CMA Course Fees 2027: CMA India and US CMA in Rupees | BootcampGuide

By Deepak Sharma, Marketing Manager at BootcampGuide and Content Lead at TestMu AI. B2B SaaS content strategist, certified in Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Appium, Automation Testing and KaneAI. Published 2026-11-09. 15 min read. Human edited.

Topics: CMA, Course Fees, Finance and Accounting, India, Original Research

By Deepak Sharma, BootcampGuide. ICMAI's fees were read from its CMA prospectus fee table, its 2021 fee structure notice and its December 2026 exam notifications, and IMA's fees from its own price pages, on 9 November 2026. Dollar figures are converted at the RBI reference rate of ₹95.2492 per US dollar (6 November 2026). Coaching fees come from each institute's own course page, read between 1 and 9 November 2026. We list CMA courses from several of these institutes; none of them paid to appear in this article or saw it before it was published. See sources.

CMA course fees in India come to ₹64,100 paid to ICMAI for the whole CMA India course after Class 12, or ₹56,600 for a graduate who enters at Intermediate, if every exam is passed at the first attempt. That is ₹54,100 in course fees (₹6,000 for Foundation, ₹23,100 for Intermediate and ₹25,000 for Final), ₹7,500 in exam fees and ₹2,500 to register for practical training. Add coaching, and most students spend between about ₹95,000 and ₹2.2 lakh in all.

US CMA fees for an Indian student come to about ₹1.22 lakh paid to IMA on the student route, or ₹1.89 lakh on the professional route, including the 18% GST that Indian candidates pay. In dollars that is US$1,088 or US$1,685: one year of IMA membership, the CMA entrance fee and two exam parts. Coaching adds ₹70,000 to ₹1.49 lakh, so the full US CMA costs about ₹1.9 lakh to ₹3.4 lakh.

Key takeaway: CMA India costs less in fees but takes two to two and a half years at best. US CMA costs two to three times as much but can be passed in 6 to 12 months. If you want to sit the CMA India exam in June 2027, register with ICMAI by 31 January 2027. If you are still a student, buy US CMA exams on IMA's student membership: it saves about ₹67,000 against the professional rate.

CMA course fees at a glance: CMA India vs US CMA

"CMA" means two different qualifications in India. CMA India (Cost and Management Accountant, earlier called ICWA) is awarded by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), a statutory body under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. US CMA (Certified Management Accountant) is awarded by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), a US professional body. They are paid for, studied and recognised differently, so this guide prices each one separately.

US CMA rupee figures are at ₹95.2492 per dollar and include 18% GST. A weaker rupee raises them; ICMAI's rupee fees do not move.

CMA India fee structure 2026-27 (ICMAI)

ICMAI charges a course fee once per level and an exam fee every time you sit. The course fees have not changed since ICMAI revised them on 11 February 2021, and the exam fees below are from the December 2026 exam notifications, the latest ICMAI has issued.

Totals assume both groups are sat together, once. Sitting each group separately adds ₹200 at Intermediate and ₹400 at Final, for ₹64,700 in all. The prospectus itself costs ₹250. ICMAI's fee table says fees are payable "subject to applicability of GST" and does not say whether the figures already include it, so check the amount on the payment page.

CMA Foundation fees

The CMA Foundation course fee is ₹6,000 (US$250 for students abroad), paid in one go. You can take admission after passing Class 10, but you can only sit the Foundation exam after passing Class 12. The CMA Foundation exam fee is ₹1,500 per attempt (US$100 at an overseas centre). Some fee guides still quote ₹1,200; the December 2026 notification says ₹1,500.

Foundation is an objective exam: four papers of 100 marks each, answered on an OMR sheet with no negative marking. The December 2026 Foundation exam is on 13 December 2026, and results are due by 7 January 2027.

CMA Intermediate fees

The CMA Intermediate course fee is ₹23,100 (US$1,100 abroad). It can be paid in one go or in two instalments of ₹12,000 at registration and ₹11,100 by the next cut-off date: 31 January for the June exam, or 31 July for December. The instalment option lasts three terms; if the second instalment is never paid, the first is forfeited. The ₹23,100 includes the ₹500 registration fee and ₹1,100 for the compulsory 120-hour skills training.

The CMA Inter exam fee is ₹1,500 for one group or ₹2,800 for both (US$100 or US$150 abroad). Graduates of any discipline except the performing arts, engineering students after their third year, and students who have passed CA Intermediate can join here directly without Foundation, which is why the graduate route costs ₹7,500 less.

CMA Final fees

The CMA Final course fee is ₹25,000 (US$800 abroad), in one go or as ₹15,000 plus ₹10,000. The CMA Final exam fee is ₹1,800 for one group or ₹3,200 for both (US$100 or US$150 abroad). Before Final you need 15 months of practical training, which can start once you register for Intermediate, and a 10-day Industry Oriented Training Programme, for which ICMAI's fee table lists no separate charge for students in India.

