CIMA – the qualification for those that mean business

As demand for managers with a fundamental grounding in business and finance continues to grow, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) syllabus delivers the knowledge and skills that enables professionals to make a valuable contribution across an entire organisation.

Not to be confused with chartered public accounting, the CIMA programme focuses on both financial and management principles that can be applied across a diverse range of business functions. For example, the CIMA syllabus covers analysis, strategic planning, and the financial implications of projects, formulating business strategies to negotiate a competitive landscape and driving a business forward through innovative thinking.

For Jardine executive trainee Daniel Loh, his three-year CIMA studies provide a blend of management accounting, financial accounting, and business-focused concepts that he is able to integrate into his daily work responsibilities. “Studying for my CIMA qualification definitely helps me to look beyond the numbers to more strategic issues including those that influence strategies,” says Loh. Importantly, he adds, studying the CIMA syllabus enables individuals to talk to HR, IT or data experts within the company and have a broad understanding of the contribution each department makes to the business.

Daniel Loh

In his current position as a market relationship manager with Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Loh says being able to interpret numbers and figure out the story behind them helps with broader business concepts including vision, execution of strategies, and risk management. “The topics we cover are very relevant and transferable, and certainly help with the development of my general management skills,” says Loh, who completed his pre-university studies in Singapore prior to studying philosophy, politics and economics at Britain’s University of Oxford.

Describing his CIMA studies as “well-rounded” and valuable preparation for future work responsibilities, Niall Westley, an executive trainee with Jardine Aviation Services, also says his CIMA studies have a direct application in the workplace. “There are many situations when I am able to apply CIMA knowledge to whatever I am doing,” says Westley. Recently, for example, while working on an employee-retention project, he was able to apply the principles of a balanced score card, non-financial performance indicators and employee satisfaction. At other times he has used his CIMA training framework to evaluate risk control and mitigation. “It is helpful to have the asset of structured CIMA training early in my career,” says Westley.