Cost & Management Accountancy Foundation Course Examination(CMA Foundation)

About the exam

About CMA Foundation

The CMA Foundation exam is the entry point to the Cost and Management Accountancy course of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), sitting below the Intermediate and Final levels. Its next sitting is on Sunday, 13 December 2026, answered on OMR sheets at examination centres, according to the Foundation Course Examination Time Table & Programme, December 2026 posted on the ICMAI Examination overview page.

That overview page names what the Institute's Examination Directorate regulates, among them examination applications, admit cards, results, the rank list, verification of marks and the issue of marksheets. ICMAI's CMA Prospectus 2025, linked from the menu of the same Examination overview, calls the Foundation Course "an Entry Level Programme for non-graduate students" and says the Institute's examinations "shall be held twice a year on the dates decided by the Council." The Institute's Result page lists Foundation results for June and December terms going back to June 2016.

The December 2026 time table words its choice of mode for that term alone: "The Institute has decided to conduct December 2026 Foundation Examination through offline OMR centre based." The mode has not always been this one. An ICMAI circular dated 5 January 2022, still listed on the Examination overview, warned students about "unwarranted and unnecessary posting on social media about the online Foundation Examination", so the time table for each term is the document that fixes how that term is sat.

At a glance

CMA Foundation highlights

Calendar

Important dates

For the December 2026 term, the time table gives these dates.

Admission to the Foundation Course closes months before any of those dates. The CMA Prospectus 2025, which the ICMAI Online Student Registration System links from its menu, sets the admission cut-off at 31 January of the same calendar year for a June term and 31 July for a December term, and says "Admission must be completed at least (4) four months prior to the commencement of Examination". The cut-off for December 2026 was therefore 31 July 2026, and the registration portal now shows June 2027 as the examination term against a new Foundation admission.

For the June 2026 term, ICMAI followed the form with a correction window. Its announcement of 22 April 2026, linked from the Pre Exam page, gave Foundation candidates a "final chance" to correct their online form from 22/04/2026 to 26/04/2026, and said no change would be accepted by email or phone.

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

The CMA Prospectus 2025 and ICMAI's Course Eligibility page both open the Foundation Course to students who have passed Class 10, and the prospectus's admission chart puts the Class XII pass before the line "Eligible to appear for Foundation Course Examination". Besides Class 10 or its equivalent, the Course Eligibility page accepts any of these for admission:

• the Senior Secondary School Examination under the 10+2 scheme of a recognised board, or an examination the Central Government recognises as equivalent;
• the National Diploma in Commerce Examination of the All India Council for Technical Education, or of a State Board of Technical Education under its authority;
• the Diploma in Rural Service Examination of the National Council of Rural Higher Education.

Provisional admission is possible, with 36 months to convert to regular status, but the prospectus adds that "Provisional Students must produce 10+2 standard passing mark sheet before applying exam", a condition the Course Eligibility page does not repeat. The admission procedure asks for copies of documents proving qualification and age, and issues an Identification Number valid for three years. To sit a particular term, the prospectus's examination rules then require a valid Identification Number, no debarment from the Foundation examination, and an examination form filed on time with the fee.

Direct entry to Intermediate takes Foundation out of the path altogether. The Course Eligibility page exempts anyone who has passed the Intermediate Examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, anyone who has passed the Foundation Examination of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, and anyone holding a qualification for direct admission to the Intermediate Course. The prospectus's direct-admission annexure names:

• a degree of any recognised university, which the Course Eligibility page limits to subjects other than music, dancing, photography, painting, sculpture and the like, or a master's degree from a recognised university or an Indian Institute of Management;
• qualified engineers, and engineering students past a stated year of study;
• the Final Examination of ICAI, of the institutes of England and Wales, Scotland or Ireland, of CIMA London, of ICSI, or of ACCA UK;
• Entry Level Part I of ICMAI's own Certificate in Accounting Technicians course;
• Section A and Section B of the Institution of Engineers (India), for those enrolled till 31.05.2013, as the prospectus's direct-admission annexure specifies, a date the annexure linked from the Course Eligibility page does not carry;
• the Subordinate Accounts Service Examination, Parts I and II of CAIIB, and any other examination the Council recognises for the purpose.

