As co-owner of Licious Living Inc., Katie spent the last several years providing healthy meal delivery and nutrition services across Canada. She strongly believes in the powers of a healthy diet, having experienced first-hand how eating well has enhanced her own life. In addition, Katie is just as eager to testify about another choice that has changed her life for the better— her decision to become a CMA.

The right ingredients.

In her mid-20s Katie was working in accounting for a forestry company when she decided that she needed more education to complement her commerce degree. She looked at a number of options including the MBA, CA and CGA programs in search of a professional designation that would align well with her career goals. Ultimately, her research led her down the path to becoming a CMA.

“It wasn’t clear yet what I would be when I grew up‚ but I knew that accounting could lead into any industry,” she recalls. “The CMA program had the most diverse variety of course topics: its curriculum covered strategic planning, marketing, IT, along with accounting and finance. That’s why it was the most interesting option for me.” Katie cites the Strategic Leadership Program (SLP) as a highlight of her CMA education: “The SLP program’s mix of presentation skills training, case work and group work is what really set the CMA apart for me. Knowing your stuff is one thing, but being able to communicate it and work with other people is crucial.”

Preparation is everything.

While there may be a perception that a CMA designation is for people seeking to climb the corporate ladder, Katie believes that becoming a CMA has helped her tremendously as an entrepreneur. “The product/company/brand life cycle component of the SLP has provided plenty of information for me to draw upon while Licious evolved over the past few years.” Her business has definitely grown at a rapid pace, and Katie credits her CMA training with helping her navigate the changes. “In the last year, we rebranded the company, brought in the first round of financing, opened our first retail café, launched our first in-house kitchen, and doubled in staff size. In any given week I might need to focus on the planning or execution of marketing, IT, accounting, finance, or operations management. As a small business owner, you need to wear many hats and the CMA helps prepare you for that.”

A designation equal to your ambition.

A CMA designation does more than teach you to make sound financial decisions; it prepares you to lead. Whether your goal is to become a Chief Officer of a blue-chip corporation or the next great entrepreneur, as a CMA you’ll have both the credentials and the training to succeed.

How do I become a CMA?

1. Complete your university degree (or equivalent).

2. Complete CMA’s required topics in accounting and business. This can be done either at a post secondary institution or through CMA.

3. Prove your knowledge of the required topics by way of an entrance exam or a CMAaccredited university program.

4. Complete the CMA Strategic Leadership Program part time while working.

(Note: There are different options available to complete your CMA; as an example, you can take the program on its own or as part of a Combined MBA-CMA Program.)

The First Step is the Information Session.

Learn more about courses, programs, exams, prerequisites, and everything else you’ll need to know about becoming a CMA. Plus all of your questions will be answered by a working CMA. Events are about an hour in length.

Visit us at futurecma.com for upcoming Info Sessions in your area, or call 604-687-5891.

Register now for September programs!

LMS has been a valued insurance partner to CMA members since 2005, providing them with a Professional Liability and Commercial Office Insurance Program. With 30 years in the industry, our experience is our advantage.

For more information, call 800.663.6828 or visit www.LMS.ca/CMA.

LMS is a Silver Sponsor of the CMA BC Leadership Conference, taking place May 29 and 30 in Vancouver.

In addition to teaching introductory financial accounting at BCIT, Matthew also serves on a part-time basis as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Canadian Forces and is currently building his family’s real estate business with properties in British Columbia and Alberta.

As Lieutenant-Colonel and Deputy Commander of the Canadian Forces’ 1 Area Support Group, Matthew oversees the management of infrastructure and support functions for the army’s western Canada operations. Making the leap from accounting to joining the army may not be a typical career path, but Matthew maintains that there’s a solid connection. “All government functions are coming under increasing financial pressure,” says Matthew. “Having my CMA has enabled me to navigate better than many of my peers some of the situations in which I’ve found myself. In addition, the CMA program gave me an initial grounding in strategy, which served me well through Army Staff College, where military strategic decision-making is first taught.”

During a 7-month deployment to Afghanistan last year, Matthew worked in a NATO headquarters as chief of staff, and had the opportunity to apply his strategic management accounting skills in some unique circumstances. “When I was in Afghanistan, I was asked to craft a pitch for financing a series of workshops on gender integration and women’s issues to be delivered to senior Afghan police and Ministry of Interior personnel. I was able to demonstrate both a financial ROI and the alignment of the program with the overall mission’s strategic goals in clear terms to ensure that we secured the funding.”

