Transcript Toronto Branch Presentation

Fellowship of Our Institute
“What, Why, How & When”
Gordon Grant, Deputy President
David Stanford, Chairman of Membership Board
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Format of this talk
• Facts, Figures & Philosophy
• The Detail Section
• Parting Advice
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Facts and Figures
100%
90%
58,000 Associates
12,000 Fellows
80%
70%
60%
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
2004
2001
1974
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
0%
Fellows
1998
10%
1995
20%
Associates
1992
30%
1989
40%
75,000
70,000
65,000
60,000
55,000
50,000
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
-
1986
Passed Finalist
1983
ACMA
1980
FCMA
1977
50%
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Organisation Chart
Council
Membership
Board
Policy Committee
Life Long
Learning
Other Policy
Committees
Education
Board
Exam
Oversight
Appointments
Committee
Support
Committees
Executive
Committee
Membership
Panel Of
Assessors
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
The Philosophy
• Fellowship is not “a given” thing - it is
awarded only when someone has
appropriate experience and therefore
reflects tangible achievement
• CIMA does not automatically upgrade
Associate Membership
• It is earned.
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
The Detail Section
Eligibility
Safeguards
Processes
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
Benefits &
Opportunities
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Questions we ask
ourselves:
1. What Controls exist?
Safeguards
2. How are assessors
chosen?
3. What does Cima’s
organisation structure
look like?
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Safeguards
General
• The process is impartial and fair - if an assessor
knows you, they will not assess your application - it
will be sent to different people
• The requirements for Fellowship are generic and
are applicable to any business sector
• Assessment statistics are regularly monitored by
staff and the Membership Board to ensure
consistency in the assessment activity
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
9 NOVEMBER 2006
Safeguards
The Assessment Process
• All assessments are conducted by trained
assessors who are FCMA’s
• Applications are assessed by two assessors,
one after the other (they need to agree with
each other)
• If assessors are in disagreement,
applications are sent on for adjudication
• ISO Quality standard process underpins it.
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
9 NOVEMBER 2006
Benefits &
Opportunities
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
What do I get out of it?
What does CIMA get out of it?
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Benefits and Opportunities
to the Individual
Increased
Prestige
Formal
Recognition of
greater
experience
Eligibility for
higher CIMA
duty
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
Extra Edge
for
Employability
Personal
Self Esteem
Only marginal
increase in
subs
Employer
pride
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Benefits and Opportunities
to the Institute
Our members reflect upon each other ….
therefore the wider the recognition is of each
individual’s achievement, the greater the better
reflection will be upon us all.
It provides the Institute an opportunity to ‘see’
its membership and to sing our collective
praises by way of promoting ourselves.
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
The Application Form
The Body of the CV
How Much should I write?
How far back should I go?
What do I need to send?
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
The Application
• All FCMA applications are made in CV format
• Use the first page to provide personal details:
– full name and CIMA reference number
– home and work addresses
– telephone numbers, e-mail, fax etc
– date of birth, age
– date when you became an ACMA or PF
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
The Body of the CV
• Organise your jobs in chronological order
• For each job show, as side headings, your
title, precise dates (from and to) when you
held the post, and the company/division
name
• If there are employment gaps, please give
details of what you were doing
• Details of CPD activities undertaken
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
How Much should You write
• 4 pages is probably too little, 12 pages is probably
too much… but it really does depend on what you
want to say!
• Entries (one for each post containing strategic
experience) ….. will vary in length according to the
complexity and duration of job
• Describe the whole job, each time (i.e. for each post)
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
How far back should you go?
• Start with the first post which contained any strategy, and
work forward
• Describe all the work involved in each job, but ensure that
you carefully explain the strategic work you did in each
job
• If there were any jobs which contained no strategic work,
just give the side headings (title, company, dates etc)
• Important …….... provide the full picture … …..
start when your ACMA experience left off
(concluded)...
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
What you need to send
If you are already an Associate:
• your detailed CV (about five pages)
• the application fee
• two references from employer(s), endorsing your
application and briefly mentioning your strategic
work
• an endorsed organisation chart
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
The Two References
• Ideally from people for whom you have
worked in the more strategic roles (if you
are in consultancy, this might be major
clients)
• Alternatively from existing FCMAs who
have detailed first hand knowledge of your
work over a period of years
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
What the references should say
• They need to confirm the period of time you have
worked for them….plus…. the name of the
company and what the relationship between the
two roles was at that time
• They need either to confirm the content of your
CV, or briefly refer to the senior strategic work
you did during that time (……….a few
paragraphs are often sufficient)
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Processes
The Organisation Charts
The chart(s) must:
• Graphically show your position in the company
• Show all the levels above your post and at least
one level below
• Give titles of all the posts shown and clearly
indicate which is yours
• Be signed and dated by your immediate
superior/manager
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Eligibility
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
Gaining Experience
Strategy
Examples
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Eligibilty
Gaining 3 Years Strategic Experience
• In larger organisations, roles
tend to be more focused upon
specific outcomes.
e
• In smaller organisations, roles
tend to be more wide ranging
with greater influence.
Therefore it’s perhaps easier to
gain the experience
in a small to medium sized
company rather than a larger
company.
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Eligibilty
Strategy
What does strategic actually mean?
• Contributing input to original decisions
and/or to the plan adopted by the
organisation that influences its future
direction and success
Or in other words… Making a Difference!
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Eligibility
Levels of Control in Business
Strategy
Tactics
Operations
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
‘What’ the business is
about
‘How’ it manages
the business
Actually ‘doing’
things
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Eligibility
Examples of FCMA work that you should have
• Formulation, implementation, control & review of strategic
management and financial plans, policies and procedures
• Planning the provision of management information services and
systems
• Planning, contributing to, and appraising major projects
• Analysing, interpreting and presenting reports on the performance of
your organisation …….. to Board level
• A commitment to continuing professional development, with evidence
of courses and activities undertaken to keep up to date with technical
developments
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Parting Advice
• Re-cap
• Tips
• Pitfalls to avoid
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Typical FCMA Qualities
• 3 Years Senior Experience
– Broadly drawn strategic experience
– Influential
• Strong Personal and Interpersonal Skills
– Presentation
– Communication
– Confidence
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Strong FCMA Applications
• Professional looking layout and presentation.
• Good use of examples of senior experience that
combine directional choices and outcomes.
• Maturity (unlikely to be aged under 30)
• Working at Director or equivalent level
• Making a difference
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Poor FCMA Applications
• Solely financial or management accounting
experience
• managing a small “support” department, such as
Accounts or Finance
• Bullet points used instead of clear explanations
• Lack of maturity
• Sloppily presented
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Finally…..
• Your Fellowship certificate will be sent with a
confirmatory letter
• If you are deferred, assessors will suggest:
– what needs to be done to meet the requirements
– what period of time might be appropriate before
re-submission
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006
Contact Information
[email protected]
The Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants
26 Chapter Street
London SW1P 4NP
United Kingdom
T. +44 (0)20 849 2251
F. +44 (0)20 7663 5442
www.cimaglobal.com
TORONTO BRANCH PRESENTATION
11 NOVEMBER 2006