CMA exam fees and late fees

Because the exam fee is small, the real cost of failing a CMA India paper is the six-month wait and the extra coaching, not the ₹1,500 or ₹1,800 re-sit fee. A paper passed with 60% or more is exempted for the next three terms, so you only re-sit the papers you failed.

Other ICMAI charges most fee guides leave out

The de novo fee rose from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 in February 2024, so guides quoting ₹2,000 are using ICMAI's 2021 fee sheet.

US CMA fees in India, in rupees

IMA charges three things: annual membership, a one-time CMA entrance fee, and an exam fee for each of the two parts. Students get lower prices on all three. IMA's website has moved from imanet.org to imaglobal.org, and its price pages show the professional rates; the student rates appear only at checkout, so the student figures below are from IMA's review-course partners Gleim and Simandhar Education, and they agree with each other.

Converted at the RBI reference rate of ₹95.2492 per US dollar for 6 November 2026. Your card or bank adds its own forex markup, usually 1% to 3.5%.

IMA membership fee

Student membership costs US$49 a year and is open to full-time or part-time students at a college or university. Professional membership costs US$295 a year. You must be a member when you buy the entrance fee and the exams, and again when you are certified. Once certified, you also pay a CMA annual fee of about US$30 on top of membership; IMA sells membership plus the CMA annual fee for US$325, against US$295 for membership alone.

CMA entrance fee

The CMA entrance fee is US$225 for students and US$300 for professionals. It is paid once and starts your clock: IMA says it is valid for three years from the date of purchase, and both parts must be passed within that time. If they are not, you pay the entrance fee again and lose credit for a passed part.

US CMA exam fee per part

Each part costs US$407 for students and US$545 for professionals, and you have eight months from buying an exam to sit it. The exam is held at Prometric centres in three windows a year: January and February, May and June, and September and October. IMA last raised these fees in September 2025, so any guide quoting US$370 and US$495 a part, or US$250 and US$300 for the entrance fee, is using the old prices.

IMA added case-based questions to both parts in 2026, replacing the two written essays. IMA says the content and difficulty are unchanged, and the change did not alter the fees.

Do you pay GST on US CMA fees?

Yes, in practice. Simandhar Education's fee page says IMA fees attract "GST @18%", and Miles Education's fee table, labelled "inclusive of GST", is exactly IMA's dollar prices multiplied by 1.18. IMA's public price pages show no tax because tax is added for your billing country at checkout. Budget for the 18%: it adds ₹18,654 on the student route and ₹28,889 on the professional route.

Total cost of CMA: six real scenarios

These are full budgets, including fees to the awarding body and coaching. The coaching figures are built from the published prices in the next section; recorded lectures for the eight Final papers cost more than for Foundation and Intermediate put together, so they set most of the low end.

A US CMA retake costs the full exam fee again: ₹45,744 for a student or ₹61,255 for a professional, with GST. IMA no longer publishes pass rates; the last global figure it released, for 2020, was 45% across both parts. If a retake pushes you past twelve months, add another year of membership as well. That is why the professional route with one failed part costs more than double the CMA India course.

CMA coaching fees in India

Neither ICMAI nor IMA requires coaching, and both sell or supply study material. Most students still buy lectures, and this is where the cost of CMA varies most. The prices below are from each institute's own page; check whether GST is included, because many pages do not say.

CMA India coaching fees

Several institutes, including YES Academy and Unique Academy for Commerce, also run free live and recorded Foundation batches on YouTube, so a disciplined student can clear Foundation with ICMAI's study material and free lectures. Coaching matters more at Intermediate and Final, where the costing, tax and financial management papers decide most results. You can compare CMA coaching by city, mode and fee in our course listings.

US CMA coaching fees

Two things to check before you pay. First, whether the quoted price is for one part or both. Second, whether the institute passes on an IMA partner discount: Miles and Simandhar both advertise discount codes on IMA's exam fees through their partner status, which can cut the IMA bill by tens of thousands of rupees. Ask for the net figure in writing. To compare institutes side by side, see the full list of institutes we cover.

