Institute of Management Accountants

Institute of Management Accountants

Abbreviation	IMA
Motto	The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business
Headquarters	Montvale,  US
Membership	70,000
IFAC member since	November 2013
Website	www.imanet.org

The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) is a professional organization headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, USA. The organization also has offices in Zurich, Switzerland; Dubai, UAE; and Beijing, China.

IMA members work in business, with job responsibilities distinct from those in public accounting. IMA raises awareness of management accounting, which includes jobs in decision support, planning and control positions.

With a network of more than 70,000 professionals, IMA provides certification, the Certified Management Accountant (CMA), for internal financial management responsibilities, including planning, budgeting, business reporting, decision analysis and risk management. Members can achieve career development through access to one of IMA's 200 local chapters, online professional communities, continuing education, information and resources.

The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA), the certification division of IMA, awards the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) certification. This covers four areas: financial planning, analysis, control, and decision support. The CMA assesses competency of internally focused accounting skills and is appropriate for professionals working in large, small, publicly traded and privately held enterprises, not-for-profit organizations, academia, and government. More than 37,000 professionals in the U.S. and around the world have earned the CMA since the program was introduced in 1972.

Timeline

• 1919: Founding of the National Association of Cost Accountants (NACA) in Buffalo, N.Y., forerunner of the IMA
• 1920: First chapter of NACA formed in Chicago / First NACA Annual Conference held in Atlantic City
• 1925: NACA Bulletin introduced
• 1935: Library established at NACA national office
• 1943: First international chapter chartered
• 1945: Research committee established
• 1949: NACA Bulletin became monthly publication
• 1957: NACA became National Association of Accountants (NAA)
• 1959: Student Publication Services inaugurated
• 1969: Management Accounting Practices Committee established
• 1972: Certified Management Accountant (CMA®) program created / The first Statement on Management Accounting (SMA), Concepts for Contract Costing, issued
• 1983: Standards of Ethical Conduct of Management Accountants, the first code of ethics for management accountants in the U.S., issued
• 1989: Financial Executive of the Year Award (FEYA) program established
• 1991: National Association of Accountants became the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA)
• 1992: IMA became a founding member of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), a private-sector organization dedicated to improving the quality of financial reporting
• 1994: IMA Foundation for Applied Research (FAR) formed for the advancement of management accounting
• 1996: IMA established the Certified Financial Manager (CFM®) program
• 1999: IMA relaunched and renamed its flagship magazine, Strategic Finance, which also became available online / Management Accounting Quarterly debuted Fall 1999
• 2000: First IMA Student Conference held in Colorado Springs
• 2006: First IMA Global Conference held in Dubai, UAE
• 2009: LinkUp IMA, exclusive online professional community, launched ^[1]
• 2013: IMA became a member of IFAC^[2]

CMA (Certified Management Accountant)

The CMA exam has two parts. Part 1 covers Financial Reporting, Planning, Performance, and Control. It includes: External Financial Reporting Decisions, Planning, budgeting, forecasting, performance management, cost management and internal controls. Part 2 covers Financial Decision Making and includes financial statement analysis, corporate finance, decision analysis, risk management, investment decisions & Professional Ethics.^[3] The exam is administered electronically through the worldwide network of Prometric Testing Centers. Each exam part lasts four hours with 100 multiple-choice questions and two 30-minute essay questions. The CMA exams for parts 1 and 2 are given during the following three testing window periods: January and February, May and June as well as September and October. The pass rate for the exam is low with the worldwide pass rate at 35% for Part I and 49% for Part II in 2014. ^[4]

Requirements

To be certified as a CMA, candidates must fulfill both an education requirement and an experience requirement in addition to passing the exam.

1. Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university

2. Foundational knowledge of economics, basic statistics, and financial accounting

3. Two continuous years of professional experience employing the principles of management accounting and financial management including:

• Preparation of financial statements
• Financial planning & analysis
• Monthly, quarterly, and year end close
• Auditing (external or internal)
• Budget preparation & reporting
• Manage general ledger and balance sheets
• Forecasting
• Company investment decision making
• Costing analysis
• Risk evaluation

For certified CMAs, 30 hours of CPE credits, including two hours of ethics, and annual IMA Membership are required to maintain active status.

Journal

IMA publishes the quarterly academic journal Management Accounting Quarterly, focusing on corporate accounting and financial management. IMA also publishes the "Strategic Finance Magazine", an award winning publication that provides the latest information about practices and trends in finance and accounting.

See also

• Certified Management Accountant

References

External links

• Institute of Management Accountants
• Management Accounting Quarterly
• Strategic Finance Magazine