Management accountants may or mayn't be CPAs. If a management accountant passes an examination prepared and graded by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) and meets certain other needs they become Certified Management Accountants (CMAs). The ICMA is an associate of the Institute of Management Accountants an organization primarily consisting of management accountants employed in private industry. A career in management accounting is able to be very challenging and rewarding. A lot of management accountants specialize in one particular area of accounting. For instance some may specialize in measuring and controlling costs others in budgeting the development of plans for future operations and still others in financial accounting and reporting. Numerous management accountants become specialists in the design and installation of computerized accounting systems and other management accountants are internal auditors who conduct internal audits. They make sure that the company's divisions and departments follow the policies and procedures of management. This is last group of management accountants may earn the designation of Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) awarded the CIA certificate to accountants later than they have successfully completed the IIA examination and met certain other requirements. Lots of accountants including CPAs work in governmental and other not-for-profit accounting. They have fundamentally the same educational background and training as accountants in public accounting and management accounting.