A Q&A with Matthew Haussmann

CMA grad year: 1996
Day jobs: Lecturer, British Columbia Institute of Technology; Deputy Commander of 1 Area Support Group, Canadian Forces; President, Haussmann Properties Ltd.
Hometown: Providence, Rhode Island
Currently resides: Vancouver, British Columbia

Why did you become a CMA? I was doing a commerce degree at the University of British Columbia and enjoyed management accounting much more than financial accounting. I naively assumed I’d be doing mostly management accounting if I became a CMA. I then went on to several controller-type roles which dispelled my earlier preconceptions. So you could say that I made the right decision for the wrong reasons.

Currently Reading: I just finished Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, and before that Fall of Giants by Ken Follet. I completed a Master’s thesis last summer for which I read a lot of foreign policy journal articles and books, so aside from reading The Economist every week, I’m taking a bit of a break from non-fiction.

As a financial management instructor at BCIT, what’s the most common (or most amusing) question you hear from today’s accounting students? The most common question that I hear is ‘will the video be posted soon.’  I’ve taken to recording my lectures and tutorials and posting them onto YouTube for my students to access.  This way they can repeatedly listen to the lecture concepts that they find challenging at the time of day that works best for them.

What were some of the challenges you faced during your career and how did you overcome them? In my experience there are two kinds of challenges.  The first is when some difficult task or obstacle confronts you.  The key to overcoming these is to have smart people working for / with you, giving clear direction as to the overall effect that you want to achieve, and letting them surprise you with the clever ways they conjure up to solve the problem, followed by a lot of hard work to implement the solution.  The second kind of challenge is when you have personally made a mistake.  This usually hurts other people or the organization, or both.  My solution has been to apologize (to boss or subordinate alike), learn from the mistake, and move on.  Two of the most powerful words in the English language are “I’m sorry.”

What has been the most rewarding part of your experience thus far? Professionally, it’s been the people with whom I’ve worked.  When I started out, I was a bit full of myself and intent on chasing the next raise or promotion, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that friendships and work relationships I’ve established and things I’ve learned from others are far more valuable and rewarding. Personally, it’s been watching (and helping) my children develop into their distinct selves.  The struggle for me has always been to find the right balance between the personal and the professional.

What are some of the major projects/initiatives for 2012 that you’re currently working on? Professionally, I want to further refine my teaching methods and tweak my delivery to better improve the learning experience for my students.  I also want to add another property to my portfolio.  Personally, I want to spend more time with my family – working on that personal / professional balance.

I noticed that you’re a fan of Crossfit – any other activities/hobbies that keep you busy outside of work? My primary ‘hobby’ is my work with the Army reserve.  Intellectually, I love to learn, and have interests in economics, public policy, and politics.  In addition to that, I ski fast, jog slowly, and do Crossfit to stay fit enough to chase after my kids.  As a parent, I do seem to spend a lot of time driving my three daughters between soccer practices, choir rehearsals, dance practices, and piano lessons.

Read the original profile of Matthew Haussmann in Update magazine.

Know another extraordinary CMA that we should feature on the blog or in Update? Let us know in the comments or by email.

What is a typical entry-level position for someone starting the CMA program out of university?

Part of the CMA training is achieving a minimum of 24 months of relevant, full-time work experience. However, when it comes to the CMA designation, there is no one “typical” position that satisfies this requirement. As a CMA candidate, you won’t have to article. Instead, you’ll have the opportunity to gain real-world industry experience while you complete your training.

In determining if your position will provide you with relevant experience, CMA will be looking for a position that involves analysis of financials, making strategic recommendations, and the demonstration of strong communication and leadership skills.

While your entry-level position might not meet all of our work experience requirements right away, there is no need to panic. As candidates progress through the Strategic Leadership Program, they strengthen existing skills and develop new ones, which in many cases will result in them progressively taking on additional work responsibilities and meeting these requirements.

Below are just a FEW examples of the different entry-level jobs students have held fresh out of university and upon entering the CMA Strategic Leadership Program.

Shveta Mohan, CMA found her first accounting job as a Junior Accountant at Trialto Wine Group on cmabcjobs.com

Junior Accountant, Lululemon

Accounts Receivable Accountant, Vancouver Coastal Health

Financial Management Trainee, Telus

Price-to-Consumer Analyst, Labatt

Client Services Lead, Accenture

Financial Services Coordinator, WorkSafe BC

Junior Financial Analyst, Canadian Blood Services

Research Finance Assistant, BC Cancer Agency

Staff Accountant, KPMG

Supply Chain Management Trainee, Loblaw Companies

Treasury Analyst, PMC Sierra

No matter which position you choose to start out in, the CMA’s integration of on-the-job experience and education will teach you to apply management principles and operational knowledge to become a strong leader and decision-maker.

A great starting point for finding an entry-level CMA job is www.cmabcjobs.com, a job board exclusive to CMA students and members. If you are a post-secondary student, sign up to become a CMA Campus Member today to kick-start your career and get access to this exclusive site!

