CMA Final · December 2025 · Paper 20C
CMA Final Entrepreneurship and Startup December 2025: paper analysis
Our own analysis of the official paper, as of 12 October 2026. The questions and answers belong to ICMAI; read them on ICMAI's website.
Chapter-wise marks
Where the marks were in this paper (out of 100; internal-choice alternatives not double counted).
| Chapter | Questions | Marks | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value Addition | 8 | 26 | 20% |
| Idea to Action | 5 | 25 | 20% |
| Leadership | 3 | 23 | 18% |
| Types of New Age Business | 3 | 16 | 13% |
| The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem | 3 | 11 | 9% |
| Entrepreneurial Skill Sets | 2 | 9 | 7% |
| Scalability, Scaling up and Stabilisation of Sustainable Business | 2 | 9 | 7% |
| Risk Management Strategies | 2 | 9 | 7% |
What each question tested
In our words, by question number. Open the official paper for the full question.
| Q | Marks | Tests | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2(a) | 7 | Psychological theories of entrepreneurship: achievement motivation and action regulation | Entrepreneurial Skill Sets |
| 2(b) | 7 | Different demand states marketers may face and how they respond | Value Addition |
| 3(a) | 7 | Common problems faced by order-to-cash teams in an organisation | Scalability, Scaling up and Stabilisation of Sustainable Business |
| 3(b) | 7 | Working capital requirement and permissible bank finance for a first-time borrower using holding norms | Idea to Action |
| 4(a) | 7 | Sources of finance at the pre-seed and seed stages of a startup | Idea to Action |
| 4(b) | 7 | Applications of data analytics across industry sectors | Types of New Age Business |
| 5(a) | 7 | Disintermediation and subscription business models for startups | Types of New Age Business |
| 5(b) | 7 | Importance of packaging for a startup's success | Value Addition |
| 6(a) | 7 | Stages of startup funding | Idea to Action |
| 6(b) | 7 | Strategies for risk mitigation | Risk Management Strategies |
| 7(a) | 7 | Elements of a good vision statement and its importance | Leadership |
| 7(b) | 7 | Role and importance of MSMEs in the Indian economy | The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem |
| 8 | 14 | Ethical dilemma of a regulator balancing environmental compliance against jobs in small units, with a compliance mechanism | Leadership |
What stood out
- As in June 2026, the only computation was a working capital and permissible bank finance estimate; every other written part was descriptive.
- Startup financing featured three times (pre-seed and seed sources, funding stages, working capital finance), the most tested theme.
- The MCQ section again carried a five-question marketing case, this time on brand positioning strategies.
- Question 8 was a 14-mark ethics case on balancing regulation and livelihoods, so structured stakeholder analysis is worth practising.
- New-age business models and data analytics applications each appeared, reflecting the paper's contemporary focus.
Practise the chapters that carried the marks
Value Addition, Idea to Action, Leadership: study guides and practice questions in the CMA Final format.