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

Upcoming Special Interest Groups:

Consulting

Public Administration

Services

Manufacturing

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

If you have not recently updated your work experience in our database, we encourage you to do so. This will give us a better idea of what our local CMAs are up to and help us serve you better!

Looking to Volunteer? Earn PD credits being a moderator for the LinkedIn Special Interest Groups!

We are looking for moderators who are comfortable initiating and proposing engaging discussion questions as well as contributing articles of interest to encourage dialogue amongst their peers. As the special interest groups (by industry) will be set up by CMABC in LinkedIn, familiarity with LinkedIn is encouraged but not necessary as account set-up and training will be provided by CMABC. We are looking for multiple moderators per industry group. Learn more.

Supporting our communities and those less fortunate. In lieu of sending out cards this year CMA British Columbia is donating to the Union Gospel Mission. Give your support today, visit www.ugm.ca.

Office closure notice: The CMA office will be closed as of noon on Friday, December 23, 2011 and will be re-opening on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 8:30 am.

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.

Financial Accounting (21 Sessions)

Financial Accounting coverage ranges from the theoretical framework to advanced accounting concepts under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

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 March and part two in July. The Course develops an understanding of the Canadian Tax system and applicable taxation knowledge.

Strategic Management (8 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.

What is the CMA High School Case Competition? It is a competition where students will compete to solve real-world business problems by combining their classroom knowledge and street smarts. This innovative competition will challenge high school students across BC to compete in teams of three for the Management Award, a $2000 team scholarship and provincial recognition.

About the Competition

The CMA High School Case Competition will take place in Spring 2012. In teams of three, students from high schools across BC will compete to showcase their best strategy for a case study to a panel of judges. The business case will be provided to students after the January 13th application deadline and students will be required to submit their 5 page written case by Monday, February 13th, 2011.

Accepted participants will participate in a case workshop and make a 15 minute presentation explaining their strategy to the panel of judges. Each presentation will be followed with a 5 minute question and answer period and the winners will be announced shortly after the competition.

The winners will receive the following prizes:

•  CMA Management Award

• $2000 Team Scholarship

• Provincial Recognition

Application Requirements

To qualify for this competition, candidates will need to meet the following requirements:
1. Currently in Grade 11 or Grade 12
2. Possess high academic standing
3. Display high interest in a career in business and accounting
*Please note that all three team members must be attending the same high school.

Students interested in this competition should fill out the application form and fax, mail, or email it to Katie Hensrud at the following address:

Certified Management Accountants Society of British Columbia
Suite 1000 – 900 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 0C4

Fax: 604 687 6688 or 1 800 663 8715
Email: katie@cmabc.com

Application deadline – Friday, January 13, 2012

CMA BC 2012 High School Business Case Competition Agenda

Case Format Outline

See photos from last year’s competition on our Facebook page.

1st Place Team - UBC Sauder School of Business

The University of British Columbia team of Monique Wong, Christopher Matthew, Laura Wong, and Stella Cheng won the competition and a $2,500 shared team scholarship. In total, twenty-two teams consisting of first and second year business students from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Kwantlen Polytechnic Univeresity, Simon Fraser University, Okanagan College, and the University of British Columbia competed in the competition.

Students were tested on their management leadership skills by analyzing the fictional business case of Delfa Printing. The top 10 teams were given one day to work on this case before they had to present to the  company’s fictional senior management on a recommended solution for the company.

Second place and $2,000 went to Andrew Kuang, Natalie Lau, Adams Ma and Anthony Lam of Simon Fraser University and third place and a $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Ruby Wu, Steve Lee, Jenny Mi and Rock Chi, also of Simon Fraser University.

View photos from the case competition on Facebook.

CMA British Columbia would also like to thank Anson Lo, CMA, Harold Burgess, CMA, Bryan Hack, CMA and Tina Lu, CMA Candidate for volunteering as judges at the competition.

The national consultation period closed on Sept 16, 2011. CA and CMA national, provincial and regional leaders are assessing the feedback collected and a report of the key findings have been shared with members, candidates and registered students. This report is also available on cmabc.com and  www.CPACanada.ca along with the background documents released during the consultation period.

