The three-year rule is simple but critical: once you pass your first CMA exam part, you have three years to pass the second part. If you don’t, your first pass expires, and you’ll have to retake it. The three-year clock starts on the date you pay your CMA entrance fee to the IMA. This rule exists to make sure CMAs are tested on current, relevant content rather than passing one part decades before the other. In my experience, candidates who treat the CMA as a 12–18 month commitment from start to finish are far more likely to succeed than those who plan for “whenever I get around to Part 2.” Don’t let the clock run out — momentum is your friend.
