Before paying a single rupee, most students and parents want to see the actual subject list — not just the level names.
New to the course? Our CMA course roadmap shows the whole route from Class 12 to Cost Accountant on one page.
Quick answer
The ICMAI CMA course has 20 papers in total — 4 in Foundation, 8 in Intermediate (two groups of four) and 8 in Final (two groups of four). The CMA subjects are accounting, costing, taxation, law, financial management, auditing and reporting. Only the last one, Paper 20, is a choice: you pick one elective out of three.
CMA subjects list — all 20 papers
This is the current ICMAI Syllabus 2022 structure, as published on icmai.in.
| Level | Papers |
|---|---|
| Foundation | 1. Fundamentals of Business Laws and Business Communication · 2. Fundamentals of Financial and Cost Accounting · 3. Fundamentals of Business Mathematics and Statistics · 4. Fundamentals of Business Economics and Management |
| Intermediate — Group I | 5. Business Laws and Ethics · 6. Financial Accounting · 7. Direct and Indirect Taxation · 8. Cost Accounting |
| Intermediate — Group II | 9. Operations Management and Strategic Management · 10. Corporate Accounting and Auditing · 11. Financial Management and Business Data Analytics · 12. Management Accounting |
| Final — Group III | 13. Corporate and Economic Laws · 14. Strategic Financial Management · 15. Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation · 16. Strategic Cost Management |
| Final — Group IV | 17. Cost and Management Audit · 18. Corporate Financial Reporting · 19. Indirect Tax Laws and Practice · 20. Elective — choose one: Strategic Performance Management and Business Valuation, Risk Management in Banking and Insurance, or Entrepreneurship and Startup |
Which CMA papers do students find hardest?
Being honest about this saves disappointment later. At Intermediate, Paper 7 (Direct and Indirect Taxation) and Paper 12 (Management Accounting) cause the most re-attempts. Tax changes with every Finance Act, and Management Accounting cannot be passed by reading — only by working sums.
At Final, Paper 16 Strategic Cost Management and Paper 18 Corporate Financial Reporting are the heavy ones. Paper 11 also surprises students, because the business data analytics portion is newer and often skipped — we run a separate Paper 11 FMDA masterclass for exactly that reason.
Do you write all these papers together?
No. Foundation is written as one set of four papers. At Intermediate and Final you may attempt a single group or both groups in the same term. Both groups together finishes the course faster; one group at a time is far safer if you are also doing B.Com or working full time.
ICMAI conducts exams twice a year, in June and December, so each group you postpone costs six months. The full CMA course fee breakdown shows what each extra attempt adds to the total.
Studying the CMA subjects in Coimbatore
At Masters Professional Academy, Peelamedu, we teach the ICMAI syllabus paper by paper rather than as one blur of “CMA classes” — classroom sessions per paper, MPA question papers, and stepwise answer keys where every formula is stated before it is used. That is how a CMA institute in Tamil Nadu should handle twenty papers spread over three levels. See how we teach the CMA Foundation papers and the CMA Intermediate papers in Coimbatore.
Key takeaway: 20 papers, 4 + 8 + 8, with one elective at the very end. Nothing is optional except Paper 20.
Want the official textbook for each of these papers? Our CMA links page has ICMAI’s free study material, MCQ bank, practice test paper and model question paper for all 20 papers, plus previous year question papers for six exam terms.
Talk to us about your situation
Not sure which papers to take in your first attempt? Send us your level and we will map a paper-wise plan. Free guidance, no obligation to join.
Masters Professional Academy, Peelamedu, Coimbatore · Open 7 days, 9 AM – 7 PM
More questions answered on our CMA Questions & Answers page.