Be a global manager

Garima Upadhyay Rawat

Here’s another way you could give an international twist to your career. Chartered Global Management Accountants, CGMA course, will help Indian students get in the league of international management accountants. It will give an edge to Indian students and help them compete better and on an equal footing in the international market.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has partnered with The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), based in the United States of America, to offer a global qualification to its students making them Chartered Global Management Accountants (CGMA).

Read on to know more about fee, course content and application process. Below are excerpts of an interview with Andrew Harding, managing director of CIMA.

How can one apply to this programme?

The Designation of Chartered Global Management Accountant is powered by two leading accounting bodies in the world, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which is based in the UK and The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), based in the United States of America.

The route to the designation is through the qualifications of either CIMA or AICPA. For CIMA members, The CGMA designation becomes automatically available, on completing the CIMA qualification and acquiring the CIMA membership.

For AICPA members, till the end of 2012, the designation will be available, if they have three years of relevant management accounting experience and apply for the designation.

What are the eligibility criteria to apply to the programme?

The eligibility criteria for the CGMA designation, is membership of either CIMA or AICPA, as mentioned in the answer to the previous question.

Membership to CIMA requires you to complete the CIMA qualification. While the eligibility for the CIMA qualification is passing Std. XII, Students with a B.com degree, MBA or membership of ICAI or ICWAI, can also start with the CIMA qualification and avail of exemptions.

What is the fee structure to get the CGMA certification?

The CGMA designation requires you to first complete the CIMA qualification. Once you are a CIMA member, the CGMA designation is available to you at no extra cost. The fee structure for the CIMA qualification is modular and flexible. The course can cost around 1200 pounds for most.

How can Indian students use this global designation to their advantage?

The CGMA designation is the only management accounting qualification that is recognized on all continents of the world. This means an easy transferability of skills for the student and a huge expansion in geographical areas of employment.

The CGMA designation is powered by two large organizations – AICPA and CIMA. AICPA has over 550,000 members and CIMA has 195,000 students and members across the world. Holding the CGMA designation means you become a part of this powerful network, have access to their resources and recognition.

The two bodies are committed to expand the skills and employability of CGMA’s as well as the scope of their activities. The CGMA designation is bound to provide access to this power to its holders.

What advantages will this programme give Indian students over their counterparts opting for executive MBAs?

The CGMA designation and the CIMA qualification are professional designations/qualifications. The value of a global professional qualification is in its global recognition vis-a-vis qualifications from a university or institute bound by local boundaries. This translates into more job opportunities both within and outside the country.

For an employer, employing a professional qualification holder has many advantages, over degree holders such as:

It provides a uniform global benchmark to measure and monitor skills.

It ensures that members of the body keep their skills updated and relevant, by fulfilling the Continuous Professional Development requirements of the institute

It means that the employee is governed by the ethical and professional code of conduct of the institute, which in today’s world is very important for the employer.

What kind of opportunities will this designation open up for Indian students globally?

Being a Chartered Global Management Accountant, means you can work across boundaries and functions in business. A CGMA is equipped with fundamental knowledge of finance and accounts, like an accountant as well as the broad industry and business knowledge of an MBA.  This means their career is not restricted to finance and accounts. They can work in many areas such as operations, business analytics, project management, operations, supply chain management, product pricing. They also can traverse across industries as their skills are relevant in any industry – be it manufacturing, services or knowledge services.

The entry route to CGMA is through the CIMA qualification, which offers a number of fast track entries and credits, for post graduate courses, in finance, accounts and business, at a number of European universities.

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