goodwill Test impairment only
IFRS inventory No LIFO
NRV Selling price less costs

Ratios RE

Current ratio CA/CL
Quick ratio (Cash+AR)/CL
Gross margin GP/Sales
Operating margin OI/Sales
ROA NI/Avg assets
ROE NI/Avg equity
Debt/equity Debt/Equity
Interest cover EBIT/Interest
EPS Available NI/WASO
DSO AR/(Sales/365)

Budget Order PL

Sales drives production, purchases, cash.
Sales Production DM/DL/OH Cash

Static vs Flexible Budget PL

Static

One activity level
Planning baseline
Volume variance mixed

Flexible

Actual activity level
Performance baseline
Efficiency isolated
Plan vs performance

Budget Picker PL

Need master start → Sales budget ( Demand drives )
Need production units → Production budget ( Sales+EI-BI )
Need liquidity → Cash budget ( Collections/disbursements )
Activity changed → Flexible budget ( Variance base )
Fresh justification → Zero-based budget ( No baseline )
Continuous horizon → Rolling budget ( Add period )
Trend relationship → Regression ( Driver model )
Uncertain outcomes → Expected value ( Probability weighted )

Exam Logistics PL

MCQ 100 questions
Pilot MCQ Unscored possible
Second section Two CBQ sets
Time split 3 + 1 hours
Passing score 360 scaled
MCQ gate 50% minimum
Testing windows Jan/May/Sep starts
Retake Next window
Results 2 weeks after test month
Remote exam Not available

Budget vs Forecast PL

Forecast

Expected future
Updated often
No authorization

Budget

Approved plan
Resource commitment
Performance target
Prediction vs commitment

Budget Core PL

Strategy Mission to tactics
Master budget Operating + financial
Sales budget Starts master budget
Production budget Sales+EI-BI
DM budget Production needs
Cash budget Liquidity plan
Pro forma Projected statements
Rolling budget Adds next period
Zero-based Justify from zero
Flexible budget Actual activity level

Forecasting Tools PL

Regression Y = a + bX
R-squared Explained variation
Moving average Smooths history
Exponential smoothing Weights recent data
Learning curve Labor time falls
Expected value Probability-weighted outcome
Scenario analysis Multiple possible futures
Sensitivity One driver changed
Top-down Leadership targets
Bottom-up Unit-level input

Variance Signs PE

Actual minus standard drives cost variances.
Price/rate Quantity/efficiency Spending Volume

Price vs Quantity PE

Price/rate

Input price
Purchasing influence

Quantity/efficiency

Input usage
Production influence
Rate vs usage

Variance Picker PE

Material price issue → DM price ( Purchasing )
Material usage issue → DM quantity ( Production )
Wage rate issue → Labor rate ( HR/market )
Hours efficiency issue → Labor efficiency ( Operations )
Variable OH cost → VOH spending ( Rate control )
Capacity not used → FOH volume ( Denominator )
Product mix changed → Sales mix ( Portfolio )
Total activity changed → Sales volume ( Demand )

Variances PE

Static variance Actual vs static
Flexible variance Actual vs flex
Sales volume Units volume impact
Sales mix Product proportion impact
DM price (AP-SP) x AQ
DM quantity (AQ-SQ) x SP
Labor rate (AR-SR) x AH
Labor efficiency (AH-SH) x SR
VOH spending Actual minus allowed
FOH volume Capacity utilization effect

ROI vs RI PE

ROI

Percentage return
Can reject good projects
Ratio focus

RI

Dollar surplus
Encourages value projects
Capital charge
Percent vs dollars

Responsibility Centers PE

Cost center Controls costs
Revenue center Controls sales
Profit center Sales and costs
Investment center Assets too
Controllability Judge manager's authority
Transfer price Internal selling price
ROI Income/investment
RI Income - capital charge
EVA NOPAT - capital charge
Balanced scorecard Four perspectives
Benchmarking Compare best practice
KPI Strategic metric

Contribution Margin CO

Sales minus variable equals contribution.
Sales Variable costs CM Fixed costs Profit

Job vs Process Costing CO

Job order

Unique batches
Trace per job
Custom output

Process

Homogeneous units
Average costs
Equivalent units
Custom vs flow

Costing Picker CO

Unique customer jobs → Job order ( Trace job )
Homogeneous mass output → Process costing ( Equivalent units )
Overhead distortion → ABC ( Activity drivers )
Volume-profit question → CVP ( CM first )
Limited resource → Constraint CM ( Per bottleneck )
Past cost appears → Ignore sunk ( Not relevant )
Outsource decision → Make-or-buy ( Avoidable costs )
Idle capacity order → Special order ( Incremental )

Cost Behavior CO

Variable cost Total changes
Fixed cost Total stable
Mixed cost Fixed + variable
Relevant range Assumptions hold
Product cost Inventoried manufacturing
Period cost Expensed immediately
Direct cost Traceable
Indirect cost Allocated
Opportunity cost Benefit forgone
Sunk cost Ignore past cost

Absorption vs Variable CO

Absorption

Fixed OH inventory
GAAP external
Profit follows production

Variable

Fixed OH expense
Internal analysis
Profit follows sales
Inventory vs period

Costing Systems CO

Job order Custom jobs
Process costing Homogeneous flow
Equivalent units Partly complete output
ABC Activities drive overhead
Cost pool Activity cost bucket
Cost driver Cause of activity
Normal costing Actual DM/DL; applied OH
Absorption Fixed OH inventoried
Variable costing Fixed OH expensed
Joint costing Splitoff allocation

