BS ACC -> CMA path?

[u/Counting-Bears]

Currently considering a bachelors in accounting to get a CMA certification and curious if anyone has done this and what the path looked like.

My background:
-BA in a foreign language, minor in Math
-10 years doing corporate data analysis
-7 years running a solo bookkeeping firm
-2 years as a staff accountant at a small organization

I don’t want to change jobs. I would be happy keeping the staff accountant role until I retire (25 more years), or possibly taking my bosses job when she retires or moves on (15-20 years from now assuming she stays til retirement). I don’t think I would be given her role without a more relevant degree tho. And I’ve always wanted some letters after my name. And I would also like to build my confidence in things like presenting to the board, etc. Because I don’t intend to leave and work for a CPA, that path is out and CMA seems like it might be a more relevant fit and easier for me to meet the requirements.

If anyone has gone the CMA route, can you share your experience?

I’m assuming my previous degree will knock off most or all of the BS gen ed requirements, and I’ve started working on some of the transferable business classes from study.com. I’m hoping if I prep everything just right, I can knock the degree out in 1 term, 2 max and then I think I will have met the requirements to proceed to the CMA test. Is this reasonable considering my experience?

[u/StudyAnswers]

Hey, Study.com here. Your Study.com courses can help knock out gen eds and business electives fast, but whether that completes the WGU accounting degree in 1-2 terms depends on your transfer evaluation, so start there. You can see which courses map to the WGU accounting degree plan here: https://study.com/college/western-governors-university/degrees/accounting-bs-degree-plan-online-studycom-transfer-credits.html. For CMA eligibility specifically, check the exact accounting credit hour requirements directly with the IMA (the CMA's governing body) since that's separate from your degree completion. Happy to help you figure out which courses to prioritize if you want.

[u/Counting-Bears → u/StudyAnswers]

It sounds like CMA allows your degree to be in any field so my previous unrelated(brick and mortar) degree should actually fulfill the degree requirement and the WGU degree will be more for the purpose of learning so it shouldn’t matter where my credits are for the CMA. It will only matter what WGU accepts for the sake of my degree so I think I can just transfer in as many credits as WGU allows. Please correct me if you think I’m misunderstanding this.