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The way students attempt the strategic professional exams is changing in the UAE from June 2021. Although the exam content is the same, all of the exams will be in CBE format rather than paper-based, so your exam technique needs to be slightly different

The good news at this level is you no longer have to worry about your handwriting, you can copy and paste technical information from scenarios to help plan and form your answers, just like you would write a report at work. Mistakes can be corrected easily and you can change calculations by simply updating a formula.

So what can you do to get ready for strategic professional CBE?

Question practice

Question practice is nothing new but the key going forward will be that you must practice questions in a CBE environment as you approach your exam. Kaplan students benefit from the exclusive virtual learning environment on MyKaplan in addition to the ACCA practice platform available on myACCA to ensure you are aware of the different functions. It’s critical to learn how to use the exam software because Word and Excel are similar but have more functionality than the platform and this won’t give you a full exam experience.

Before the exam day, make sure you have read the instructions on the CBE platform to understand what to do before the exam begins. This will save you time on the day and will increase your confidence with what to expect.

Also, not all papers are identical on the platform, for example, SBL is slightly different from the other strategic professional papers so it’s worth familiarizing yourself again as you move to the next course.

Practice resources

The ACCA provides CBE preparation videos and articles from a wealth of online resources and many of them are linked for you on MyKaplan to make it easy. You can also use ACCA’s specimen exams and the Kaplan mocks to ensure you feel confident on the day of the exam.

We wish you the very best of luck with the upcoming exams.

The choice between the CFA qualification or MBA degree depends on which best suits an individual’s vocational goals and lifestyle better. This article aims at highlighting the specific attributes of each option and doesn’t aim to quantify how either is better than the other. Some individuals prefer to pursue both at some point in their career to add greater educational value to oneself.

A comprehensive set of questions have been mentioned beneath to evaluate the most favorable qualification for an aspiring financial candidate.

What is your end goal?

One of the most crucial decisions when deciding whether to procure the (CFA) chartered financial analyst qualification or achieving an MBA is identifying the future target. Generally, finishing the CFA Program is a rather individual experience, while an MBA program is ordinarily an all the more socially common experience, with an emphasis on networking and group courses.

For an individual who would like to grow into a financial analyst or portfolio manager, the CFA Program would be an ideal choice. The CFA Program exam is a foot-wide and a mile deep as it is intensely focused on one goal – creating a better speculation leader with a specific range of abilities for effective resource administration.

On the other hand, the MBA follows a rather extensive approach. The skills attained during the program aren’t centered on a solitary industry. Rather than a serious spotlight on a specific range of abilities, a holistic learning experience is offered on all business areas. If the choice of which ideal industry to work in still prevails, the MBA degree is better as it offers relatively greater practical exposure into business practices.

How much is your educational budget?

Although the career goal is the end objective, the cost is a crucial factor when settling on an MBA and the CFA (chartered financial analyst) charter. The CFA Program is generally reasonable when weighed against an MBA, particularly if an individual plans on attending a renowned business college.

On the whole, an individual can finish the CFA Program with premium CFA exam study materials for around $12,000 while the MBA educational cost can cost $80,000 or more. Therefore, it really matters what one aims to pursue with their qualification so that it can provide value for investment in the long run.

Which qualification are you eligible for?

To enlist in the CFA(chartered financial analyst) Program, either of the CFA Institute’s qualifying criteria must be met:

• Have a bachelor’s (or proportionate) degree
• Be in the last year of a four year certification program
• Have four years of specialized work experience
• Have a mix of expert work and university experience that sums no less than four years

While Business college necessities vary from one another, it is crucial to identify the provisions of the interested college. Mostly, each university will require that a candidate:

• Has a four-year certification
• Completed the GRE or GMAT exam with an attractive mark
• Has proficient work involvement
• Completed extra program essentials

Which course works best according to your timetable?

On the off chance that the candidate is pursuing a full-time undergraduate study, the MBA program can be completed in two years or less. While the CFA Program can be completed in a year and a half if everything works smoothly excluding the time spent preparing for the Level I CFA exam. The CFA course is an exceptionally serious designation and therefore requires 300 hours of learning for each level of the CFA program exam.

