MSL Business School and AICPA & CIMA Outline an Accelerated Path to CIMA Membership for Degree Holders
MSL Business School and AICPA & CIMA hosted an online session on the fastest route to the Chartered Global Management Accountant designation for first-degree and master’s holders: a digital pathway that replaces most of the exam hall with continuous online assessment.
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Paper for a chartered accountant
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Case studies for a degree holder
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Case study sittings each year
MSL Business School and the office of AICPA & CIMA held a joint online session on the evening of 7 June 2026, setting out how first-degree and master’s holders can reach CIMA membership and the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation through an accelerated, largely digital route. The session was led by MSL founder Michael Siaw Larbi, himself a CGMA, with Paul Aninakwah, Country Director for AICPA & CIMA across Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
CIMA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, has trained management accountants for more than a century, and in 2015 joined with the American Institute of CPAs to form AICPA & CIMA. Together the body counts around 700,000 members, candidates and registrants in roughly 150 countries. The CGMA is the designation it awards on completion of the qualification and the required professional experience.
Fewer exam halls, the same qualification
The qualification has four levels: Foundational, Operational, Management and Strategic. On the traditional route, a student sits every subject in an examination centre, up to fifteen visits in all. On the CGMA Finance Leadership Programme (FLP), the body’s digital pathway, the subjects at each level are studied and assessed online, and the only examination taken in a centre is the case study that closes each level. A student on the digital route can therefore complete the same syllabus while attending an examination centre as few as three times.
The case studies are the fixed points. They are offered four times a year, in February, May, August and November, which sets the pace at which a candidate can progress. AICPA & CIMA told attendees that a committed student, studying around five to seven hours a week, can complete the qualification in roughly a year.
The programme is sold as a single package: one fee covers registration, access to all four levels of the platform, and every assessment, both on the platform and in the centre, with no separate charge for textbooks. Graduates of partner universities in the region qualify for discounted rates arranged through the AICPA & CIMA office.
Entry points by background
A candidate’s starting level depends on their background. Graduates with a degree in accounting or finance, and holders of an MBA, are exempted from the Foundational and Operational levels and enter at the Management level, leaving two case studies to sit: the Management Case Study and the Strategic Case Study. Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) enter at the top and sit a single paper, the Strategic Case Study. Candidates from other backgrounds begin at a lower level, with the entry point confirmed by AICPA & CIMA once qualifications are assessed.
The headline
A finance or MBA graduate can reach the CGMA designation by sitting two case studies. A chartered accountant, just one.
On the digital pathway, everything else is studied and assessed online. The case study is the part that still rewards real coaching, and it is where MSL Business School concentrates its tuition.
Coaching for the case studies
MSL Business School provides tuition for the case studies, the stage most candidates find hardest. Classes are delivered live and fully online. The school’s Strategic Case Study programme for chartered accountants is already running: its first cohort sat the examination in May 2026, and the next sits in August. A Management Case Study class will follow for the November sitting.
Students also receive MSL’s own technology support. The MSLApp AI tutor is trained across the CGMA syllabus, from the Operational to the Strategic level. A student can photograph a question from the FLP platform and have it explained step by step, generate practice quizzes, and revise on demand. MSL Business School is Ghana’s clear technology leader in professional education, the first and only provider with multimodal AI for professional exam students, so a candidate on the digital pathway is never studying alone.
“For a graduate who wants a global qualification without years in the exam hall, this is one of the most efficient routes available. Our part is the piece that still needs a teacher: the case studies. We give students live coaching and an AI tutor trained across the whole syllabus, so the digital pathway never has to feel like a solo effort.”
Thinking about the CGMA?
MSL Business School provides case study tuition for the CIMA and CGMA qualification, alongside its ICAG and CITG programmes.
Details of the qualification, entry requirements and fees were presented by AICPA & CIMA at an online session hosted by MSL Business School on 7 June 2026. Fees, exemptions and entry points are set by AICPA & CIMA and confirmed on application. A recording of the session is available on the MSL Business School YouTube channel.
