CIMA teaches high-level skills for global managers

Back in 1919, the founder of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) stressed the importance of having qualified professionals who can tell department heads and senior executives how their business can perform better tomorrow, not just how it has performed to date.

Almost a hundred years on, that need is as great as ever, as organisations everywhere grapple with the challenges and opportunities created by a recovering global economy, new technology, and changing shareholder expectations.

That explains the rapidly increasing membership of CIMA, the world’s largest professional body for management accountants, and steadily rising interest in courses offering the necessary training and accreditation.

“The role of a management accountant is to help companies look at their own business, their potential risks and capabilities and to support good decision making,” says Andrew Harding, CIMA’s London-based managing director, drawing the distinction with financial accountants and auditors whose basic task is to report on historical results. “The focus is on strategic planning, performance management and driving future success.”

Harding spoke at CIMA University Ambassador Launch Ceremony held on 11 November.

The last 10 years have seen all kinds of regulations introduced or adjusted, from Sarbanes-Oxley to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), and due compliance has been a priority.