About our CIMA affiliation and the master's gateway route

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountant (CIMA), originated in 1919, is a UK-based professional body focused on accounting for business. CIMA as the world’s largest professional body of management accountants offers training and qualifications in management accountancy and related subjects to their 203,000 members and students in 173 countries.

While most other accounting qualifications are concerned with financial accounting, external audit and tax, CIMA combines the rigour of an accounting qualification with the business skills needed to offer strategic advice and manage risk.

For more information, visit the CIMA global website.

CIMA is an internationally recognised qualification, providing the necessary skills to succeed as a Management Accountant or many other roles. Becoming CIMA-qualified shows that students have the skills and knowledge needed to work in various accountancy, business and finance roles.

Entry of the University of Vaasa into the CIMA Master's gateway route signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that the curriculum of the Master’s Degree Programme in Accounting and Auditing is closely tied to professional practice and is well-suited to preparing students to sit for the CIMA examinations and covers more than 80% of CIMA curriculum.

The Master's gateway route is an accelerated entry route to the CIMA Professional Qualification.

The CIMA qualification contains a number of papers that students need to pass. Being accepted into the CIMA Master's gateway route, the University of Vaasa is eligible to offer its students who graduate with a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Auditing 11 exemptions from CIMA’s Professional Qualification. Instead of taking 11 CIMA exams, students need to pass a three-hour-long CIMA Master's Gateway Exam (CGME) that can be taken globally and approved by the CIMA exam centre.

The CMGE is drawn from the management level of the CIMA syllabus:

• P2: Performance Management
• E2: Enterprise Management
• F2: Financial Management

Participation of the University of Vaasa in the CIMA Master's gateway route allows students to get free:

• Registration with CIMA
• The first year’s subscription fees (normal fee for registration and first-year subscription is GBP 77)
• One attempt of the CIMA Master's Gateway Exam that is valid for two years (normal fee for 11 exemptions is GBP 1220)
• Entry to the Professional Qualification at Strategic Level after successfully passing the CIMA Gateway Exam

To get started, students need to register as CIMA students (using the ‘gateway route’ option) and submit documents proving their eligibility for this route. Documents that students need to include:

• Complete transcripts for all courses
• Graduation certificate or a letter from University of Vaasa confirming completion of Master’s Degree in Accounting and Auditing

Students will be emailed with full details of how to submit the documents to CIMA after completing the registration. Once the documents have been reviewed and approved by CIMA representatives, students will then be confirmed onto the gateway route and will be eligible to schedule the CIMA Gateway Exam.