Have a question you would like to see addressed in a future blog post? Contact Katie@cmabc.com today.

Throughout the three-course meal, CMAs and CMA Candidates rotated tables, giving students the opportunity to make connections with a diverse array of CMA members. Many business cards were exchanged, and this was a great opportunity for students to learn first-hand about some of the many different careers paths available to CMAs and CMA Candidates.

Keynote speaker Darren Jukes, CMA

A highlight of the evening was the keynote address by Darren Jukes, CMA, who work as a Senior Consultant – Complex Solutions at TELUS and teaches business part time at Simon Fraser University. Darren talked about how his CMA has given him the necessary all-around business training and allowed him to be creative in both the realm of business and social change, “A CMA teaches you the skills and habits that will reduce the amount of struggle in your business life and allow you to be more creative and DO THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO.”

We were very impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm of all the students who attended the event. There is no doubt that there were many future business leaders in the room!

A big thank you goes out to our CMA members and candidates for generously offering their time and knowledge to help out!

More photos from the event can be viewed on the CMA British Columbia Facebook page.

First-place Crofton House team with CMA Judges - Rolando Cardeno, CMA, Cornelia Cheung, CMA, Cliff Kanto, CMA

Crofton House students, Cindy Chen and Wina Huang, won the competition and a shared $2000 team scholarship.  Eric Zheng, Jack Chai, and Ronald Xie from Richmond Secondary placed second and shared a $600 team scholarship.  340 grade 11 and 12 students, organized in 118 teams, from 39 high schools across BC participated in this year’s competition.

“We are very proud to be able to offer high school students throughout B.C. the opportunity to participate in a business case competition, and help these young leaders develop their strategic leadership skills early in their careers,” said Vinetta Peek, CMA – President & CEO of CMA British Columbia.

“We received a number of outstanding reports and CMA British Columbia would like to recognize the following schools that made it to round two of the case competition: Windermere Secondary, Terry Fox Secondary, Richmond Secondary, Burnaby Secondary, and Crofton House,” said Peek.

The CMA case competition provides participating students with an understanding of management challenges and issues. This year students were invited to put their management leadership skills to the test by analyzing the business case of the Gap Inc. Each team had to put together a management report strategically advising the company’s fictional senior management on a recommended solution. Teams that made it to round two of the competition then presented their reports to a panel of CMA judges.

“The 2012 CMA BC Management Case was a challenging, but inspirational learning experience. Through this event, I not only developed valuable skills such as strategic planning, problem solving, and public presentation, but also gained confidence in both my academic and interpersonal abilities,” said Wina Huang of Crofton House, whose team placed first in the competition.

Second-place Richmond Secondary team presenting their management case recommendations

“I was thoroughly impressed by all the presentations made by the students. The effort and enthusiasm that went into the presentations at such a young age was remarkable!” said Cornelia Cheung, CMA. “The poise and confidence that the students portrayed will give them a great start to their future endeavors.”

Thanks to our judges, Cliff Kanto, CMA, Cornelia Cheung, CMA, and Rolando, CMA for helping out with the competition this year!  Photos of this competition can be viewed on our Facebook page.

For information about the 2013 competition, please check out this page or email us at highschool@cmabc.com.  Deadline for next year’s competition will be January 2013.

Previously, Vinetta was the Vice President, Programs and Marketing at CMA British Columbia, a role she’d held since 2009. Prior to this, she was the Vice President, Marketing and Communications for CMA British Columbia from 2003 to 2009.

“Vinetta Peek is a strong and strategic leader and the CMA British Columbia Board of Directors is excited to have her take on this new role at the Society,” said Stephen Lee, CMA, FCMA, and Chair of the CMA British Columbia Board of Directors. “With her extensive executive experience, Vinetta will be able to further strengthen the brand awareness and industry relationships the Society and CMA designation has in B.C. and across Canada.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with the 5,000 plus CMA British Columbia members, and the business leaders and educational community of B.C.,” said Vinetta Peek. “With the ever-changing business landscape, it is an exciting time to be leading the premier organization representing B.C.’s leaders in strategic management and management accounting.”

Prior to joining the Society, Vinetta held executive roles with a number of North American organizations. In 2007, Vinetta was awarded a honourary CMA designation for her significant contributions to the success of the CMA Society. In October 2011, Vinetta was awarded her CMA designation as a graduate of the B.C. CMA Executive Program. Active within the business community, Vinetta is a current member of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Canadian Society of Association Executives, and American Management Association. She is a past president of the American Marketing Association (B.C. Chapter) and has served on the board of directors of the Leadership, Management, Development Council, Executive Women International and Women’s Leadership Committee of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

CMA British Columbia’s executive team now includes Diane Chung, CMA as Vice President of Marketing and New Business Development; Bob Gautama, CMA as Vice President of Programs; and Rick Lightheart, CMA, FCMA as Vice President of Operations.