The CFA Program offers candidates the option to take a year off between the levels on the off chance that it’s required. Taking a year off may although negatively implicate one’s chance for completion or increase the education cost. All variables considered, effective applicants take four years to procure their CFA (chartered financial analyst) qualification, as indicated by the CFA Institute.

What is your expected future income?

While greater monetary pay is one of the topmost factors for pursuing further training, it shouldn’t be the greatest factor in choosing between the CFA Program or an MBA. As per Business Insider, the middle remuneration for a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter holder with 0– 5 year-long periods of experience is $72,900. The middle remuneration for a business college graduate with 0– 5 year-long periods of experience is $57,700 and Business experts with 0 – 5 year-long periods of experience who have finished both the qualifications have a middle compensation of $87,200.

Currently, you are in a position where numerous other individuals have been and still are in. During this research process, it can be identified that there isn’t a solitary, ‘set-in-stone decision that works for each person. What one may see as a constructive decision may be an adverse choice to the subsequent individual in line. Therefore while evaluating the variables, undertake a holistic view and settle on a choice based on what suits you best. Regardless of the choice, a decision for a brighter future has been selected!

The CFA exam is a globally renowned financial qualification valued by organizations across industries and countries. It’s extensive curriculum which focuses on topics such as economics, financial reporting, investments, and ethics ensures candidates understand concepts from its grass-root level.

Each level aims to test a different skill set or level of understanding of the candidates such as Level I aims to test your understanding of key financial concepts, Level II tests your application of these concepts in real-life scenarios while Level III focuses on testing how well you can answer a question with integrated topics in an essay format.

Here are some key strategies that have worked well for our students and helped them improve their scores significantly:

1. Study according to the exam topics 

While Level II & III of the CFA exam are known to trickier than Level I, they aren’t difficult to pass. With the right exam strategy and study materials, you will be able to successfully pass your exams. Here are some of the key topics for the exams:

• Level I – Financial Reporting and Analysis, Ethical Standards, and Quantitative Methods.
• Level II – Financial Reporting and Analysis, Ethical Standards, Equity, Fixed Income, and Portfolio Management.
• Level III – Portfolio Management & Fixed Income.

While some topics carry a higher weightage than the rest, you should not neglect the topics with lower weightage. It’s important to ensure that you learn key concepts from all topics as this can help you assure marks from a topic rather than lose all the marks instead. Within a limited time period, give the utmost value to the highest weightage topics.

2. Prepare based on the exam format

Each level of the CFA exam has different formats, level I has MCQs, level II has itemsets while level III has itemsets and case studies. While they all aim to test your knowledge, the testing method can make a huge difference during your preparation phase. You need to clearly understand whether the questions will be analytical in nature or conceptual focused, straight-forward, or indirect.

3. Practice as much as you can

Quite a few students understand the theoretical concepts well but stutter when they must be practically applied. To thoroughly assess your skill, you need to practice at least 5 examples of each concept. Something that quite a few candidates do is to either create a list format for each chapter or tie concepts together as a cause and effect relation through a story format. According to CFA Program examiners, you have understood a concept well when you can perform the question backward.

4. Leverage on an approved training provider

By choosing a specialized training provider, you will have the advantage of training with someone that is well aware of the curriculum changes and proven exam strategies. Good training providers usually employ multiple certified trainers to teach different topics as this ensures that candidates are learning from a trainer who is well aware of the specific topic, and can predict key areas that may appear in the exam based on their experience.

5. Use your study resources wisely

97% of CFA candidates recommend Kaplan Schweser as their preferred study material. Kaplan Schweser offers candidates resources such as practice exams, a quick-sheet with formulas, an online resource library, and a detailed study plan.

Another valuable resource that you can leverage is the one free mock exam for each level by the CFA Institute, which is downloadable from their website. This is the closest you can get to the actual exam in terms of difficulty and tone, so it is a very useful tool to calibrate your practice.

End-of-chapter questions will give you an overview of what areas are tested on the exam, so you can be more focused on these areas. Additionally, these questions will reveal the weaker areas that you must focus on to improve.

