A Career as a Certified Management Accountant?

Answer 1

A certified management accountant works primarily with corporations and businesses that need financial guidance. The certified management accountant does not work directly with the general public, but focuses all of his or her attention on the financial organization of businesses, unlike a certified public accountant.

Job Expectations

Certified management Accountants are generally hired by large corporations to work as part of their regular staff. The management accountants provide specific financial advice to every segment of the company. This advice can range from upper level decisions about investments to suggestions for employees who need to decide how to allocate the stocks in their retirement plan. Working as a certified management accountant can provide you with a diverse number of tasks that are all related to the big picture of a company’s finances. In essence, the certified management accountant is the company’s financial expert who helps guide the business toward making sound financial decisions.

Necessary Qualifications

There are some specific requirements for becoming a certified management accountant. People who want to become certified management accountants generally begin their training by attending a four year college or university where they study applied mathematics, accounting, or another financially focused degree program. Once they have graduated, there is an extensive certification process that they must go through. The certified management accounting test can take from 3 to 4 days for most candidates. It requires an extensive amount of knowledge in accounting methods and financial understanding. You can find courses that will help you study for the tests in most states.

Earning Potential

Certified management accountants in the United States bring home an average salary of $80,000. The starting salary for a certified management accountant is similar to that of a general accountant, since most of them begin their careers as accountants before becoming certified. As a beginning accountant you can expect to make around $40,000 per year. The more training, experience, and certification levels you achieve, the higher your salary will be. Salaries are also based on the company you work for and the area of the country in which you work. Larger corporations will expect more from a certified management accountant, which means they will offer higher salaries.