The Institute and Qualifications

CIMA factpage

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is a leading membership body that offers a globally recognised professional management accounting qualification. Our qualification has an emphasis on accounting for business. Our reputation as a professional and regulatory body has never been stronger.

Why should a graduate join CIMA?

The CIMA qualification is ideal for anyone looking to boost their financial and business understanding to get ahead. CIMA members currently hold 112 board positions within the FTSE 350, which means that with the CIMA qualification under your belt you’ve got the skills and experience to take you to the very top.

Where do members work?

According to our most recent members’ survey, 62% of members work in a financial role. More than a third of CIMA members are currently in some form of senior management positions (34%), which includes 14% who are financial controllers and another 10% who are finance directors. Approximately 7% have risen to the position of chief executive officer, managing director or some other kind of directorship.

What does the future hold for recruitment in the industry?

The current global economic downturn highlights the need, more than ever, for companies to recruit people with the knowledge and technical skill to help them ride out the storm. In addition, higher workloads caused by changes in accounting regulations are also considered a main reason for recruitment opportunities, not only in the City but the financial sector worldwide.

Do you think professional qualifications guarantee you a salary increase?

A professional qualification such as CIMA does indeed bring an increase in salary. A qualified management accountant with three years’ experience can command salaries in the region of £40,000, with earnings up to £55,000 in the capital for newly qualified CIMA members.

Biggest myth?

That accountancy is all about backward focused ‘bean counters’. Nothing could be further from the truth. With its focus on strategy and business management, CIMA accountants are in a prime position to drive business forward and contribute to the strategic planning of their organisations.

What should a graduate do to succeed in the competitive world of finance?

As City firms require even greater levels of expertise to deal with the increasing complexity in financial reporting, CIMA qualified accountants are proving their diverse training is leaving them well-equipped to deal with these changes.

Studying the CIMA qualification equips you to work anywhere in the world. It is the only international, professional qualification with a syllabus that has a sole focus on the education and training of accountants in business.

Did You Know?

• Among professional accounting bodies, CIMA has the largest proportion – 98% – of members working in business.
• Leading CIMA members include: Douglas Flint, group chief financial officer of HSBC bank; Andrew Higginson, group finance and strategy director of Tesco and chief executive officer of Tesco Services; Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas; Helen Weir, group executive director at Lloyd’s TSB’s UK retail banking division; and Hanif Lalani, chief executive of BT Global Services.
• Despite the downturn, CIMA students are confident about their future. CIMA’s first global student salary survey, carried out in May, found that 83% of those who responded were confident that they would keep their current job over the next 12 months. More than 70% considered their promotion prospects to be average, good or excellent.
• According to a research report on nine of the main international accountancy qualifications by the University of Bath School of Management, the CIMA qualification is most suited to business.
• More than 4,500 companies around the world value the CIMA qualification so much that they run their own CIMA training programmes.

  Keep up to date with the latest industry news -
  sign up to our news alerts