CMA CPE Requirements 2026: 30 Hours a Year, 2 in Ethics

Certified Management Accountants (CMAs) must complete 30 hours of continuing professional education every calendar year, and two of those hours must be on ethics. The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) says the credits must be finished by December 31 to keep the designation active. This guide sets out what the IMA publishes, what counts, and what happens if you fall short. It covers the CMA credential only. If you also hold a CPA licence, your state board has its own rules, which we cover in our CPA CPE requirements guide.

At a glance

The 30-hour annual rule

The IMA states that the continuing education requirement is 30 hours per calendar year. Unlike many state CPA boards, it does not average hours over two or three years. Each January starts a new requirement, so hours you earn in a quiet year do not cover a busy one, apart from the limited carryover described below. The IMA says the requirement begins at the start of the first calendar year after your certification is issued, so the year you pass is not counted.

Ethics hours

Two of the 30 hours must be on ethics in every year. These hours are part of the 30, not on top of it. The IMA lists Professional Ethics and Values among the six domains of its CPE programmes, so ethics courses are easy to find, but you should check that a course is classed as ethics before you count it towards the two.

What counts as CPE

The IMA accepts programmes from NASBA-registered organisations, relevant courses and seminars at accredited universities, and authorship such as articles in its Strategic Finance magazine. One CPE credit is 50 minutes of study. College teaching credit is limited to once in three years and repeated speaking credit to once a year. We did not find a published list of activities that do not count, so if you are unsure, ask the IMA before you rely on a course.

Carryover

The IMA rules allow credits earned above the 30 hours to be applied to the following calendar year, up to a cap of 10 credits for CMAs. Treat this as a cushion, not a plan. If you expect to be over, keep the certificate showing the date you completed each course so the hours fall in the right year.

Falling short and getting back on track

Certification holders who do not meet the requirements are treated as delinquent, and the designation may not be used until the problem is fixed. To be reinstated you pay current membership dues and make up the missing hours, which means the current year's 30 plus any shortfall from earlier years. The IMA allows a two-year window to remedy a deficiency, and it cannot be carried into a third year. Delinquency is the outcome to avoid, because it stops you using the letters on your CV and email signature.

Waivers and retirement

Retired CMAs are exempt. For everyone else, the IMA considers waivers for military service, serious illness or disability, and severe financial hardship. A change of employer does not qualify as a reason for a waiver. Ask for a waiver before you are delinquent, not after.

Membership and fees

The IMA requires CMAs to keep their IMA membership in good standing, and it charges an annual CMA fee. Its own pages are not fully consistent on how this is described: the certification page lists a maintenance fee and membership dues as separate items, while the 2024 CMA handbook describes one annual fee that includes membership. We have not quoted amounts for that reason, so check the current cost on the IMA website before you budget.

CMA CPE and your CPA licence

Holding both credentials means two sets of rules. The IMA says state boards have the final say on whether a course counts for licence renewal, so a CMA-eligible course may not automatically satisfy your board, and a NASBA-registered course is the safest overlap. For the licence side, start with our guide to how CPE credits are counted.

What we could not confirm

Several IMA pages were closed to our automated reader, including the CMA FAQ and the maintenance pages for other regions, so we relied on the IMA rules document, the CPE page, the 2024 handbook and the getting-started page. A newer handbook exists that we could not open. We could not confirm how or where to report your CPE, whether there is a reporting window after December 31, any pro-rating in your first year, or the exact extra hours owed after a prolonged shortfall. We found no announced 2025 or 2026 change to the CPE rule. Please check the IMA before you act on any of these points.

Frequently asked questions

How many CPE hours does a CMA need each year?

Thirty hours per calendar year, with two of them on ethics.

When is the CMA CPE deadline?

December 31. The IMA says the credits must be completed by that date each year to keep the designation active.

Can I carry over extra CPE hours?

Yes, within a cap. The IMA rules cap carryover at 10 credits for CMAs.

Do retired CMAs have to complete CPE?

No. The IMA exempts retired CMAs from the requirement.

Does CMA CPE count for my CPA licence?

Not automatically. Your state board decides what counts for the licence, so check the board before you rely on a course.

Finding courses that count

Learnsignal publishes accounting, tax, audit, ethics and finance courses in its CPD and CPE library. Before you pay for any course, check the awarding body's own rules on what it accepts, and keep the certificate and the course details. For the wider picture, see CMA versus CPA and our explainer on CPE versus CPD.

Source: IMA Rules and Requirements for Maintaining Certifications, IMA Earning CPE Credits with IMA, IMA CMA Handbook (2024) and IMA CMA getting-started page (imanet.org), checked October 2026.