After extensive consultation, the agreement was reached following votes by the ICABC Council, CGA-BC Board and CMA BC Board in favour of unifying the three organizations. Together, they will work with the provincial government to enact CPA legislation, legally merge, and establish CPABC, which will be one of the largest professional organizations in the province.

“This decision is in the best interest of the public, as well as our members and students,” said Candace Nancke, FCGA, Chair of CGA-BC. “We are excited to join our colleagues across Canada in this initiative.”

The three organizations will work together to build Canada’s pre-eminent accounting and business designation. With more than 34,000 members and students in BC, CPABC will foster the growth and evolution of the accounting profession, while also providing the expertise to help businesses in every sector of the economy.

“Beginning this fall, our three organizations will jointly deliver the CPA Professional Education Program to students,” said Gordon Holloway, FCA, President of ICABC Council. “The new CPA program builds on our strengths, and integrates the best or our education and training programs to meet the needs of employers.”

“We’re excited. Positive momentum continues to build throughout Canada,” said Pat Kennedy, FCMA, Chair of CMA BC. “The CPA designation is now active in Quebec and Ontario, and regulatory bodies representing the majority of professional accountants in Canada are working to unite under this banner.”

Until such time as legislative changes are enacted, CA, CGA, and CMA members will maintain their current designation, and the ICABC, CGA-BC, and CMA BC will continue their existing mandates of self-regulation, education, and advocacy.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia is the training, governing and regulatory body of B.C.’s 11,000 members and just over 1,800 CA students. The Certified Management Accountants Society of British Columbia represents over 4000 members and 1000 CMA students and candidates. The Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia represents almost 11,000 CGAs and nearly 5,000 CGA students. The three bodies protect public interest through rigorous educational and certification programs to uphold the highest professional standards and ethics.

CPAs in British Columbia will serve the public interest across all sectors of the economy with integrity, sound ethical practices, disciplined regulation and proven strategic management and financial expertise. Accounting bodies representing 85 per cent of Canada’s professional accountants are committed to unification or have already merged under the CPA banner.

But that’s how Carolyn Rogers, CMA, describes herself. She does all this while also keeping weighty matters of financial regulation top of mind in her role as Chief Executive Officer of FICOM.

Rogers came to her CMA designation by way of the MBA program at Queen’s University. She and her classmates were offered the opportunity to become certified by completing some additional courses and challenging the exam. “We were almost at the end of our MBA, so it was a bit like getting to the end of a marathon and being told that you should sprint up that extra hill by taking a few extra classes and writing one more giant exam,” says Rogers.  Still, she and a handful of other students decided to take it on.

The decision certainly paid off for Rogers, who now fills a handful of roles at FICOM. In addition to the top job as FICOM’s CEO, Rogers has a long list of other titles: Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Superintendent of Pensions, Superintendent of Real Estate, Registrar of Mortgage Brokers, and CEO of the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation (CUDIC).

Rogers made the shift to the public sector four years ago, after spending the early part of her career in financial services, as well as time working on the venture capital side of a small company. “Four years ago, we were heading into a difficult economic cycle and the government was interested in my experience in the private sector,” she recalls. She started as Assistant Deputy Minister at the BC Public Service Agency before being asked to take on her current role at FICOM.

Working in the public sector presents unique challenges. “You’re often facing more complex decisions in the public sector because there are so many different stakeholders who sometimes aren’t even directly involved in the decision at hand,” she reveals. “So you have to think twice removed about how something is going to impact people or organizations that aren’t directly involved in the decision. It can be challenging.”

It’s not what many people think of when they think of public service – read most media stories and you know there are lots of preconceived ideas about the public sector. Rogers admits that her time in public service has opened her eyes: “I think it’s easy sometimes for the private sector to criticize the public sector,” she says. “They don’t realize the complexities of the decisions we have to make and what it takes to lead in that environment. I have met some of the smartest, hardest-working people, and I now have a huge appreciation for the people who work in public service.”

That work is often unheralded. With Rogers at its helm, the work FICOM does is mostly invisible to the general public, even though it has an impact on almost all British Columbians. Rogers considers FICOM to be successful when its customers – consumers of financial services – don’t know the organization exists. After all, financial regulation is about preventing problems:  “We’re doing our job right if nobody knows we’re there!” she laughs.

With the global financial crisis falling primarily at the feet of regulators, it’s a challenging and engaging time to be leading an agency like FICOM.  “We’re working at a time when everybody has been asked to up their game,” she says. “I like leading change and improvement. Most governments have looked at regulators and said they don’t want the kind of crisis that happened elsewhere to happen here so we have to make sure we’re doing a good job.”

