Branding management accountants as bean growers, not counters

Last updated: 13 September 2007

Chennai, Sept. 13: Repositioning the management accountant, and showcasing him as a strategist and performance management specialist are among the themes that the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) is planning to pursue at the ‘global summit’ early next year. The event, to be jointly hosted by the costing bodies from neighbouring countries, has technical partnership from the institutes in the UK, Canada and the US. “In the run-up to the summit, the Institute is lining up research outputs in the form of co-branded publications with CMA Canada on areas of management accounting relating to strategy and management, such as how management accounting can enhance risk management framework,” says Mr A.N. Raman, a Chennai-based Central Council member of the ICWAI and Chair-Global Summit on Management Accounting. Excerpts from an email interview. Why a global summit? The ICWAI has taken the lead for organising the global summit of all the leading management accounting bodies to discuss the strategic repositioning of the management accountant. What is the repositioning you are looking at? Management accounting in its new manifestation includes the territories of accounting, strategy and management of enterprises. This statement would have been considered outrageous and sacrilegious especially by the accounting profession, which has always claimed its overarching presence over management accounting as its subset. While the management accounting bodies of the West, such as the CIMA UK, CMA Canada and IMA US are tuned to the new context, professional bodies in the Asian region have not fully transformed themselves. Will the summit offer any immediate takeaways for members, companies and the government? The immediate takeaway for the members is going to be the branding effect of the qualification, as one focused on strategy and performance management specialist, that is, bean growing rather than bean counting. To the government, the takeaways are going to be in terms of management accounting tools deployable in government spending (as for example, Canadian case studies). Two presentations are being lined up on management accounting in NGOs (non-governmental organisations) working in the social sector. For companies, the benefit can be in the form of strategies for gaining better value from accountants in enterprise management rather than compliance management. What are the major achievements of the Institute over the last about a year? The ICWAI has taken a lead role in promoting the regulatory body of valuation experts, which is on the verge of getting a legal status. E-learning initiative launch has put the Institute as a forerunner in deploying technology for education. Globally, in the SAFA (South Asian Federation of Accountants) , a committee has been created with the ICWAI nominee in the Chair. Who are the co-hosts for the summit? What is the budget for the summit and how is it going to be financed? We will be joined by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB), the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), and the Society of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (SCMASL). The budgeted outlay is over Rs 75 lakh, to be financed through corporate sponsorship support and delegate fees. On the speaker line-up. Dr Robert Kaplan, a professor of Harvard Business School who is known for his contribution to management accounting through Balanced Scorecard, has consented to give the keynote address. Among other speakers will be globally renowned management accounting experts such as Gary Cokins and Paul Sharman of the US, Richard Monk and Steve Vieweg from Canada, and Gordon Grant from the UK. Leading CFOs from Indian multinational enterprises will also be addressing the 800-odd delegates on a range of topics such as management accountant in SMEs (small and medium enterprises) , practices relevant to the services sector and the Government, and the role of the profession in enhancing corporate governance to enterprise governance. On a different note, is any cost accounting outsourcing happening, offshored to India? Cost accounting outsourcing to India has started happening in trickles and is expected to grow.

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Branding management accountants as bean growers, not counters

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