Most students focus on passing the 15 exams of the professional qualification, but you must also complete your practical experience record to become a member. Martin Taylor, chief executive of BPP Business School, advises how to overcome common obstacles.
T4 part A and part B can be attempted in any order after candidates have completed and passed the strategic level examinations. However, CIMA recommends completing part A (the practical experience record) first.
If part A is not completed within four years of finalising part B, candidates will be removed from the register. By completing part A first, you don’t have the pressure of trying to do so within a timeframe.
Once you have completed part A you can move on to part B, which involves a case study exam. Providers such as BPP have programmes to help you prepare for this exam, and you should also look on the CIMA website for further help and guidance.
Completing your experience record
There are four elements you have to complete for part A:
- section one: assessment of practical experience / membership application form
- section two: employment summary
- section three: detailed record of experience
- section four: record of skills development.
Sections one two and four are straightforward, standard forms which can be found on the CIMA website. However section three has no standard format and it can be difficult to know what you should include, so here are some tips.
Formatting
You should lay out section three to resemble an extended CV, approximately five to 15 pages in length (in single line spacing).
What to include
In section three, candidates need to demonstrate at least three years’ relevant practical experience split over three different areas – basic, core and supplementary. The table below illustrates the type of experience you can include for each area.
| Area one: basic experience |
Hands-on experience of:
- preparing and maintaining accounting records
- statutory and regulatory reporting
- IT desktop skills
- systems and procedure development
|
Area two: core experience |
At least 18 months’ experience is required in this area. Suitable examples include:
- preparation of management accounts
- planning, budgeting and forecasting
- management reporting for decision making
- product and service costing
- information management
- project appraisal
- project management
- working capital control
- risk management and business assurance.
|
| Area three: supplementary experience |
Experience in this area might include involvement with:
- financial strategy
- corporate finance
- treasury management
- taxation
- business evaluation and appraisal
- business strategy
- external relationships.
|
Common questions
Q: Some of my experience is from before my registration as a CIMA student. Is this valid?
A: Yes – candidates can include any experience gained before registering as a CIMA student.
Q: Most of my experience is in a management accounting role, with significantly less exposure to area three (supplementary experience). Should I be concerned about this?
A: No – at least 18 months of the three years needs to be in ‘core experience’ that is focused on management accounting issues. Extra experience in the core experience area may compensate for marginal experience gained in other areas.
Q: I am worried that within area one I do not have any experience of statutory and regulatory reporting. Will this invalidate my application?
A: Unlikely – candidates are not expected to have covered every single aspect of the practical experience requirements in their submission.
Q: I cannot gain appropriate experience within my current employment. How should I deal with this?
A: You can try to cover any gaps by looking to gain work experience in a voluntary role, eg treasurer of a voluntary organisation.
Q: I worked in a role for three months, my experience of which was relevant to the core and supplementary areas. Can I count this as three months in each area, therefore creating six months towards my practical experience?
A: No – you cannot double count your experience. The number of months claimed in the three areas must not be greater than the number of months spent in the role.
Q: If I have worked part time for three years in a relevant role does this cover the 36 month criteria?
A: No – any experience gained in part time employment needs to be prorated.
Help at hand
It is important that you don’t get too concerned about having the perfect practical experience requirements – and remember CIMA offers excellent guidance. In the event of an application being received with inadequate experience, they will also advise you on how you can improve your application.
Personally, I found the greatest challenge in completing my record of experience was trying to remember sufficient detail about the roles I had been performing three years earlier. My final piece of advice is not to wait to start this record at the end of your studies, but to update it every six months, so that you are ready to submit as soon as you are successful in the T4 part B exam.
I hope this piece helps you become a CIMA member very soon. I wish you good luck.
Links
Practical experience section
Recording your practical experience
Are you gaining your practical experience?