International Organisation for

Professional Qualifications

GCMA
Global Certified
Management Accountant

Brochure

A global pathway for

a rewarding accounting profession
Introduction 03

Syllabus 04

Steps to gaining GCMA 07

FAQ 08

- Entry Requirements
- Fees for the test
- Registration
- Preparation for the test
- Results
- Certification

02
Global Certified Management Accountant

A global pathway for

a rewarding accounting profession

SCQF Level 9
The foundation for a thriving career

Global Certified Management Accountant GCMA qualification is open to everyone

(GCMA) qualification allows individuals to regardless of previous educational background.

develop advanced managerial accounting skills However, it may be of particular interest to:

and solve higher level issues through • Individuals responsible for maintaining

comprehension of broad spectrum managerial accounts of a business

decision-making. All contemporary issues bound • A university student considering placements,

the qualification including systems, tools and careers in the field of accounting and/or

techniques vital for applied management further study

accounting. • Someone with general interest in

performance management and management

accounting.
GCMA qualification allows candidates to develop advanced level knowledge and understanding of management
accounting. The syllabus covers details practices & concepts required for the preparation of financial statements,
general issues of performance management, costing systems, budgets, CVP analysis, decision making techniques,
pricing decisions, transfer pricing, performance measurement, standard costing, performance in operations &
production management and tools improving performance.

Learning outcomes Contents

Understand financial Objectives of financial statements, concepts of assets, liabilities & the
information for financial accounting equation, qualities of financial information/ measurement and
statements foundations for preparing financial statements.

Prepare Financial Statements Preparation of statement of comprehensive income, preparation of the

statement of financial position, reporting financial performance, treatment
of non-current assets in statements, treatment of share capital & reserves
in statements, preparation of group accounts, preparation of statement of
cash flows and other elements of corporate annual reports.

Explore general issues for
performance management
Mission, objectives, targets & strategy, concepts of performance
measurement & performance management, responsibility centre &
process-based organisations, information for control: IT systems, costing
systems & management accounting, organisational structures,
departmentation, decentralisation, divisionalisation, the decision-making
process and reporting formats.

Explore costing systems for Costing, measuring cost, direct costs and indirect costs (overheads), fixed
performance management costs & variable costs, absorption costing, over- and under-absorption,
activity-based costing, marginal cost & marginal costing and costing
methods.

04
 Syllabus

Learning outcomes Contents

Understand budget & The functions of a budget, the budget preparation timetable, preparing functional
budgeting budgets, budgets for service organisations, cash budgets, fixed & flexible
budgets, computers & budgeting, strategic planning, operational planning &
budgeting, zero-based budgeting (including advantages and limitations),
activity-based budgeting (ABB), rolling budgets, the behavioural implications of
budgeting, using budgets as targets, beyond budgeting, budgetary control,
variances, flexible budgets & budgetary control and cash flow variances.

Explore cost-volume-profit (CVP) Marginal costs, contribution & profit, the breakeven point, the margin of safety,
analysis CVP & decision making, breakeven charts, multi product CVP analysis and the
advantages & limitations of CVP analysis.

Explore decision making Decision making & relevant costs, cost behaviour & decision making, relevant

techniques in managerial costs & non-relevant costs, rules for identifying relevant costs, the relevant cost

accounting of scarce resources: limiting factors, make or buy decisions, activity-based

costing (ABC) & decision making, uncertainty in decision making, probabilities
and expected values.

Explore pricing and pricing Pricing policy, setting prices, economic factors influencing the price of a
decisions product, demand-based approach to pricing, full cost plus pricing, variable cost
plus pricing, opportunity cost approach to pricing (marginal pricing), fixed price
tenders and target cost pricing.

Understand transfer pricing Basic principles, profit centres & transfer pricing, problems with transfer
pricing, transfers at market price, cost-based approaches to transfer pricing,
opportunity cost & transfer pricing, the 'general rule' and negotiated transfer
prices.

05

Learning outcomes Contents
Explore tools for
performance measurement
Explore tools for standard
costing
Evaluate performance in
operations / production
Explore ways to improve
performance
Syllabus
Performance measurement & the planning/control system, disadvantages
of financial performance indicators, growing emphasis on NFPIs, the value
of NFPIs, NFPIs in relation to employees, NFPIs in relation to
product/service quality, qualitative issues, measuring profitability,
responsibility accounting, measures of shareholder value, critical success
factors, key performance indicators, balanced scorecard, benchmarking,
divisional organisation & responsibility accounting, return on investment
(ROI), residual income, economic value added (EVA), accounting profit &
controllable profit, measuring divisional performance by cash flows, using
performance measures to manage performance, divisional performance &
transfer pricing, behavioural consequences of performance measures,
incentive schemes, external influences on performance and cultural
factors.
Standard costs & standard costing, budgets & standard costs compared,
Ideal, attainable & current standards, standard cost variances, direct
materials variances, direct labour variances, variable production overhead
variances, fixed production overhead variances, sales price & sales volume
variances, the reasons for variances, investigating variances, operating
statements and variances in a standard marginal costing system.
Key elements of operations management, operational structures &
process-based structures, world-class manufacturing & re-design of
operations, materials requirements planning (MRP I), manufacturing
resource planning (MRP II), optimised production technology (OPT) and
enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
Supply chain management, e-procurement, just-in-time production &
purchasing, target costing & kaizen costing, outsourcing, joint ventures &
partnerships, activity-based management & business process
re-engineering, further aspects of ABM & BPR, total quality management
(TQM) and value for money (VFM).
06
Five Steps to gaining GCMA