On the engineering year, ICMAI's documents do not agree. The Course Eligibility page's Intermediate rules, and the Annexure VI on direct admission that page links, accept an engineering student who has completed the 2nd year or Semester IV, while the prospectus's direct-admission annexure and its registration chart say 3rd year or Semester VI. An engineering student planning to skip Foundation this way should have the Directorate of Studies confirm which applies.

Step by step

Application process and fee

Admission and the examination form run on two different ICMAI portals, and the exam form cannot be completed without the number the admission produces.

1. Admission. On ICMAI's Online Student Registration System, a new applicant creates a login with an email address verified by OTP, as the registration system guide explains, then submits the Foundation application and pays. The portal says the Identification Number "will be generated only after realisation of payment, completion of document verification and authentication from the Directorate of Studies." Besides that portal route, the prospectus allows offline admission through ICMAI's regions, chapters and CMA Support Centres with a challan copy.
2. Examination form. Each term, the candidate enters the current registration number on the ICMAI Online Application for Examination, uploads a photo and signature in .jpg, .jpeg or .bmp format under 40KB, selects a centre and pays. The form page asks a candidate whose money was debited but whose status shows incomplete to wait three working days before paying again.

For December 2026, the time table on the Examination overview requires forms for Indian and overseas centres alike to be filled and paid online, and states: "No Offline form and DD payment will be accepted." The examination rules in the prospectus that the same overview page links are worded differently: they send candidates for overseas centres to an offline form with a demand draft and give 10 October as the December-term form date, while referring students to the examination notification for each term for dates and other details.

Foundation is priced in rupees for Indian students and in US dollars for students from abroad.

The prospectus's fee structure makes fees subject to GST and charges Rs 250 for the prospectus itself, and the registration portal shows the same Rs 6,000 Foundation fee.

One concession applies to Foundation alone. The Fees Waiver Scheme for Meritorious Students - 2024 for CMA Foundation Course, posted on ICMAI's Financial Aid & Scholarship page, waives all further course fees for students with 80% aggregate or more in Class 12 who take Foundation admission within two years of passing Class 12. The Rs 500 admission fee is not waived and is paid by demand draft, and selection is capped at 500 students per examination term, 125 each from the Western, Southern, Eastern and Northern regions. Applications run from 15 November to 15 January for a June term and from 15 May to 15 July for a December term, and no income certificate is needed at Foundation level.

Before the exam

Admit card and exam day

ICMAI hosts admit cards behind a login link on its Admit Card page, where the June 2026 link covered Foundation, Intermediate and Final candidates together. The photo and signature uploaded with the examination form are the ones printed on the admit card, the online examination application page warns.

For December 2026, the time table posted on the Examination overview says only: "Detailed instructions will be provided along with Admit Card." It also states that a candidate who is "completing all conditions for appearing in the examination as per Regulations will only be allowed to appear", and sends queries to exam.helpdesk@icmai.in. On conduct, the January 2022 circular listed on the Examination overview warns that students found using unfair means "shall be debarred for a period of five terms or permanently."

Structure

Exam pattern

Each Foundation paper carries 100 marks from 50 multiple-choice questions of 2 marks each, and the December 2026 time table on the Examination overview pairs the four papers so that each sitting has "a total of 100 Multiple Choice Questions of 200 marks". It also states: "There is no negative marking."

The time table times each sitting, not each paper. The June 2026 question papers on ICMAI's Question Papers page do: Paper 1 for June 2026, like the other three, prints "Time Allowed: 1 hour" and offers four options for each question.

