CRMA Prep Recommendations
What do you need to effectively prepare for the CRMA exam?
IIA Switzerland offers excellent CRMA training. Questions about the exam? Please use the contact form.
The CRMA Exam
The CRMA certificate was significantly revised in summer 2021. Important: The question types have changed!
The prerequisite and basis for certification is the CIA certificate.
The exam covers the fundamentals of governance, risk management, and internal control, as well as the role of assurance functions, particularly internal audit. Furthermore, risk management organization and methods are important components of the CRMA exam.
Detailed information on applicable requirements, registration formalities, and costs can currently be found on the IIA certification website. Adjustments are to be expected following the exam’s change, so it’s better to check too often than too little!
Preparation Basics – CIA
To prepare for the first part of the CRMA exam – essentially CIA Part 1 – please also read the information on the CIA. The CRMA materials, the International Professional Foundations for Internal Auditing (IPPF, please work through them thoroughly), and the CIA 1 and CIA 2 learning modules from a learning system provider should be of great help here.
Preparation Advanced – Risk Management
To prepare for the second part of the CRMA exam – Risk Management – first obtain the exam topics (syllabus) and then thoroughly read the IIA CRMA Study Guide, the COSO ERM if available, and any other materials (e.g., the introduction to the IIA > Link).
Obtain a collection of exam questions or use relevant questions from the CIA preparation material > Link.
For all certificate exams using the multiple-choice method: Try to complete as many practice questions as possible. There is no grade for the exam, meaning it’s NOT about performing as “well” as possible compared to other candidates. To ensure passing, you should answer the questions you can answer (!) correctly with the greatest possible confidence. You learn this effectively through practice.
Reading Suggestions for the CRMA Exam
You can find a list of materials on the DIIR website.
The second edition of the IIA CRMA Exam Study Guide, which includes the IIA practice questions, is recommended as a starting point. Also recommended are COSO ERM, the COSO Internal Control Framework, and, for example, Sobel/Reding: Enterprise Risk Management (2012).
The IIA CRMA Study Guide is structured around the exam topics and is sufficient for preparation in many cases.
If the shipping costs of the IIA web store put you off, Amazon UK or the AICPA web store often offer significantly lower shipping costs.
Practice Questions
Official sample questions are available at the IIA Bookstore, and unofficial question collections of questionable quality are also available online.
Tip: The questions from the relevant chapters of the CIA exam are very helpful.