The CMA designation has proven invaluable at FICOM, both for Rogers and for the many others on her team who share the designation or are working toward it — allowing them to understand the numbers in the context of the business. “I think when you’re trained as a CMA, you learn to ask questions. You spend less time worrying about whether the numbers are right than what the numbers are telling you,” Rogers explains. “Everybody here looks at the same numbers and approaches them with different questions, which allows us to get ahead of the numbers.”

Read the original CMA Spotlight article in the Spring 2013 issue of Update magazine.

Benefits of the program:

• Program Flexibility – perfect for a busy CMA.
• Refreshed knowledge and outlook.
• PD credits.
• NO EXAMS!

Here is a snapshot of the modules and the content that will be covered. Click on the titles for more information!

Corporate Finance (6 Sessions)

Corporate Finance students will understand the role of the management accountant in financial management, place a value on a range of investments, develop a financial plan, and manage finances.

Management Accounting (22 Sessions)

Management accounting covers cost terms and purposes to advanced management accounting topics such as professional ethics, budgetary techniques, and designing a management control system.

Taxation – Part 1 (2 Sessions)/ Part 2 (3 Sessions)

Taxation is divided into two parts; part one in April and part two in July. The Course develops an understanding of the Canadian Tax system and applicable taxation knowledge.

Strategic Management (6 Sessions)

As one component that differentiates the CMA designation, Strategic Management coverage ranges from mission and vision statements to incentive systems and organizational design.

*Note: you need to be a designated member to be eligible to audit these classes.

2013 FCMA Nominations - closing March 31, 2012

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. If you know a CMA with these qualities nominate them for fellowship today – download the 2013 FCMA nomination package.

2013 Life Member Nominations - closing March 22, 2013

Life membership is granted to CMAs who have been members for more than 20 years, are at or nearing retirement, and have substantially contributed to the CMA designation and Society, or made a significant contribution of new knowledge to the accounting profession or business management. Download the 2013 Life Membership nomination package.

Read about the 2012 FCMAs and Life Members in the winter 2013 issue of Update magazine.

The importance of service innovation on the fly and how to move your firm from the status quo to applying  “rules” or principles of Improv to deliver better, customized service are key to Pitt’s research on innovation.

Interested in learning more? Download Pitt’s Feb 26, 2013 presentation here.

Read the full announcement.

Vancouver, B.C. – “The government has made some tough choices in order to balance today’s budget,” said Pat Kennedy, CMA, FCMA, and Board Chair of the Certified Management Accountants Society of British Columbia. “After four consecutive deficit budgets, the balanced budget presented today recognizes that government has had to prioritize its spending. Expenditures on healthcare approach 42 per cent of the budget – this really limits what the government is able to invest in other areas. The focus today was on families, education and maintaining healthcare.”

“Balancing the budget is no small achievement with conditions in the world economy still challenging,” said Vinetta Peek, CMA (Hon.), CMA, President and CEO of CMA British Columbia. “We applaud the government for strategically managing its expenditure growth, as demonstrated with the recent contract settlements with BC’s public service workers. These settlements were an important factor in balancing this year’s budget.”

“Focusing on debt reduction is critical to maintaining the province’s triple-A credit rating. Moody’s December downgrade of the province’s debt to negative from stable was a wake-up call to government that they need to demonstrate strong fiscal management of BC’s resources,” continued Peek. “BC’s debt-to-GDP ratio is one of the lowest in Canada; however, we need to continue to focus on debt reduction so that BC remains attractive to investors.”

“We’d caution government to closely watch indicators of economic growth and how expenditure growth is managed. These two factors are key in how the government is filling the deficit gap in order to balance the budget,” continued Kennedy. “Raising the corporate tax rate by one per cent to 11 per cent and increasing the personal income tax rate for British Columbians earning over $150,000 for the next two years are short-term measures.”

BC’s Certified Management Accountants continue to caution government to take a course of prudent fiscal responsibility. De Jong’s budget presentation outlines a conservative approach to expense projections and revenue growth while acknowledging the outside risks BC faces in meeting projections.
The challenge for government will be if the projections for growth and revenue are not met how they are still able to fulfill their commitment to a balanced budget.

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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:
Tiana Mah, Communications Specialist
T: 604.484.7022 or 1.800.663.9646 ext. 7022, E: tiana@cmabc.com

Have you spotted the CA + CMA ad in your community? Share it via Facebook or let us know on Twitter.