A weak paper cannot be banked at this level. At Intermediate and Final, a paper scored at 60% or more in an unsuccessful attempt can be exempted in later attempts, but the CMA Prospectus 2025 Standard of Pass, which the Examination overview links from its menu, says "The benefit of exemption or carry forward of marks mentioned above is not available in Foundation Examination".

What to study

Syllabus

Foundation is examined under ICMAI's Syllabus 2022, which the December 2026 time table names and which ICMAI's Foundation Course Curriculum page publishes paper by paper. Each paper has two sections with fixed study weights.

The weights also describe the paper. The prospectus syllabus annexure says the study weightage "also indicates the approximate proportional distribution of marks that may be allocated to topics in any single examination", and the June 2026 papers on the Question Papers page followed it: Paper 3 gave its mathematics section 20 questions for 40 marks and its statistics section 30 questions for 60, and Paper 4 gave business economics 70 marks. Three statutes carry most of Paper 1's law section: the Indian Contract Act, 1872 at 30%, and the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 and the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 at 20% each. Within Paper 3, probability and correlation with regression are weighted at 15% apiece, while calculus applications in business get 5%. Statute-based subjects are to be read with amendments made from time to time, the prospectus directs.

How to prepare

Preparation and books

Coaching is a condition of the course, not an option. The CMA Prospectus 2025 states: "A student taking admission in Foundation Course has to undergo coaching", and ICMAI's Course Duration & Delivery page says the same of every course. That page sets out the two modes. Oral coaching for Foundation runs 4 months with a minimum of 240 lecture hours, each lecture hour 45 minutes, and requires a written examination of 3 hours in each subject, conducted by the Regional Council, Chapter or Oral Coaching Centre, with a minimum of 40% marks. Postal coaching is completed by answering the postal test papers on the ICMAI website, and a coaching completion certificate follows either mode.

Study materials for each subject are provided to students, the Course Duration & Delivery page says, and the prospectus's study-material price list prices each Foundation copy at Rs 400, plus Rs 100 courier charges per copy. For self-testing, ICMAI's CMA Syllabus 2022 page lists a Practice Test Paper, an MCQ Bank and Postal Test Papers, each labelled for Foundation, Intermediate and Final. Its Model Question Paper page carries two sets of Foundation papers for the June 2026 term, each with answers, and its Question Papers page posts the four Foundation papers actually set in June 2026. The prospectus also carries a list of recommended books for each Foundation paper and advises students "to consult latest edition of each book".

Where it is held

Exam centres

A candidate picks the centre in the examination form, which tells applicants: "Please select your exam center and group carefully." The December 2026 time table's centre list, posted on the Examination overview, names cities across India, from Adipur-Kachchh to Visakhapatnam, and overseas centres at Bahrain, Dubai and Muscat.

Centres are added by announcement. An ICMAI announcement dated 10 March 2026, linked from the Examination overview, added centres from June 2026 at Dimapur, Imphal, Itanagar, Gangtok, Lunglei and Karur. Bathinda and Sangrur are marked "only for Foundation" in the prospectus's centre annexure, and both appear in the December 2026 list on the Examination overview.

After the exam

Answer key

Questioning a Foundation mark at ICMAI runs through verification of the answer paper. Its Post Exam page lists question papers, suggested answers, examiners' comments, verification of answer papers and certified photocopies of answer scripts, while none of the eight numbered notes in the December 2026 time table mentions an answer key.

Under the rule on ICMAI's verification of answer papers page, a candidate applies within 30 days of the result with a fee of Rs 250 per paper. Only totalling mistakes and answers left unexamined are checked, "No details of question wise marks will be supplied", and the verification fee is refunded, on application, for any paper where a mistake is found. The prospectus prices the photocopies of answer scripts listed on the Post Exam page at Rs 500 per script, applied for within 21 days of the result, and says "There is no scope for any revaluation." Neither document distinguishes Foundation from Intermediate and Final in these rules.

