Every Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is required to complete continuing professional education (CPE) and remain an IMA member in good standing to keep the designation. The requirement is 30 CPE hours each calendar year, 2 of them in ethics. This guide covers who the rules apply to, how the calendar-year cycle and carryover work, what qualifies, how CPE is reported, and what happens when a CMA falls behind.
1. CMA CPE Requirements at a Glance
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Who | Every CMA, with IMA membership in good standing |
| Annual requirement | 30 CPE hours per calendar year |
| Ethics | 2 CPE hours per year, within the 30 |
| Start | The calendar year after the certification is issued |
| Carryover | Up to 10 excess CPE hours into the next calendar year |
| Content | Learning that maintains professional competence and job-related ability |
| Reporting | IMA products update your transcript automatically; you enter external CPE yourself |
| Professional conduct | Abide by IMA's Statement of Ethical Professional Practice |
| Delinquency | The designation can't be used until CPE and membership are up to date |
| Exemptions | Retired status; hardship waivers in listed circumstances |
Each row above is a requirement, not a recommendation. Anywhere a point is guidance rather than an obligation, this article flags it.
2. Who Must Comply with IMA's CMA CPE Requirements
The requirement attaches to the designation, and the designation is tied to IMA membership. Under IMA's Rules and Requirements for Maintaining Certifications, every CMA completes 30 CPE hours a year and keeps IMA membership in good standing. Both conditions apply. Meeting one doesn't cover the other.
| Your situation | Position |
|---|---|
| CMA | 30 CPE hours a year, plus IMA membership in good standing |
| CFM holder | Same requirements as a CMA |
| CMA candidate not yet awarded certification | IMA membership in good standing required |
| CMA who also holds the CSCA | No CPE beyond the CMA requirement |
| Retired from the profession | Exempt from CPE (covered below) |
The CMA Handbook sets out the wider rights and responsibilities of a CMA.
3. How Many CPE Hours You Need, and When
The requirement is 30 CPE hours per calendar year. Each calendar year is measured on its own, with no multi-year averaging.
Your first year
CPE requirements begin at the start of the calendar year after the certification is issued. A CMA certified in May starts the 30-hour requirement on the following 1 January.
Carryover
CPE earned above 30 in one calendar year can be applied to the next year's requirement, up to a maximum of 10 hours.
| CPE earned in the year | Carried into the next year |
|---|---|
| 35 | 5 |
| 40 | 10 |
| 50 | 10 |
The carryover cap is 10, however many extra hours you earn.
How hours are counted
Seminars, lectures and association meetings count at 1 CPE per 50-minute session. Other activities have their own rates, set out in the table further down.
4. Ethics and the Statement of Ethical Professional Practice
Two of the 30 hours must be on the subject of ethics, every year. The ethics hours are part of the 30, not additional to it.
Separately from CPE, IMA members are required to abide by IMA's Statement of Ethical Professional Practice, which sets guidelines for ethical conduct and for resolving ethical issues. IMA's Ethics Center lists its Ethics Series courses, which members can access free of charge.
5. What Counts as CMA CPE
The Rules require education that maintains your professional competence and improves your ability to perform job-related functions. They also highly recommend CPE across all of the IMA management accounting competencies. That second point is guidance, not a requirement.
IMA accepts qualifying CPE from external providers, not just NASBA-registered organizations or accredited universities. Eligible learning may include educational lectures and self-study courses that build knowledge in topics covered by the IMA Management Accounting Competency Framework, subject to IMA’s applicable CPE requirements. Members must manually record qualifying external CPE in their IMA transcript.
Exhibit A of the Rules sets the rate and the evidence for each activity:
| Activity | Evidence | CPE earned |
|---|---|---|
| IMA continuing education products | Certificate of completion | As stated in the program |
| NASBA-sponsored educational products and events | Certificate of completion | As stated in the program |
| Online self-study courses from other providers in IMA competency framework topics | Certificate of completion (for course products) | As stated in the program |
| Passing another professional designation exam | Passing grade | 10 per exam hour |
| Professional and trade association meetings with educational updates | Event, location and speaker | 1 per 50-minute session |
| Professional seminars or lectures | Event, location and speaker | 1 per 50-minute session |
| Publishing technical material (articles, monographs, books) | Copy of the publication to ICMA | As qualified by ICMA |
| Teaching relevant college courses | Claimable once every three years | Course credit hours × number of weeks |
| Speaker or discussion leader, first delivery | Event, location and topic | 2× the session hours |
| Speaker or discussion leader, repeated lecture | Claimable once per year | Actual session hours |
| Strategic Finance column, approved for publication | — | 2 |
| Strategic Finance feature article, approved for publication | — | 5 |
| University or college credit hour | Transcript | 10 per quarter hour; 15 per semester hour |
| University or college noncredit course | Transcript | 1 per 50-minute class hour |
What doesn't count
- Exams without a passing grade: Designation exams earn CPE only when passed.
