Careers

Practical Experience

What do CIMAs need to do to get their practical experience up to date?

1. Why do I need to bother with the Practical Experience Requirements (PER)? To qualify for membership you must both pass the exams and need to demonstrate that you gained the appropriate practical experience. Only when you have been admitted as an Associate Member can you describe yourself as a chartered management accountant and use the initials ACMA after your name. So it is vital that your application for membership is supported with your PER, which will demonstrate you have the management accounting techniques and skills required of a CIMA member.

2. What are the practical experience requirements?
These describe the range of practical work experience you need to acquire. They are divided into three areas: Basic, Core and Supplementary, to show the wide range of functions performed by management accountants.
The detailed practical experience requirements and outcomes are shown on the CIMA website and are the same for everyone, regardless of employment sector. PERs have been designed to be relevant across the broad range of business sectors, geographic and cultural environments that should enable most management accounting students to meet it.

3. How much practical experience do I require? You will need a minimum of three years' relevant practical experience, some or all of which could have been gained before registering as a CIMA student. You don't need to have covered every single aspect of the PER. However, a good spread of experience is required across the three areas, with at least 18 months of the three years in the core area. Additional or in-depth experience in the core area may compensate for marginal experience gained in the basic and supplementary areas.

4. How do I record my practical experience? Your experience should be recorded in a Career Profile. This comprises:
* An assessment of practical experience/membership application form.
* An employment summary.
* A record of your experience.
* Record of skills development.
It is a good idea to start work on your career profile as soon as you start your relevant experience, and then update this regularly – so update it when your job role changes or indeed when you change employer.
As soon as you believe you have the necessary relevant practical experience, you should submit your career profile for assessment. You can apply at any time following the completion of the Managerial level exams.

5. How will I know when I have recorder sufficient practical experience? Submit your career profile for assessment when you believe it is sufficient. The assessors are Fellow members of CIMA, who are able to interpret and evaluate the range of experience recorded submitted by you. If you have failed to meet the overall standard of experience required, you will be given advice on what to do next.

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