1. Decide  Decide if ‘Global Certified Management Accountant ’ is

right qualification for you

 Register yourself as a student of IQN. No cost is involved to

become a registered student.To register yourself use this
2. Register link - www.iqnuk.com/students
 Download free course book and practice questions
from our website - www.iqnuk.com/login.php

 Prepare yourself independently for the qualification OR

3. Prepare  Take tuition support from RTC (Registered Training Centre)

www.iqnuk.com/rtc.php

 Schedule for a test at your convenience through Pearson VUE

website. Tests are held 175+ countries around the world.
4. Schedule Test www.iqnuk.com/atc.php
 Pay online by credit/debit card through Pearson VUE website
www. vue.com/iqn/schedule

 Sit for the test at Pearson VUE test centre and receive
5. Get Award results immediately

07
FAQ
Entry requirements
There are no formal entry requirements for GCMA
qualification. The qualification is open to all – from
school leavers to post graduates and employees who
want to increase their knowledge and skills.
How much will it cost?
Registration to this qualification is completely free.
Test fee is £99 and there are no other charges for
gaining the qualification. However, if you take tuition
support from any of our registered training centres
they will charge tuition fees for their services.
How do I register?
Complete two registrations
1) For study resources (IQN Student Account)
– Please visit www.iqnuk.com/students
– Provide personal and additional information
– Check your email to validate your account
2) For test (Pearson VUE web account)
– Sign up for a web account at www.vue.com/iqn
– Schedule/book the test at your convenience
and pay your test fees (i.e £99)
When can I register?
Both registration with IQN and Pearson VUE can be
completed any time in a year.
What documents do I need to complete registration?
No documents are required to be submitted for
registration. You just need to provide your personal
details and a valid email ID to activate your student
account.
When are active tests available?
GCMA test is available round the year through
Pearson VUE test centres. You can schedule your test
at your convenience.
How will I be assessed?
You will be assessed by a set of 40 Multiple Choice
Questions (MCQs). Each MCQ will carry 2.5 marks
and will be marked automatically by computer.
Duration of the test is 60 minutes. You will need to get
minimum 60% marks to pass the test.
What is the preparation time needed for the
qualification?
The time to complete the preparation will depend on
yourself and your willingness. However, test can be
taken any time in a year through Pearson VUE test
centres. Hence, you can take whatever time you feel
appropriate for the preparation.
08
 FAQ

How do I prepare myself? How do I pay for the test (fees)?

You will get online study materials- course book and Fees are payable through debit/credit card at Pearson

practice questions required for the preparation of your VUE website at the time of scheduling your test.

test. These are all free when your register with IQN.

You can study independently to prepare for the test. How many times can I attempt?

Alternatively, you can take tuition support from one of You can sit as many times as you wish until you pass
our Registered Training Centres. the test. Every resit will cost you £29.

Course book is broadly sufficient for test success as it

covers all contents of the qualification. How will I get my test result and certificate?
‘Practice Questions’ are very useful for your test
At the end of the test, you would be provided results
preparation. Questions may or may NOT be set from
by Pearson VUE test centre staff.
Practice Questions.
The certificate will be couriered (using ROYAL MAIL
However, you may expect ‘live test’ at Pearson VUE
or 'similar') to the address given by you in Pearson
which will have ‘similar’ pattern of questions.
VUE web account. It may take (minimum) 6 weeks to

receive the certificate. Hence, it is important that in

How do I schedule my test?
your Pearson VUE web account, you provide detail

You can schedule/book your test through your and absolutely correct postal address.

Pearson VUE web account for IQN. Please visit

www.vue.com/iqn for the details. Who will be awarding the qualification?

Global Certified Management Accountant (GCMA) is

How can I retake my test?
jointly certificated by IQN and SQA.

You can retake the test if you fail in the test. You will

need to schedule your re-take test by paying only £29 What is the level of this qualification?
to Pearson VUE.
Global Certified Management Accountant (GCMA)

qualification is accredited at Scottish Credit and

Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level 9 (40 credits)

and benchmarked against European Qualifications

Framework (EQF) level 6.

Find out more

w www.iqnuk.com/gcma.php
@ students@iqnuk.com

09