CPA vs CGMA — What’s the Difference?

When a finance or business student is looking to expand their accounting credentials, there are a wide variety of certifications available to choose from. Although it may be feasible for some to acquire multiple certifications such as both a CPA and CMA or perhaps a CPA and a CIA, this may not appeal to others for either financial or time investment reasons. Therefore, we have been compiling a number of articles that provide a brief overview into the different certifications which we hope will help you to gain some clarity on which to pursue. In this piece, we will briefly touch on the differences between the purpose and acquisition of the CPA licensure as opposed to the CGMA certificate.

What is a CPA?

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is someone who has passed the NASBA Uniform CPA exam in one of the US states and jurisdictions and subsequently received licensure to practice public accountancy in that locality. The license itself is issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA.) Although the prerequisites differ from state to state, there are certain basic requirements for licensure, such as receiving at least 75% for each section of the CPA exam within an 18-month window, meeting the 150 College Credit requirement and fulfilling some sort of work experience requirement. 

What is a CGMA?

A Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) is a certification offered jointly by the AICPA and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) that indicates that the holder has achieved an advanced proficiency in management, operations, finance and strategy. However, when it was first created, it only required a paid subscription fee for certification without any need for examination. As such, although it has since gained a standardized exam, it is still not considered to be as prestigious as a CPA license or a CMA certification, at least in the US. However, the AICPA and CIMA are currently developing an association to standardize its value.