CMCA study plan
CMCA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Governance, Board Operations, and Governing Documents & Legal and Ethical Conduct
Map each governing document (articles, bylaws, CC&Rs, rules) to the authority it grants and the limits it imposes on the board
Distinguish board, membership, committee, and manager decision rights across 10 written scenario prompts
Build a one-page matrix of fiduciary duties with a concrete breach example and a prevention control for each duty
Draft a compliant board meeting agenda and minutes template that satisfies notice, quorum, and record-retention expectations
Your checkpoint
A two-page governance-and-ethics reference sheet plus a completed 10-scenario decision-rights worksheet scored at 8/10 or better
Financial Management and Budgeting & Property Maintenance, Risk Management, and Reserves
Construct a sample annual operating budget from a line-item list and classify every item as operating, reserve, or capital
Compute three reserve-funding scenarios (baseline, fully funded, assessment-capped) and compare the resulting monthly assessment impact
Interpret a reserve study summary by extracting remaining useful life, percent funded, and the recommended funding plan
Draft a risk register with 10 association risks, likelihood and impact ratings, and a named mitigation owner for each
Your checkpoint
A budget-and-reserve workbook containing all three funding scenarios plus a 10-item risk register with ratings and owners
Governance, Board Operations, and Governing Documents & Financial Management and Budgeting
Resolve 8 document-conflict scenarios by applying the hierarchy of statute, recorded documents, bylaws, and board rules
Trace the budget-approval workflow from draft through member notice to adoption, citing the required sequence at each step
Analyze a variance report by isolating 5 significant line-item deviations and writing the board's corrective action for each
Evaluate a special-assessment scenario for notice, quorum, and voting requirements before the vote
Your checkpoint
A written conflict-resolution memo covering all 8 scenarios plus a completed variance analysis with corrective actions for 5 deviations
Legal and Ethical Conduct & Property Maintenance, Risk Management, and Reserves
Classify 15 board and manager conduct scenarios as lawful, ethical-but-risky, or prohibited, citing the governing principle for each ruling
Design a documented maintenance calendar covering annual, quarterly, and monthly tasks for common elements
Build an insurance coverage checklist pairing perils with the correct policy type, including property, general liability, directors and officers, and fidelity
Write a six-step incident response procedure for a property damage claim from discovery to settlement
Your checkpoint
An ethics decision-tree one-pager plus a maintenance-and-insurance checklist covering at least 12 peril-to-coverage pairings
Operations, Human Resources, and Contracting
Draft a scope of work and written evaluation criteria for a landscaping services contract
Score three vendor bids against a weighted scorecard and write a recommendation with justification
Outline the hiring-to-separation HR lifecycle and name the compliance checkpoint at each stage
Identify 10 high-risk contract clauses and explain the association's exposure under each
Your checkpoint
A vendor selection package containing the scope of work, a weighted scorecard with three scored bids, and a written recommendation memo
Communication, Community Leadership, and Resident Relations
Write a resident communication plan for a planned assessment increase specifying channel, timing, messenger, and FAQ content
Draft responses to 5 difficult resident situations using a consistent de-escalation structure
Design a conflict-handling escalation ladder running from informal conversation to formal hearing
Prepare and rehearse a five-minute board presentation on a controversial community topic
Your checkpoint
A communication toolkit containing the assessment-increase plan, five written resident responses, and an escalation ladder diagram
Operations, Human Resources, and Contracting & Communication, Community Leadership, and Resident Relations
Complete a 60-question timed mixed practice set for domains 5 and 6 and log every miss by root cause
Convert each missed item into a flashcard stating the underlying rule rather than the fact pattern
Simulate a board meeting segment handling a vendor dispute with an upset resident present
Audit study coverage against the six published domain weights and flag any underweighted area
Your checkpoint
An error log with at least 15 rule-based flashcards and a coverage-gap table showing performance by domain
Governance, Board Operations, and Governing Documents & Legal and Ethical Conduct & Financial Management and Budgeting & Property Maintenance, Risk Management, and Reserves & Operations, Human Resources, and Contracting & Communication, Community Leadership, and Resident Relations
Complete two full-length timed practice exams under realistic exam conditions
Tag every missed item to a domain and to the governing principle it tests
Recite the 10 highest-yield rules from memory, including quorum, notice, records access, fiduciary duties, reserve funding, and assessment limits
Finalize a one-page exam-day checklist covering timing strategy and question-attack sequence
Your checkpoint
Two scored practice exams with a final error-analysis sheet, targeting 85% or higher on the second attempt
Milestones
Week 2: Score 75% or better on a 30-question quiz limited to domains 1 and 2, and confirm the governance reference sheet and budget workbook are both complete
Week 4: Score 80% or better on a 40-question mixed quiz covering domains 1 through 4
Week 6: Score 80% or better on a 30-question quiz covering domains 5 and 6, with all six deliverables from weeks 1-6 finished
Week 8: Score 85% or better on the second full-length timed practice exam, with no domain falling below 70%