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In this Dec 2005 issue of On Target :
President's Message : 2005 A Watershed Year
The Institute is now into its tenth year, and probably a
watershed year. Some important milestones have been achieved,
the most important being the agreement obtained from the Council
of the Institute of Management Accountants (USA) to put to our
members a proposal to merge the two professional bodies.
The key
points of the understanding reached between the executive of the
two bodies are as follows :
-
The Australian ICMA will become the Australasian Regional
Council of the IMA.
-
All Australian CMAs (in good financial standing) will become
full CMAs of IMA.
-
Australian GMAs & AMAs (in good financial standing) would be
granted full CMA status of IMA on completion of the required 5
years of relevant practical experience (without further
examination).
-
Australia would continue to run preliminary programs to prepare
candidates for a final IMA CMA “certification program” and
examination, administered by the USA and globally standardised.
-
Adequate arrangements will be put in place in terms of a
transition phase with regards to the existing contracts of ICMA
with their educational program providers.
-
The President (or Chairman as the case may be) of the IMA
Regional Council in Australia would be entitled to one seat on
the existing IMA Board of Directors or its successor structure.
-
It would be desirable to complete the process of establishment
and fusion by the 31st March 2006.
Therefore, at the 2005 AGM of the ICMA our members
overwhelmingly passed the following resolution :
That, noting the understanding reached between the Directors
of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA USA) and the
Executive of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA
Australia) whereby the two institutes would pool their
respective resources in order to establish a regional council of
the IMA (USA) active in the Australasian Region and based in
Australia, this Annual General Meeting of members, endorses the
proposed merger of ICMA Australia with IMA (USA) on the proviso
that existing membership statuses are appropriately preserved on
transfer of membership to the merged entity.
Whilst the merger discussions dominated the discussions of
our Executive in the last year, the ongoing activities of the
Education, Membership and Finance committees continued. The
Institute has strong and very active Branches now in the
Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Papua New
Guinea. Hong Kong and Singapore have been slow, but a new
strategic alliance in Singapore and the reinvigoration of our
alliance with Hong Kong University should see those locations
grow strongly in the coming year. Some alliance problems arose
in Malaysia, and these are currently being sorted out. As usual,
China continues to be elusive, and the Institute in still to
appoint a reliable partner there. We have long learnt that
patience in China is a virtue!
The Global Business School initiative in which CMA subjects
are incorporated within MBA programs of the Royal Roads
University (Canada), Educatis University (Switzerland) and the
Indonesian Institute of Management is now offered both online
and via face-to-face teaching modes.
Last year saw the appointment of ICMA as a Registered
Training Organisation, enabling it to offer an Advanced Diploma
in Accounting (Associate Degree) in Australia and overseas. This
year saw the launching of the first stage of the program in
Australia (via the Australian Institute of Finance and
Management (AIFM), and in the Philippines via cmaphilippines.
The Advanced Diploma is equivalent to the first year of
university studies, and the ICMA has now contacted a number of
universities seeking subject for subject credit exemption.
CMA House is now fully operational and most secretarial
matters now handled at this address. Within this, the ICMA
houses its Reference Library, in which one of the most
comprehensive collections of management accounting books and
journals in Australia. Members are welcome to use its reference
library, by appointment.
Our web page, cmawebline.org attracts significant interest
from around the world especially the online journal, The Journal
of Applied Management Accounting Research (JAMAR). Two further
issues were published last year. The journal is available in
both print and electronic form, and members are encouraged to
submit papers that will be then appropriately refereed to ensure
that adequate academic and professional standards are maintained
I wish to thank the Editors and the international panel of
referees for their work in assisting us to create this excellent
resource that has become an important tool in our public
profile.
Membership continues to grow healthily both in Australia and
overseas, now mainly due to our Education programs. It is always
difficult picking exact numbers at this initial point in the
financial year because of the uncertainty surrounding renewals.
It would appear, however, that our current membership is now
over 1,000 CMAs a good benchmark target to have achieved as we
start our 10th year of existence! Of course, should we merge
with the IMA, we will be joining an institute with 77,000
members and about 35,000 CMAs.
One of the foremost issues always confronting the executive
is the need to continue raising the public profile of the
Institute. The Executive has now focused on a theme of 5-Star
Reporting™, incorporating Economic, Environmental, Social,
Governance and Empowerment aspects of corporate reporting. We
are also actively lobbying Government appointed Regulatory
Bodies to legislate as mandatory (or at least recommended as
best-practice) the various audits required to ensure the
veracity of such reports, via Strategic Audits, Cost Audits,
Environmental Impact Audits and Risk Audits.
Once more I must express my deep gratitude to a hard working
executive and council. It is unfair to single out individuals
but I am sure my colleagues will agree that the input of our
Education and Membership Committee Chairmen, and our Treasurer,
has been remarkable and well beyond the call of duty. I would
also like to thank our Secretary John Ortner, Sandy Stewart, our
Newsletter Editor, Bill Richardson our Bookshelf and Book Review
Editor and Dr Themin Suwardy, our webmaster, for their
dedication and professionalism brought to the tasks entrusted to
them.
Finally a vote of thanks to our auditor Ben Kaplan who has
once again given his time to discharge his duties very
professionally.
Leon Duval
President
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