>> Read the consultation report here (released on Nov 9, 2011)

This report summarizes the feedback collected during the consultation period from May to September 2011, when CA and CMA members — as well as the business community, government and regulators –shared their views on the prospect of uniting the CA and CMA national, provincial and regional organizations under the CPA designation.

All CMAs, CMA candidates and students are encouraged to stay up-to-date on the merger discussions by visiting the cmabc.com resource page on the discussions and CPACanada.ca. Join the BC discussion on the merger on LinkedIn by becoming a member of the BC LinkedIn group (note: this group is open to BC members, candidates & students only).

Nov 2011 CMA e-news

CMA e-news – CMAs’ source for Society News, Events and CPLD. Read the Nov 2011 issue online.

In this issue: 2011 convocation, update on the merger discussions, winter 2012 CMA Program deadlines, Fall 2011 issue of Update magazine, volunteer opportunities, CPLD events, and much more.

CMA e-news is CMA British Columbia’s monthly e-newsletter. Not receiving CMA e-news? Update your member profile online and make sure we have your most recent email address. Problems updating your member profile? Call the CMA office at 1-800-663-9646.

Got something to share?

If you have news you think B.C. CMAs would be interested in email us today. E-News is emailed to all members the first Monday of each month. Submissions must be received by the 20th of the previous month and should be emailed to enews@cmabc.com.

Subscribe to CMA e-news

Not a B.C. CMA, candidate or student, but want to receive CMA E-News each month? Email enews@cmabc.com with the subject line: subscribe me to e-news and we’ll add you to our email list.

Interested in advertising in CMA e-news?

Position your company’s message in front of B.C.’s strategic management and management accounting leaders by advertising in the next issue of CMA e-news. You’ll reach over 5,200 CMAs, CMA candidates and students. Contact Mike Rochfort at (604) 473-0328 or mrochfort@canadawide.com for advertising details.

This year’s medalists and program award winners were…

Gold medalist & valedictorian – Doug Slater, CMA
Award sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Silver medalist – Lawrence Nair, CMA
Award sponsored by Robert Half International

Bronze medalist – Sven Tapp, CMA
Award sponsored by Mercer Bradley

CMA Strategic Excellence Award
Meng Fu, CMA
Blanca Lescano, CMA
Raymond Lo, CMA
Lawrence Nair, CMA

Award sponsored by cmabcjobs.com

CMA Executive Program Award – David Trent, CMA
Award sponsored by David Aplin Recruiting

We’d also like to thank this year’s convocation sponsors – Gold sponsor: Human Resource Management Association (HRMA), Silver sponsors: Canadian Western Bank, Langara College, Mercer Bradley, Robert Half International, SFU Beedie School of Business, TD Insurance, University of Victoria Peter B. Gustavson School of Business Executive Programs, and our in-kind sponsors Clark’s AV and Metro.

Make sure to look for the convocation feature in the winter issue of Update magazine (out Jan 17, 2012).  Congratulations to the class of 2011!

Fall 2011 Update magazine

The fall 2011 issue of Update magazine has been mailed to all BC members Oct 27-Nov 3. If you missed your copy, read the online version here.

In this issue we look at how you can protect your succession plans with the new BC Wills, Estates and Succession Act, tips for succession management in professional service firms, the subtle signs of a project heading for trouble, getting ahead with your career goals & much more.  We also introduce the 2011-12 BC Board of Directors and this year’s CMA scholarship winners.

Thanks to the following contributors: Nancy Marshall, CMA; Don Nilson, CMA, FCMA; Neil Gray, CMA; Bob Gautama, CMA; Cecil Stoochnoff, CMA and Natalie Michael.

CMA members – don’t forget to count reading Update magazine as part of your CPLD credits!

The winter 2012 issue of Update will be out end of January 2012 and will feature the 2011 medalists and program award winners from this year’s graduating class, the 2011 FCMAs and Life Members and tips for moving your career to the executive level.

If you have feedback about this issue or suggestions for future articles, email update@cmabc.com – we look forward to hearing from you!

Looking for a past issue of Update?  Check out our archives.

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If you’re not a CMA member or candidate/student but would like to receive Update, email us at update@cmabc.com and we’ll add you to our online distribution list.