Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is a UK-based professional body offering training and qualification in management accountancy and related subjects, focused on accounting for business; together with ongoing support for members.
CIMA is one of a number of professional associations for accountants in the UK and Ireland. Its particular emphasis is on developing the management accounting profession within the UK and worldwide.
CIMA is a member of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies and the International Federation of Accountants.
CIMA was founded in 1919 as “The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants” (ICWA). It specialized in the development of accounting techniques for use in the internal control of manufacturing, service, and public sector operations. It developed a position as the leading professional body in the areas of product costing, budgeting, management accounting, investment appraisal, and business decision-making.
The institute changed its name from ICWA to the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (ICMA) in 1972 and subsequently to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 1986, after the granting of a Royal Charter. A global Accounting qualification based in the UK, which is particularly active in Commonwealth countries. Its membership has grown from 15,000 in 1970 to 65,000 in 2005. It has played a role in founding fraternal professional bodies such as the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan, the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, and the Institute of Management Accountants (USA).
CIMA operates a degree standard scheme of qualifying examinations for prospective members. It is active in promoting local education, training, and management development operations, the promotion of new techniques through its research foundation, and the dissemination of management accounting practices through publications and other media-related activities. CIMA has been active in recent educational and vocational initiatives in former Eastern bloc countries. It publishes a monthly journal, supplied free to members and registered students, called ‘Financial Management’ (‘Management Accounting’ prior to 1998). CIMA also publishes a quarterly journal called ‘Management Accounting Research’, mainly for an academic readership.
CIMA is recognised as a professional accounting body for various statutory purposes by the UK and various overseas governments. The institute regulates the activities of its members by a code of practice, a discipline committee, and (a recent innovation) a continuing education scheme.
CIMA’s governing body is its council, comprising members elected from regional branches. Each of the branches has a committee and is responsible for much of the ‘grassroots’ activity. Activity such as qualification development is undertaken from the London head office.
CIMA has two grades of full membership:
To be admitted as an associate a candidate must have:
To become a Fellow a candidate ACMA must, in addition, have appropriate experience at a senior level.
In the past, CIMA has offered forms of association that do not amount to full membership, for example, an “Affiliate” membership class was promoted in the 1970s.
CIMA members have access to a number of strategic alliances, including:
The following is not based on strategic alliances but rather, on the policies of other accounting bodies (and are not reciprocal):
CIMA
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This glossary post was last updated: 11th August, 2022 | 0 Views.