- College teaching is claimed more often than once every three years.
- Repeats of the same lecture beyond once a year.
- Excess hours above the 10-hour carryover cap: They don't roll forward.
6. Online Learning, Self-Study, Webinars and On-Demand CPE
IMA's Rules recognize self-study directly. Self-study materials that build knowledge in the IMA Management Accounting Competency Framework topics are a qualifying CPE category.
The overarching requirement is that the learning maintains your professional competence and supports your ability to perform job-related functions. For self-paced learning, IMA's category is self-study materials that build knowledge in its competency framework topics, and Exhibit A ties course-based products to a certificate of completion. Each CMA decides what goes into their own transcript, one activity at a time, against those rules. A certificate naming you, the session and the hours lines up with that evidence standard.
EverCPE.com offers online self-study for accountants and finance professionals that may help you fulfill your CPE requirements, with one exception: the ethics component isn't covered - IMA makes its Ethics Series courses available to members free of charge.
EverCPE.com is interactive, structured self-study rather than passive reading. Each learning session comes with:
- Content shaped around the exact accounting and auditing questions you have, instead of generic off-the-shelf courses
- Substantive material organised around clear learning objectives
- Knowledge checks with feedback as you go, so you fix any misunderstanding while you work through the learning session
- Scored multiple-choice questions that check whether you understand the material
- A certificate of completion once you complete the learning session, naming you, the session and the hours
- A full downloadable handout covering the session, its learning objectives, and its content
In short, EverCPE.com leaves you with documentation and evidence of the learning you completed.
7. Reporting CPE in Your IMA Transcript
CPE is reported through the transcript in your IMA member profile.
| CPE source | How it reaches your transcript |
|---|---|
| IMA courses, webinars and self-study | Updated automatically by IMA |
| External CPE (other providers, events, exams, teaching, publications) | Entered by you |
To add external CPE:
- Sign in at imanet.org.
- From the My Dashboard banner, open the drop-down menu and choose the option to add to your transcript.
- Enter each activity, using Exhibit A to confirm it's eligible and to calculate the hours.
IMA's instructions note that automatic updates for IMA webinars and self-study can take time to appear. Entering those hours manually as well creates duplicate CPE.
8. Delinquency: When CPE or Membership Falls Behind
To stay active, a CMA needs paid-up IMA membership and up-to-date calendar-year CPE. Falling behind on either makes the CMA delinquent, which removes active, good-standing status. The designation can't be used until the delinquency is remedied.
| Situation | Requirement to remedy |
|---|---|
| Membership dues unpaid | Pay current dues and reinstate as an active IMA member |
| CPE short at the end of a year | 30 CPE for the current year, plus the previous year's shortfall |
| Shortfall not made up within the next calendar year | 60 CPE in the following calendar year |
A shortfall doesn't disappear at year-end. It's added to the next year's 30. Delinquency remedies are a two-year opportunity, and they can't be carried into a third year.
9. Retired Status and Hardship Waivers
| Circumstance | Position |
|---|---|
| Retired from the profession | Exempt from the CPE requirement; the status change is requested from IMA |
| Military service | The annual CPE requirement may be waived |
| Serious illness or disability | The annual CPE requirement may be waived |
| Severe financial hardship | The annual CPE requirement may be waived |
| Changes in employment conditions | Don't qualify for a hardship waiver |
Waivers are granted by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA), IMA's certification body, and are considered case by case. Requests go to ICMA with supporting documentation.
10. Official IMA Sources and Credential Holder Responsibility
This article sets out IMA's published rules as at the research date in the verification log below. It doesn't replace IMA's Rules and Requirements for Maintaining Certifications, IMA's own guidance, or advice about your situation.
Research verified: 2 October 2026, against IMA's Rules and Requirements for Maintaining Certifications.
| Source | What it supports | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Rules and Requirements for Maintaining Certifications | 30-hour and ethics requirements; membership in good standing; CFM and CSCA positions; first-year start; carryover; content requirement and competency guidance; qualifying CPE sources; Exhibit A rates and evidence; transcript reporting; delinquency remedies; retired status; hardship waivers | 2 Oct 2026 |
| CMA Handbook page | Rights and responsibilities of a CMA | 2 Oct 2026 |
| IMA Ethics Center | Statement of Ethical Professional Practice; free Ethics Series courses for members | 2 Oct 2026 |
Disclaimer: CPE requirements can depend on individual certification status, professional circumstances, jurisdiction and other factors. Requirements may also change over time. Credential holders are responsible for confirming their current CPE obligations directly with IMA and, where applicable, their local jurisdiction, employer, regulator or other relevant authority. EverCPE.com does not guarantee that completion of any particular course will satisfy a credential holder's individual CPE requirements.