Building a professional network can be an intimidating process for individuals who describe themselves as being shy or less comfortable in social settings. Newcomers to networking should seek out opportunities to network with peers and new contacts. Below are a few tips to get started.

Learn to ask new contacts about their mandate and organization, with comfort. People enjoy talking about themselves and their jobs. For many it’s their favorite subject. Asking for advice is a great way to get a conversation started.

Practice being a good listener. Many individuals focus on asking intuitive or complex questions to make themselves sound smart. Try asking new contacts simple questions about their jobs, industry or career path. Avoid asking closed questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no answer. Instead ask short questions that can illicit a wide range of responses.

Be prepared to have your questions returned. Networking is a great opportunity to refine your elevator speech and test different interview answers. Practise describing your job, company and industry in brief positive statements.

Start your networking activities close to home. Ask family members about their careers, industries or goals. Weddings are a fantastic opportunity to practise your networking skills. Use social gatherings with friends to learn more about their industries. The true value of a well developed network is the information and advice that it can generate.

Finally – build your professional network before you need it. Building your contacts must be a transparent process and people become guarded when they feel your motivations are insincere.

For more tips on your successful career start and student jobs, feel free to contact Katie at katie@cmabc.com or 604-484-7024.

Do you know a CMA who should be considered for the national honorary FCMA designation?

CMAs who are awarded the FCMA designation epitomize the qualities we prize most highly: leadership, professional accomplishments, civic mindedness, and dedication to advancing the profession of management accounting.

They should be members who bring distinction to the profession through their personal career accomplishments, their volunteer involvement with CMA Canada or its provincial partners, and have helped our CMA professional organization grow and increase its profile in the marketplace. In addition, their dedication to community service has helped to raise the awareness of CMAs and the value of the designation.

By these accomplishments, FCMAs bring distinction to the profession and serve as role models for others.

“Receiving my FCMA designation was the highlight of my professional career to date,” said 2004 FCMA recipient Bob Strachan, Past Chair of the CMA Canada Board of Directors. “It was recognition of the substance and value of my contribution to CMA, management accounting and the community. More importantly, it opened the doors to working with others who had also made significant contributions and had the same passion and commitment. There is no greater recognition for a professional than to be so recognized by your peers.”

The deadline to submit 2012 FCMA nominations is April 2, 2012.

Download the 2012 FCMA nomination forms today. Read about the 2011 FCMAs.

Vancouver, B.C. – “With the budget presented today, the province of British Columbia has shown its commitment to balancing the budget in 2013/14 despite challenging economic conditions,” said Stephen Lee, CMA, FCMA, and Board Chair of the Certified Management Accountants Society of British Columbia. “Continued fiscal responsibility, strong leadership and the strategic management of the province’s financial resources this year will be fundamental to achieving that goal.”

“The measures introduced in support of the BC Jobs Plan – including additional funding for the Small Business Venture Capital Program and the port tax relief – are positive steps towards maintaining a competitive economy and accelerating job growth throughout the province,” said Colin Bennett, CMA, FCMA, President and CEO of CMA BC.

“BC currently enjoys an enviable position in Canada with its relationship with the Asia Pacific,” continued Bennett. “In light of the financial situation across the border and around the world, the province’s continued strategy of diversifying trade exports is appropriate. Like any business, relying too much on any one customer increases the potential risk.”

“The province is holding the line on spending, and we commend their efforts towards the effective management of government expenditures, including the reduction of costs through shared services, administrative savings,” added Lee. “On the revenue side, the sale of surplus assets will further complement the controlled spending initiatives.”

“BC’s on-going AAA credit rating and projected debt-to-GDP ratio is encouraging; however, we urge the government to proceed cautiously as the total debt is increasing 30% from the current debt of $51 billion over next three years,” said Bennett.

Overall, the 2012-13 BC Budget is focused on fiscal prudence. The Certified Management Accountants of British Columbia approve the province’s approach of using conservative growth assumptions and the building of contingencies. We encourage the province to reconsider the proposed temporary 1% corporate tax rate increase which is presented as a further contingency measure in 2014-15 as it deters business growth, which is the mainstay of the BC economy.

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The Certified Management Accountants Society of British Columbia awards the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation to qualified candidates in British Columbia. With 50,000 members around the world, CMA Canada grants a professional designation in strategic management accounting™ and is responsible for standards-setting, accreditation and the continuing professional development of CMAs. For more information, visit www.cmabc.com.

For more information contact:
Vinetta Peek, CMA (Hon.), CMA, Vice President, Programs & Marketing
T: 604.687.5891 ext. 7003 or 1.800.663.9646