CIMA Case Study Syllabus

In the exam, you will be presented with new information for each question.

This new information typically comes in the form of an email, a news article, a conversation or a meeting.

A task will then be assigned to you based on this new information and you will have an allotted time to create your response.

You may also be provided with additional reference material, to add context to the original unseen information. Again, this may be in the form of a news article, an email or some financial data.

Your Role:
Finance Officer. Equivalent roles in a real organisation may be:

• Junior/Trainee Accountant
• Credit Controller
• Assistant Accountant
• Cost Accountant

Your Focus:
Short-term. You may be involved in:

• Costing
• Preparing budgets
• Advising on product mix or performance
• Variance analysis
• Working capital or cash management
• Producing reports of performance against budget
• Risk assessment in short-term decision making

You will need to understand:

• The role of finance within the wider organisation
• Who the stakeholders are
• The regulatory environment
• How to communicate with non-financial staff.

Your Audience:
Your manager (Finance Manager/Finance Director) or your peers (from financial or non-financial departments).

Competency Weightings:

• Technical skills – 64%
• Business skills – 16%
• People skills – 14%
• Leadership skills – 6%

Your Role:
Finance Manager. Equivalent roles in a real organisation may be:

• Management Accountant
• Financial Controller
• Financial Analyst
• Head of Finance

Your Focus:
Medium-term. You may be involved in:

• Analysing cost information and advising on product investment decisions
• Assessing/advising on risk
• Pricing decisions
• Performance measurement.

You will need to understand:

• The regulatory environment in depth
• The business environment
• Performance measures and improvement
• Change management
• Options for long-term finance.

Your Audience:
Your manager (Senior Finance Manager), Financial Director, colleagues within finance department or other senior business managers (financial or non-financial departments).

Competency Weightings:

• Technical skills – 39%
• Business skills – 16%
• People skills – 21%
• Leadership skills – 24%

Your Role:
Senior Finance Manager. Equivalent roles in a real organisation may be:

• Senior Management Accountant
• Group Accountant
• Financial Director

Your Focus:
Long-term. You may be involved in:

• Measuring, analysing and managing risk
• Advising on strategic decisions
• Investigating potential business developments and investments
• Advising on long-term sources of finance and financial strategy.

You will need to understand:

• Leadership and its role achieving change management
• The full context in which the business operates
• The importance of looking ahead and advanced planning.

Your Audience:
Chief Financial Officer/Board, senior management team – other senior non-financial staff.

Competency Weightings:

• Technical skills – 25%
• Business skills – 25%
• People skills – 25%
• Leadership skills – 25%