CMA Final Exam Date: Time Table, Exam Form and Eligibility

ICMAI holds the Final exam twice a year, in a June term and a December term. When we checked ICMAI's announcements page on 7 October 2026, it had not yet published a time table for June 2027.

December 2026 important dates

Sources: ICMAI's December 2026 time table, its circular of 28 July 2026 on the enrolment cut-off and its circular of 12 September 2024 on the practical training forms. Check ICMAI's Updates and Announcements page for any later change.

CMA Final time table for December 2026

Every Final paper runs from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm Indian Standard Time. Intermediate papers are written on the same days in the afternoon.

If you are writing one group

ICMAI's notice says the December 2026 exams are held "on alternate dates for each group":

• Group III only (Papers 13 to 16): 10, 12, 14 and 16 December 2026.
• Group IV only (Papers 17 to 20): 11, 13, 15 and 17 December 2026.
• Both groups: every day from 10 to 17 December 2026.

Exam mode and centres

The December 2026 exams are offline and centre-based, as stated in ICMAI's notice. The notice lists exam centres in cities across India and overseas centres in Bahrain, Dubai and Muscat; you choose your centre in the exam form, so check the list first. ICMAI's Directorate of Studies issued its clarification for the December 2026 term on 15 September 2026: amendments up to 31 May 2026 to the Companies Act, the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, CAS 1-24, the Finance Act 2025, GST and Ind AS apply to the Final papers that cover them (Papers 13, 15, 17, 18 and 19).

Who can sit the December 2026 Final exam

Under ICMAI's CMA Prospectus 2025, you can sit the Final exam only if:

• you hold a valid registration number and are enrolled for Final (for December 2026 the enrolment cut-off was extended to 4 August 2026);
• you passed Intermediate in the penultimate term: ICMAI's example is that a student who passes Intermediate in a December exam cannot sit the next June Final exam;
• you have completed the training prescribed for the Final course;
• you are not debarred from ICMAI's exams; and
• you submit the exam form with the fee within the deadline.

Two training requirements matter most at the exam-form stage:

• Industry Oriented Training Programme (IOTP). If you are writing both groups or your remaining group, you must complete this programme before you fill in the exam form.
• Practical training. ICMAI's circular of 12 September 2024 requires at least 10 months of practical training, certified on Form T5A by 31 August for a December exam, to sit both groups or the remaining group. The full 15 months must be completed and reported on Form T5B before ICMAI releases your Final result. The prospectus elsewhere says 15 months are needed before appearing, so if your case is close, confirm with ICMAI.

If you paid the Final course fee in two instalments, the prospectus says no student can appear for the Final exam without paying the second instalment, due by 31 July for a December term. Our CMA Final registration guide covers enrolment, fees and electives, and CMA articleship explains the practical training scheme.

How to fill in the exam form

The exam form is separate from enrolment: you submit one for each term you want to sit. For December 2026, ICMAI accepts exam forms and payments online only, for centres in India and overseas; it does not accept offline forms or demand drafts. The steps on ICMAI's online application page are:

1. Go to icmai.in, then Students, Examination, Online Application for Examination.
2. Enter your current registration number and press "Click Here", then press "Click Here" beside the Registration No. field in the Online Examination Application form.
3. Fill in your details, choose your exam centre and group carefully, and submit.
4. Upload your photo and signature as .jpg, .jpeg or .bmp files under 40 KB each, cropped properly. They will be printed on your admit card.
5. Choose a payment mode and pay.

A few points from the same page and ICMAI's notices:

• Elective (Paper 20). If you have not chosen your elective yet, the application page links to the selection process. You can change an elective you have already chosen by applying online with a ₹1,000 fee (ICMAI notification of 18 December 2024).
• Adding a group. If you applied for one group and want to add the other, email exam.helpdesk@icmai.in before the deadline.
• Payment not showing. If money has left your account but the status shows incomplete, wait three working days before paying again.

CMA Final exam fee

Source: ICMAI's December 2026 time table and programme; the CMA Prospectus 2025 gives the same amounts. A form submitted between 11 and 17 October 2026 costs ₹500 extra.

Exam fees are not refunded. If circumstances beyond your control stop you from sitting, the prospectus lets you apply, with documentary evidence, to have the fee adjusted against the next exam; the application must reach ICMAI within 15 days of the last exam date.

CMA Final exam pattern

Source: ICMAI's CMA Prospectus 2025 and the December 2026 time table. A score of 60% or more in a paper of a group you did not pass can earn an exemption for the next three terms.

Each paper sets its own mix of question types. In June 2026, for example, Paper 13 (Corporate and Economic Laws) had a compulsory first question of 15 two-mark MCQs (30 marks), followed by any five of seven 14-mark questions. Our CMA Final question papers guide links ICMAI's past papers and answers for every Final paper.

Admit card

ICMAI posts a separate admit card link for each term on its Admit Card page. On 7 October 2026 the page still showed the link for the June 2026 term, so the December 2026 admit card had not been released yet.

When it is out, download it from that page and check your photo, signature, exam centre, groups and elective. For any problem, ICMAI's notice asks students to write only to exam.helpdesk@icmai.in.

Preparing in the weeks before the exam

ICMAI publishes free material that is worth working through before December:

• Study material for every Final paper on its Study Materials page.
• Supplements for the December 2026 term, covering changes in the law after the books were printed, for Final Papers 13, 15, 17, 18 and 19 on its Supplementary page. ICMAI's clarification of 15 September 2026 confirms that amendments up to 31 May 2026 apply to these papers in December 2026.
• Past question papers up to the June 2026 term, plus model question papers and practice test papers for Syllabus 2022.

In our experience, the most useful practice is writing complete past papers in one sitting of three hours, so that you learn to pace the compulsory question and still leave enough time for the written answers. Keep short notes as you revise, take regular breaks and get your doubts cleared early rather than in the last week.

Result date and the next term

ICMAI will publish the December 2026 Final results by 5 February 2027; our CMA Final result guide explains how to check them. For a June term, ICMAI's prospectus sets two general deadlines: Final enrolment by 31 January and the exam form, without late fee, by 10 April of the same year. The exact dates for June 2027 will be in ICMAI's time table for that term, so check its announcements page before you plan.