Scores

Result and scorecard

The December 2026 time table on the Examination overview sets the Foundation result for "latest by 7th January 2027". For the June 2026 term, the June 2026 Foundation result page, linked from ICMAI's Result page, carried a press release listing passing roll numbers under the date 09-JUL-26, an individual result lookup, and a merit list for the term. That press release lists roll numbers only and prints no pass percentage.

The Foundation marksheet works differently from ICMAI's later levels. The CMA Prospectus 2025 results rules, linked from the Result page menu, say it is downloaded from the website only, with no hard copy sent, and the downloaded copy counts as the authentic document for admission to the Intermediate Course. Intermediate passers receive a Pass Certificate, but a Foundation pass brings neither a Pass Certificate nor a Rank Certificate. An ICMAI announcement of 21 February 2024, listed on the Examination overview, says CMA marksheets from 2020 onwards can also be downloaded through DigiLocker.

Scores you need

Cutoff

The Foundation pass line does not move between terms. The CMA Prospectus 2025 Standard of Pass, linked from the Result page menu, fixes it at a minimum of 40% in each paper and an aggregate of 50% of total marks. Rank matters only at the very top: the June 2026 Foundation merit list posted on the June 2026 result page runs from rank 1 to rank 10, with tied candidates sharing a rank, and the prospectus says Foundation candidates are felicitated with prizes at the National Students' Convocation, held once a year.

Getting a seat

Counselling and seat allotment

The step after a Foundation pass is registration for ICMAI's own Intermediate Course, on the same two cut-off dates that govern Foundation admission. The CMA Prospectus 2025, also linked from the Online Student Registration System, sets 31 January for a June term and 31 July for a December term, requires registration at least four months before the examination, and puts the Intermediate course fee at Rs 23,100. That fee can be paid in one go or as Rs 12,000 at registration and Rs 11,100 by the cut-off date, and no student can appear for Intermediate without the second instalment. No college or outside body allots seats on a Foundation result.

Where it is accepted

Participating institutes

ICMAI delivers the course through outside institutions even though none of them admits students on the Foundation result. The CMA Prospectus 2025 coaching rules place oral coaching at a Regional Council, a Chapter, a Recognised Oral Coaching Centre or an Accredited Institution with coaching facilities, and make admission forms available at Regional Council offices, Chapters and Accredited Institutions, while the Course Duration & Delivery page lists a CMA Support Centre among the oral coaching options. ICMAI's List of Accredited Institutions, updated till 4 September 2026, has 24 entries and gives each institution's state, region, tagged regional council or chapter, and the date its accreditation is valid up to. Students from other countries take postal coaching only and send their applications to the Directorate of Studies in Kolkata, according to the Course Duration & Delivery page.

Get help

Contact

ICMAI's Examination Department sets out a three-level route for queries on its contact details of the Examination Department page:

• Level 1: email the officer listed for the query, quoting your registration number; the page says a query will be addressed within 3 to 4 business working days. On that contact page, the Foundation Examination desk is an Assistant Coordinator listed with a phone number, 9903894294, and no email address, and the page gives exam.helpdesk@icmai.in for general queries.
• Level 2: if unresolved, write to exam.helpdesk@icmai.in with the earlier correspondence.
• Level 3: write, with all previous correspondence, to the senior examination officers the page lists by responsibility, headed by the Director at exam.director@icmai.in.

Questions on studies go to studies@icmai.in, according to the CMA Prospectus 2025 contact list, and the Directorate of Studies sits at CMA Bhawan, 12 Sudder Street, Kolkata 700016, the address ICMAI's Course Duration & Delivery page gives for its Kolkata Office. For trouble creating a student-portal login, ICMAI's Online Student Registration System guide points students to studies.ad3@icmai.in.

Source

Official links

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Exact exam dates, registration deadlines, fees, admit-card and result dates are per-cycle. Anything per-cycle here is stated for the cycle it names and is taken from the conducting body's own notification; confirm it on the official website before acting on it. Expertie does not conduct any exam, process applications or charge fees.

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