6. Study breaks are crucial

Everything has a tipping point and so does your brain. If you are planning to cram 2 chapters worth of content in one day at a stretch of 9 hours, it’s likely that you haven’t thoroughly learned every concept. Your objective should be to learn well the first time with months left for the exam rather than stress about re-learning a month prior.

Therefore, give yourself frequent study breaks and choose to hang out with your friends and family occasionally rather than being buried under your books.

Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is an advanced professional certification that demonstrates a strong knowledge of the critical accounting and financial management skills demanded by today’s dynamic businesses.

According to IMA’s 2020 Global Salary Survey, finance and accounting professionals that have the CMA certification earn upto 92% higher salaries in the Middle East region.

Now that we have established, CMA is a great stepping stone for your career, offers an industry-relevant skillset and excellent job security, let’s find out the career opportunities you can pursue:

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

A CFO is one of the top positions you can rise to in business, and is often considered a CEO’s right hand. They oversee everything from financial reporting and forecasting to a company’s investments and financial business decisions.

Some of the most critical job duties performed by a CFO include tracking cash flow, analyzing their financial strengths and weaknesses, and proposing corrective actions.

Corporate Controller

A corporate controller is someone who oversees a company’s financial and accounting functions. This includes everything from preparing the annual budget as well as internal and external financial statements, assessing current accounting operations, and coordinating activities for external auditors.

Cost Accountant

Cost accountants are responsible for recording and analyzing each cost incurred by a business. In turn, they use this information to identify where the company is losing money and how to improve its financial management.

Some of the everyday job duties of a cost accountant include preparing asset, liability, and capital account entries, documenting financial transactions, making financial recommendations based on the analysis of financial history.

Accounting Manager

These professionals develop and maintain accounting systems and procedures used by other accountants to collect and analyze data. They also oversee daily operations, monitor and analyze data, create financial statements and reports, as well as ensure the organization is following the essential accounting policies and principles.

Staff & Senior Accountant

Senior accountants are more managerial than junior or staff accountants and do not typically perform administrative tasks. Instead, they are responsible for reporting cost margins, productivity, and expenditures within a company.

The tasks include preparing month-end procedures, reconciling accountant balances, and maintaining a general ledger. In addition to this, senior accountants are expected to mentor junior staff, as well as lead accounting initiatives. Hence, they must also have strong communication and leadership skills.

Financial Analyst

If you like topics such as evaluating market trends and the microeconomic aspects of finances, then this might be the role for you. This role requires careful attention to detail as you will need to assess the financial condition of a potential investment to make sure it is worthwhile.

Some other typical job duties for a financial analyst include advising businesses on how to issue corporate bonds or split stock, as well as perform financial research and analysis to provide information on the business’s profitability, stability, liquidity, and solvency.

Management Accountant

Most CMA careers require you to plan and strategize, but as a management accountant specifically, you will budget, plan and strategize so that your company’s top managers and executives will be able to make risk-assessed decisions about their financial future. Along with being an expert in accounting, you must also possess the skill that allows you to communicate this data in a way that is easy to understand for non-experts. Being able to effectively communicate data is a key aspect.

To know how you can start your CMA journey, click here

March quickly turns into May or September into November if you are appearing for the CFA® Program Level I exam in June or December. Losing precious hours over daylight savings or lack of an effective review strategy can prove to have a greater negative impact than perceived.

The preparation phase should be completed by the end of March and the last three weeks of May should be used for mock exams. Use April and the first weeks of May for question practice and debrief. This does not refer to taking a quiz, marking it, and moving on. It’s important to ensure you spend an average of 90 seconds per question and much more debriefing it.

Strategy to Debrief the CFA Program Exam Level I

You can start your debrief by ensuring that the questions you got right were because of your span of knowledge and not by chance. Strengthen your CFA course material for all the wrong and guessed answers by practicing at least 5 examples of each type of calculation. CFA Program Examiners are known for indirect and tricky questions, therefore practice repeatedly until you are able to perform the question backward (a popular CFA examiners’ trick).

If you were unable to remember lists related to a model or a theory, Tie facts together where you can, your brain is wired to remember stories. Cause and effect relations will stick a lot better than disorganized memorization.