How to reduce CMA course fees

• Join CMA India after graduating if you are already in college. Direct entry at Intermediate skips Foundation and saves ₹7,500 in fees and six months.
• Use ICMAI's fee waivers. Students who scored 80% or more in Class 12 can apply for a Foundation fee waiver (all fees except ₹500, 500 places a term). An Intermediate merit-cum-means waiver covers students with 80% in Class 12 plus 65% in Foundation or 75% in graduation and a family income up to ₹2 lakh (300 places a term).
• North-East, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh: students from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, J&K and Ladakh get 50% of the total course fee waived, from the December 2025 term. That is ₹27,050 off the ₹54,100 in course fees.
• Other ICMAI schemes: graduate rank holders get 50% of the Intermediate fee refunded, and students with a disability above 40% get their fees refunded, less ₹500 at Intermediate or ₹750 at Final.
• Pay the US CMA on student rates while you are enrolled in college. The student route costs ₹67,099 less than the professional route, GST included.
• Buy both IMA exams only when you are ready. Each exam purchase is valid for eight months, so buying Part 2 early and missing the window wastes ₹45,744 or more.
• Ask your employer. Many finance teams reimburse IMA fees, especially for the professional route.
• Get paid while training. ICMAI's guidelines from August 2024 set a stipend of ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month for Intermediate trainees in companies and ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 for Final trainees. Firms of practising CMAs pay much less, ₹2,000 to ₹4,000 a month. In a company, a few months of stipend repays the whole ICMAI fee.

CMA deadlines and course duration

CMA India. ICMAI has two exam terms a year, June and December. You must register at least four months ahead: by 31 January for the June exam and by 31 July for December. The December 2026 forms have closed (Intermediate and Final exams run from 10 to 17 December 2026). ICMAI had not issued the June 2027 notification on 9 November 2026; under its standing rules, registration closes on 31 January 2027 and the exam form is due around 10 April.

After passing Intermediate you must skip one term before sitting Final, and you need 15 months of practical training. So the fastest timelines are:

• After Class 12: Foundation June 2027, Intermediate December 2027, Final December 2028. About two and a half years from admission to the Final result.
• Graduates: Intermediate June 2027, Final June 2028. About one and a half years.

US CMA. IMA's 2027 testing windows are January to February, May to June and September to October. Most candidates sit one part per window, so 6 to 12 months for both is realistic. To use the CMA title you also need a bachelor's degree and two years of continuous work experience in management accounting or financial management, which can be completed before, during or within seven years after the exams. IMA states no minimum degree length.

Is CMA worth the fees? Salary and payback

ICMAI says its campus placements made more than 3,000 offers across 2022, 2023 and 2024, with an average package of ₹12 lakh a year and a highest of ₹36 lakh. Campus figures cover the students placed, not everyone who qualifies, so treat them as the upper part of the range. PayScale, from 205 self-reported profiles, puts the average base salary for ICWA (CMA India) holders at about ₹9.15 lakh, and its cost accountant page shows ₹3.5 lakh to ₹10 lakh from the 10th to the 90th percentile.

For US CMA holders in India, PayScale's average base salary is about ₹7.54 lakh from 171 profiles. That page mixes the two CMAs, and most US CMA candidates in India already work in finance, often as CAs or MBAs, so the qualification usually adds to an existing salary rather than setting it.

On those figures, the ₹64,100 that ICMAI charges is less than one month's pay at the campus average, and a US CMA budget of ₹2 lakh to ₹3.4 lakh is about three to five months' pay at PayScale's average. The bigger cost of CMA India is time: two and a half years. US CMA is the faster option, and costs more, for people already working.

CMA fees vs CA, ACCA and CFA

CMA India is the cheapest of the five in fees, and the only one besides CA that is a statutory Indian qualification with a licence to practise, here as a cost auditor. For coaching recommendations on the other routes, see our guides to the best CA coaching in India and the best ACCA coaching in India.

Sources

1. ICMAI, CMA Prospectus, fee table (Annexure IX), read 9 November 2026.
2. ICMAI, Revised CMA course fee structure, 11 February 2021.
3. ICMAI, December 2026 Foundation exam notification.
4. ICMAI, December 2026 Intermediate and Final exam notification.
5. ICMAI, Practical training fees and training FAQ (stipend).
6. ICMAI, De novo registration fee notification, 16 February 2024.
7. ICMAI, Fee waiver for North-Eastern states, J&K and Ladakh.
8. ICMAI, Financial aid and scholarship schemes.
9. ICMAI, Campus placement profile.
10. IMA, Professional membership, student membership, membership with CMA annual fee.
11. IMA, CMA entrance fee and CMA Part 1 exam.
12. IMA, CMA education and experience requirements.
13. Gleim, CMA exam costs (student rates).
14. Simandhar Education, US CMA fees (student rates, GST, coaching plans).
15. Miles Education, US CMA course and fee table.
16. UWorld, CMA exam pass rates.
17. RBI reference rate, via MSEI archive, 6 November 2026.
18. PayScale, ICWA salary in India, CMA salary in India and cost accountant salary.
19. Institute course pages for every coaching fee quoted, read 1 to 9 November 2026: ArivuPro Academy, TopLad, Unique Academy for Commerce, YES Academy, Swapnil Patni Classes, Vsmart Academy, J.K. Shah Classes, The WallStreet School, VG Learning Destination and IMS Proschool.