TOPCIMA is the final exam you will sit. You must sit this exam after you have completed all other exams in line with guidelines produced by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

It is based upon a case study and set within a simulated business context. By passing this exam you will prove that you have the ability to transfer your strategic and practical knowledge to a "real life" business situation.

The TOPCIMA has no specific syllabus content. Material from any of the Managerial and Strategic level subjects could be relevant.

Below are the learning aims, rationale, the learning outcomes and the assessment strategy for the TOPCIMA.

Learning Aims

The aim of the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting (TOPCIMA) is to test the capabilities and competence of students, to ensure that they:

have a sound technical knowledge of the specific subjects within the curriculum;
can apply technical knowledge in an analytical and practical manner;
can extract, from various subjects, the knowledge required to solve many-sided or complex problems;
can solve a particular problem by distinguishing the relevant information from the irrelevant, in a given body of data;
can, in multi-problem situations, identify the problems and rank them in the order in which they need to be addressed;
appreciate that there can be alternative solutions and understand the role of judgement in dealing with them;
can integrate diverse areas of knowledge and skills;
can communicate effectively with users, by formulating realistic recommendations, in a concise and logical fashion;
can identify, advise on and/or resolve ethical dilemmas.

The Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting (TOPCIMA) comprises a case study that requires students to primarily apply strategic management accounting techniques to make and support decisions within a simulated business context.

Rationale

The TOPCIMA will provide an integrated test of syllabus content that is mainly included within the three Strategic level papers. However, it will also draw upon content covered within the six Managerial level papers.

The TOPCIMA will require the student to deal with material in less structured situations than that encountered in previous Strategic level papers, and to integrate a variety of tools in arriving at a recommended solution. It is unlikely that there will be a single right answer to a complex business problem and students will be expected to recognise the possible alternatives in dealing with a problem.

The emphasis will be on assessing candidates capabilities and competence in the practical use of appropriate, relevant knowledge, the ability to demonstrate the application of the higher level skills of synthesis, analysis and evaluation, and skill in effectively presenting and communicating information to users.

Learning outcomes

Students will be required to go through the following stages to prepare for, and to answer, the requirement of the case, set within the TOPCIMA:

A - Preparatory to the TOPCIMA exam:

analyse and identify the current position of the organisation;
analyse and identify the relevant problems facing the organisation.

Note: Activities undertaken using published ‘pre-seen’ case study materials.

B - TOPCIMA exam:

appraise possible feasible courses of action available;
evaluate and then choose specific proposals;
identify and evaluate priorities related to the proposals;
recommend a course of action;
prepare and present information in a format suitable for presentation to senior management.

Assessment Strategy

There will be a written TOPCIMA examination paper of three hours, with a limited number of questions (requirements). They will normally be answered using the form of a report and/or presentation, with supporting documents, to a variety of users. The questions will be based upon a case study, which will be published on the CIMA website, at least six weeks in advance of the examination. This will provide sufficient time before the examination to allow the student to undertake preparatory analysis based upon the pre-seen material. Further information regarding the case will be added as part of the examination paper.

As a guide to the volume of material within the case, it is likely to be between fifteen and twenty sides of A4, published in advance of the exam and up to six sides of A4 contained within the examination paper.

Questions will test the student’s capabilities and competence in the application of appropriate knowledge and the processes undertaken in dealing with the problems identified in the examination, together with their ability to present and communicate information.

A "TOPCIMA Assessment Matrix" will be published on the CIMA website, with the pre-seen case material. The matrix will identify the list of assessment criteria, performance bands and range of marks that will be used to assess the capabilities and competence of candidates.