On the other hand, if you are finding difficulty with calculation analysis, go back and find an example of the calculation or change the numbers with hypothetical numbers of your choice if required. For example, always having a simple balance sheet and income statement at hand to help with ratio analysis is a good choice. Put some numbers through your simple statements and calculate the result if you are unable to identify why the answer was an increase, decrease, or neither. This approach can be used when you need to conduct a detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion.

Understanding the process is key for correct answers

By taking a couple of extra minutes to understand how an answer is derived will ensure that you are able to answer similar questions in the near future as well.  When deciding the amount of time to dedicate to different topics, consider your strong/weak areas and the syllabus weightings. Economics, Derivatives, and Alternatives combined are worth less than Financial Reporting and Analysis. Spending weeks studying derivatives knowing that it’s worth only 5%, isn’t the smartest of choices.

All in all, Focus on improving your understanding of all the topics through question practice and debrief. This will put you in a strong position to hit the mock exams in lay.

Whether you want to grow from your current professional position or want to improve your career potential, the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) program has been designed to help candidates improve and expand their accounting and financial management skills. The CMA certification will not only highlight you as a key employee to drive business performance but will also make you an important part of a worldwide network of over 100,000 peers.

Certification Eligibility:

To be qualified for CMA certification, you must fulfill all the following requirements:

• • Active membership in the IMA
  • Pay the CMA Entrance Fee before taking both Part 1 & Part 2 of the CMA exam (Fee Validity is 3 years)
  • Hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or a related professional certification
  • Must have two continuous years of professional experience in management accounting or financial management
  • Pass both the CMA examination parts
  • Conform with the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice

If you are unable to meet the educational or professional experience requirements and want to get certified, don’t fret. Candidates are offered 7 years by the IMA, within which the candidate can appear for the CMA exam and then complete their bachelor’s degree or two years of professional experience from the date of the exam.

Exam Registration:

In order to fulfill the examination requirement, you must first join the IMA and Pay the entrance fee. Next, you must register for the exam and await the confirmation of your registration, which provides your authorization number, testing window (January/February – May/June – September/October) and  Instructions for Candidates.

Lastly, Schedule your exam appointment with Prometric, IMA’s testing partner with locations worldwide and ensure that you arrive on your scheduled exam date with the required identification documents. Remember that your authorization number is only valid for the testing window selected and therefore the exam can’t be postponed.

Exam Preparation:

You can either choose to self-study or study with a training institute for your CMA Dubai preparation. Past CMA Candidates have stated that an effective technique is to study the content and create notes that ensure key points aren’t missed out during last-minute review. Due to the vast size of the CMA curriculum, it isn’t the most time effective method and can be tedious.

The inability to cover the complete syllabus may lead to gaps in your insight and yield a poor mock exam score. The more you focus on practice, the higher the chances of accomplishment. Hence, it’s always advisable for candidates to opt for a training institute to ensure constant learning and prevent last-minute cramming of content.

Regardless of whether you are a new graduate or a working professional in an accounting and finance role with an aspiration to have career growth, the CMA Program prepares you for the fast-growing field of Management Accounting.

Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is an advanced professional certification that demonstrates a strong knowledge of the critical accounting and financial management skills demanded by today’s dynamic businesses. Here are 5 reasons why you should invest in a CMA certification:

1. Easier Entry Requirements

To begin your CMA qualification, you need a bachelor’s degree or a professional qualification. Although, unlike other qualifications, your degree program doesn’t have to be a specific to accounts, finance, or commerce. This means non-finance professionals can also become CMA. If you are currently pursuing your bachelor’s degree, you can still appear and pass the CMA exams. The certification will only be offered to you once you have achieved your degree.

2. Career Potential

The CMA credential will open a host of career opportunities for you in the UAE such as financial statement analyst, cost control analyst, controller for prevention of frauds and errors, and investment appraisal supervisor. This is due to the qualification is not just comprehensive but also concise and following the latest market trends such as AI and so forth.

3. Global Recognition

Being a gold standard in management accounting and a recognized qualification across the world, the CMA course will open doors to international mobility. Leading employers such as 3M, Caterpillar, ConAgra, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Saudi Aramco, and Verizon seek to hire and promote CMAs in key management roles around the world.

Achieving the CMA qualification offers you the chance to build a lasting network of professional relationships through its local chapters. This could prospectively offer you a chance to expand your skills and enhance your career.

