This global perspective was driven home to me during a recent visit I made to China with senior IMA staff. As most members know, IMA’s presence and reputation in China has grown exponentially over the past 10 years—coinciding primarily with the introduction of the Chinese-language version of the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) exam in 2007. During my visit, I met with government officials, educational leaders, and accounting and finance professionals from various organizations and industries to discuss the future of the profession and best practices in innovation for the finance function. The trip made a lasting impression on me, as I hope it did for those I spoke with.
Among the highlights of the trip was the opportunity to witness firsthand the tremendous efforts by our staff in China, who work diligently with our members, the Chinese government, and our partners to deliver and raise awareness about the CMA certification. We rely heavily on our review course providers, like Golden Finance; professional associations, like the Shanghai National Accounting Institute (SNAI) and the Accounting Society of China; and educational institutions, like Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, among others, to bring real-time understanding of the skills and knowledge needed to best serve members and the management accounting profession in China.
My experience in China also gave me the opportunity to observe the rapid economic transformation occurring there. Companies and organizations in China, as in other parts of the world, are pivoting away from transaction-based skills for their accounting and finance staff and toward more value-added skills—the type of skills assessed on the CMA exam. These skills require the application and practice of strategic thinking and decision analysis to solve real business problems in ways that are both collaborative and innovative.
I look forward to working with the Global Board, the IMA staff, and all our members to accomplish our ambitious goals for the next year, including strengthening our global footprint. I welcome your comments on this or any other topic at christian.cuzick@imanet.org.
July 2019