I have always been impressed with the CMA networking events available for students, and on November 14, I had the pleasure of attending the “Create Possibilities Networking Event.” This event was held at Giovane Café in the prestigious Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. The atmosphere of the event was a very welcoming one, it was cozy enough to mingle with many CMAs at once while enjoying a glass of wine and appetizers.  The event even featured a photo booth which was quite surprising as I never seen one at a networking event before but it definitely set the mood as a fun yet still professional event.

I spoke with many CMAs from a ton of different industries and all of them were welcoming which makes it a lot easier to approach these professionals. I got see many familiar faces from past CMA networking events and it was nice to catch up. Overall the event was a fantastic one filled with many friendly professionals who are willing to help answer any questions that students may have. I believe networking is a great way to improve your communication skills, but as my instructor told me once “your network is your net worth.”

More photos from the event can be seen on the CMA BC Facebook page.

Why do people put hobbies on their resumes? To fill up white space? To give the impression that they are more than two dimensional beings with boring little  routines outside the practical realms of career, status, love, and health? Or is there intrinsic value in pursuing something over the long haul, like a life-long hobby?

After perusing the web, it seems that hobbies are often developed as a means to improve our careers, love, status and health. Hiring managers testify that the “hobby” section on a resume can tip someone out of or into the interview short-list pile, strengthening the case for developing a hobby for the strategic purpose of career advancement.

But perhaps there is something more than the hobby itself that counts. It’s also the amount time we spend, that no one pays us for, getting good at something. Actively pursuing a hobby over multiple years, even decades, shows that you have tenacity, which is sorely lacking in this short-attention span, Twitter, trend-driven, disposable world. Spending years doing something, like volunteer coaching, gardening, and creative writing, demonstrates fortitude, strength-of-character, and commitment, all highly prized and transferable qualities in the work place today, another reason to put it on your resume.

But regardless of how it looks on your resume, do you pursue something for your own pleasure, intellectual or skill development?

Many will ask, “What is the point of pursuing something if it does not advance my career, my status, image, or body?” It’s a fair question, as we’re all pressed for time and need to make our “off hours” count. And admittedly, it’s nice to be recognized amongst friends and colleagues for our creative and athletic achievements outside of work. It makes us more … interesting.

But what is the value of a hobby, even if no one else cares? From my own experience, I’ve been painting B.C. coastal landscapes in oils for 23 years, mostly as a hobby and sometimes for money. In spite of often not feeling “in the mood” to paint on my regular weekly painting night, I make myself do it, even though it would be much easier and more fun to sit on the couch with a glass of wine and watch a film. Additionally, the paintings I occasionally sell pay me nowhere near what I make at my day job, and the possibility of fame is remote. Often I turn out duds and sometimes, I finish a really good picture that I am proud of. But week after week, year after year, more than two decades later, I continue to paint, at least once a week. Why?

Similarly, my friend Shannon at CMABC trains for her marathons and half-marathons, getting up early before work, putting on her running clothes, forcing herself to go outside into the rain to run before work, when it would be oh-so-cozy to stay in bed.  Why?

Because long-term hobbies offer us the chance to forge a lasting relationship with something profound: our own development as a three-dimensional person. When we pursue a long-term interest, we commit to being with something similar to a long-standing friendship or even a marriage. It’s not always fun. It’s rarely profitable. Usually it costs us money. But if you stick with something, it sticks with you.  It enriches you in tangible and intangible ways. Over time, it also shows perseverance through thick and thin, in the same ways our successful long-term relationships do.

Recent empty nesters and retirees report feeling “empty” or “lost” when their kids leave home or their careers end abruptly. They’ve put all their eggs in the “career” and “children” baskets and put their own interests on hold during strategic years that could been spent building up a hobby that would be there for them at this critical life stages.

Think of developing and nurturing a long-term hobby as you would an investment portfolio: put time in now and reap benefits years down the road when you’ll really need it. This is strategic planning for long-term benefits and it’s been the cornerstone reason behind why I drag myself back to painting when I least feel like it. Overcoming the early inertia is the primary challenge, but once I get going, I usually revel in it.

If you don’t have a hobby, consider taking one up, and seriously committing to it. Invest in yourself and nurture an interest that will be there for you through the years, at various stages of your life. Practice fortitude and endurance; force your way through the inertia. The intrinsic rewards are worth it.

If you stick with your hobby, you’ll develop tangible skills and become good at something outside work and home. You’ll also demonstrate to a potential employer character traits that are highly valued and transferable to the work place. Go ahead, and put it on your resume. It could get you shortlisted for an interview.

Tanya Behrisch is a Co-op Coordinator at SFU and her art can be seen at www.behrisch.com. You can email her at behrisch@sfu.ca