4. Easier Advancement

Among those who have and don’t have a CMA certification, CMA’s are known to achieve higher positions in organizations. People who start their careers with a college degree and no professional certification will find themselves in lower-level positions, as they lack the expertise and knowledge demanded by managerial levels. The CMA course helps bridge this gap by acting as proof of management expertise.

5. Flexibility in the Exam Window

CMA exams are offered in hundreds of locations worldwide and have three exam windows in a year. The advantage of choosing your exam window according to your timeframe and strength of knowledge is one of the many reasons why the CMA is highly sought after. Candidates can also be flexible in deciding which part to appear for first as Part 1 isn’t required to be completed before Part 2 of the CMA exam.

Another distinctive trait of the CMA course is that you can complete the course in almost 6 months whereas other qualifications require a commitment of over 2 years at least.

6. Exam Exemptions

If you pass both parts of the CMA course, you get exempted from Part 4 of the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) examination and from the following 3 papers of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) exam:

• F1: Accountant in Business
• F2: Management Accounting
• F3: Financial Accounting

7. IMA’S Global CMA Network

IMA’s worldwide CMA digital network offers access to industry best practices and an opportunity to collaborate with fellow CMA’s and gain insights about advancing your career.

The exclusive members-only network also lets you connect with more targeted audiences through hundreds of sub-groups, including 300 local chapters and councils, special committees, and study groups. Each chapter offers a range of professional education programs and leadership, mentoring, community service, and authorship opportunities.

They also have over 30,000 members in our LinkedIn group, this platform is ideal for posting relevant news, trends, or thoughts about management accounting.

Passing the CFA Level I exam means that you have passed your first milestone on the way to becoming a CFA® charterholder, Congratulations! As we often receive a variety of questions from candidates preparing for the Level II CFA exam, here’s a compiled list of those questions and answers for your reference and understanding.

• How are Level II and Level I CFA course material different from each other?

Level II tests your ability to practically use your financial understanding from Level I while Level I tests your understanding of investment valuation. The Level II exam will present you with real-life scenarios and focus on evaluating your knowledge of investment management and portfolio concepts. Furthermore, the exam is only offered once a year and on different dates in June based on the area, you live in unlike the Level I CFA exam.

• What is the exam schedule for Level II of the CFA exam?

The exam will no longer be offered in June but instead will be offered twice a year. For 2021, it will be offered in May & August while from 2022, it will be offered in February & August. There will also be an additional exam window being offered only in 2021 during the month of November.

The exam windows of up to 10 days instead of one uniform date with the total testing time is reduced from six hours to approximately 4.5 hours. If you would like to reschedule your exam date, a USD 25 fee will be applicable.

In addition to the time reduction, candidates will be free to walk out of the exam session as soon as they finish, even if the exam is still in session.

• What can be expected in terms of the exam format for the Level II of the CFA® Program?

From 2021 onwards, the exam will be offered in a computer-based testing format. The exam will have two 135-minute (2.25 hours) long sessions. The number of questions will be lower than in previous years, but the average of 3 minutes per question will remain the same.

Unlike in Level I, the Level II exam is comprised of item sets, or “mini-cases”. Each item set has a vignette (or case statement) of varying length and either four or six questions related to it. While questions in an item set can be solved independently of each other, they are all based on information provided in the vignette. There will be 44 multiple-choice items in each of the two sessions, for a total of 88 for the entire exam, each worth 3 points.

• What are the topics and weights for the Level II exam?

On a year-to-year basis, the Level II CFA exam topic weights are subject to change, at the discretion of the CFA Institute. For the exam in 2021, topics are weighted as :

• Ethical and Professional Standards: 10 – 15%
• Financial Reporting and Analysis: 10 – 15%
• Fixed Income: 10 – 15%
• Derivatives: 5 – 10%
• Corporate Finance: 5 – 10%
• Alternative Investments: 5 – 10%
• Portfolio Management: 10 – 15%
• Equity Valuation: 10 – 15%
• Quantitative Methods: 5 – 10%
• Economics: 5 – 10%

• What’s the amount of time required to study for Level II?