CVP + Relevant Costs CO

CM Sales - variable costs
CM ratio CM/Sales
Break-even units Fixed costs/Unit CM
Target profit FC+profit over CM
MOS Sales above break-even
Operating leverage Fixed-cost sensitivity
Special order Incremental margin
Make-or-buy Avoidable vs purchase
Constraint CM per bottleneck
Drop segment Avoidable margin lost

COSO Components CO

Environment, risk, activities, information, monitoring.
Environment Risk assessment Control activities Information Monitoring

Preventive vs Detective CO

Preventive

Before error
Approvals
Access limits

Detective

After error
Reconciliations
Exception reports
Stop vs find

Control Picker CO

Set ethics tone → Environment ( Foundation )
Identify exposures → Risk assessment ( Impact/likelihood )
Stop before error → Preventive control ( Approvals )
Find after error → Detective control ( Reconciliations )
Separate duties → SoD ( Authorize/custody/record )
Independent assurance → Internal audit ( Audit committee )
System access risk → ITGC ( Logical access )

Control Framework CO

COSO control Five components
Environment Tone at top
Risk assessment Identify/analyze risks
Control activities Policies and procedures
Info/communication Relevant data flow
Monitoring Ongoing evaluation
ERM Risk plus strategy
Risk appetite Willing risk level
Risk tolerance Acceptable variation
SoD Authorize custody record

Inherent vs Residual Risk CO

Inherent

Before controls
Raw exposure

Residual

After controls
Remaining exposure
Before vs after

Audit + Fraud Controls CO

Internal audit Independent assurance
Functional report Audit committee
Preventive Stops errors
Detective Finds errors
Corrective Fixes errors
Fraud triangle Pressure opportunity rationalization
Override High fraud risk
Access control Authorized users only
BCP Recover operations
Backup Restore data

Analytics Ladder AN

Describe, diagnose, predict, prescribe.
Descriptive Diagnostic Predictive Prescriptive

Descriptive vs Predictive AN

Descriptive

Historical summary
What happened

Predictive

Future estimate
What may happen
Past vs future

Tech Picker AN

One data source → MDM ( Master data )
Executive dashboard → BI ( KPI view )
Unknown patterns → Data mining ( Discovery )
Future values → Predictive analytics ( Forecast )
Recommended action → Prescriptive analytics ( Optimize )
Rules repetitive → RPA ( Bots )
Tamper-resistant log → Blockchain ( Immutable )
Chart comparison → Bar chart ( Start zero )

Technology + Analytics AN

AIS Accounting data system
ERP Integrated enterprise data
EPM Plan monitor perform
Data governance Rules for data
MDM Single source truth
BI Reports dashboards OLAP
Data mining Pattern discovery
Descriptive What happened
Diagnostic Why happened
Predictive What may happen
Prescriptive What to do
RPA Rule-based bots
Blockchain Immutable distributed ledger
Cloud Scalable hosted services
Visualization Charts tell story

BI vs Data Mining AN

BI

Known questions
Reports dashboards
OLAP views

Data mining

Unknown patterns
Algorithms
Discovery
Monitor vs discover

Common Traps

Scaled Score

360 scaled pass ≠ Not 72% raw

MCQ Gate

50% unlocks second section ≠ Below 50% stops

Essay to CBQ

May-Jun choice ≠ Sep-Oct CBQ standard

Budget vs Forecast

Budget authorizes resources ≠ Forecast updates expectations

Static vs Flexible

Static ignores actual volume ≠ Flexible resets activity

Price vs Efficiency

Price uses actual quantity ≠ Efficiency uses standard rate

ROI vs RI

ROI can reject value ≠ RI favors dollar surplus

Sunk Cost

Past costs irrelevant ≠ Future differences matter

Fixed Cost Per Unit

Total fixed stays stable ≠ Unit fixed changes

Contribution vs Gross Margin

CM subtracts variable ≠ Gross margin subtracts COGS

Preventive vs Detective

Preventive stops errors ≠ Detective finds errors

Data Chart Trap

Bars start zero ≠ Pie needs few slices

Last Minute

1. Domain weights: 15-20-20-15-15-15
2. Part 1 is Level C
3. 360/500 scaled passes
4. 50% MCQ unlocks second section
5. Sep 2026 CBQ standard
6. Sales budget starts master budget
7. Flexible budget isolates efficiency
8. CM = sales - variable
9. Sunk costs never relevant
10. ROI percentage; RI dollars
11. COSO has five components
12. SoD separates authority custody records
13. Descriptive past; predictive future
14. BI dashboards; mining discovers
15. GAAP allows LIFO; IFRS not
16. Bar charts start zero

CMA Part 1

Practice Questions 200 questions Study Guide 34 topics Cheat Sheet 145 facts Flashcards 50 cards Games 20 terms Shorts 1 short Videos 2 videos Blogs 2 blogs Podcast
Word games 20 terms Guess the Term T E R M S Read the clue and guess the term in 6 tries. Word games 20 terms Term Match Swap tiles to line up three of the same term. Word games 20 terms Term Pairs ? ✓ ✓ ? ? Flip two cards at a time to find matching terms. Word games 20 terms Term Search Q T E R M X Find five hidden terms in a grid of letters.