Candidates stated that they spent an average of 328 hours preparing for the exam when asked in the June 2019 CFA Candidate Survey by the CFA Institute. The time spreads over a 6 month period with 12.5 hours per week. Although, candidates don’t always start studying early and tend to compress their study time into a shorter window. The intensity of your study schedule depends greatly on how early you begin preparing.

• How much does the Level II CFA® exam cost?

Registration plays a huge role in determining the cost of the exam. There are three registration windows called – early, standard, and late. The fees are $700 for early and $1,000 for standard. Registering early will not only help you save $300 which you could invest in a CFA Program exam prep course but will also help you start preparing sooner.

Achieving the CFA charter is not only an essential part of starting your journey towards a successful career but also shows employers your level of commitment and mental discipline. You are required to invest over 300+ hours to study for the program as the knowledge you gain throughout the exam preparation is crucial to make profitable financial decisions.

While some candidates might find the exams easier than the rest, there isn’t a guaranteed way to ensure that a candidate will pass the CFA exam. Although there are many techniques that you may use to strengthen your exam knowledge, certain methods, in particular, can increase the chances of success. Some of those methods are mentioned below:

1. Make the most out of your study resources

After thoroughly learning the CFA Program curriculum, it’s time to test your knowledge through a mock exam. Mock exams not only help you assess your level of understanding but will also help you identify your weak points. Being well versed with the structure and the type of questions in advance will help you prepare and practice successfully. Mock exams are highly recommended by the CFA Institute as they help psychologically prepare you for the exam day.

One method that has proven to be effective is the Prepare > Practice > Perform technique. In the preparation phase, you learn the content through reading and attending training sessions while practice includes recollecting the material and identifying gaps in your learning so that you can perform well during your mock exams. Ensure that you spend 30 – 40% of your time during the preparation stage, 40 – 50% practicing and 20% performing.

2. Study in long intervals

The CFA Institute continually emphasizes the need to prepare at least six months in advance for the upcoming exam. Hence, Candidates are required to study for an average of 300 to 400 hours per exam. If you plan on appearing for the June exam, then you must start studying from January onwards and prepare for the December exam by early June.  Candidates are prone to get confused during the month prior to the exam which is why the longer your preparation phase, the higher your chances of success.

3. Give the CFA Program priority during your day to day tasks

The majority of the CFA candidates are working professionals or university students, therefore being able to balance and prioritize your commitments is essential.  You can prevent being overwhelmed through careful planning. Create a daily, weekly and monthly reading plan and ensure that if your goal is to read for 5 hours a day but couldn’t study on one day, you still end you completing 35 hours for the week.

It’s equally important to prioritize time for relaxation as overexerting your brain can do more harm than benefit. Prevent having a burnout by including a couple of free weekends and fun activities in between.

4. Refresh frequently

One chapter studied and excelled at thoroughly in the beginning, doesn’t guarantee that it will be well remembered before the exam. You need to consistently review the CFA® Program curriculum at least once a month if you have studied it well before. Spend a couple of hours every week reviewing and learning the CFA material until you are through with it. Do some training questions and, on the off chance that you commit any errors, dive into those topics again until you are assured of the content clarity.

5. Cover an ample amount of the material

Don’t get into the game of speculation regarding which topic won’t be crucial and won’t appear in the CFA® exam. At the least, this could lead to leaving the chapter for the end and not being able to study well for it. At most, it could lead to complete ignorance of the CFA topic. Each CFA topic exists for a reason and this is a fair game, therefore predictability and patterns can’t be relied on.

6. Save the last month for self – evaluation

During the last month before the CFA® exam, start to take CFA mock exams in realistic settings such as with actual time limits and difficulty. Take the exam without any prior CFA revision to evaluate how much you remember and then after CFA revision to evaluate how much you have improved and need to re-study. Failures need to be analyzed based on whether it was an issue due to lack of understanding or merely false application of one’s knowledge. Monitor the scores and identify the trend, two weeks prior to the CFA® exam, you must be able to score more than 70% consistently.

7. Lastly, take time out for relaxation

Create plans with your friends and take frequent breaks so that your mind and body have enough time to refresh and focus. Although, ensure that they aren’t time-consuming activities such as binge-watching a show. Balance is key!