Business is critical to Pakistan’s prosperity: Charles Tilley

Islamabad
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Chief Executive Charles Tilley is in Pakistan and ‘The News’ got an opportunity to ask him about the working of organisation in Pakistan.
While revealing the details about CIMA, Charles said that they have three offices in Pakistan — Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The offices were established in Pakistan in 2009 and since then it has a tremendous response from students. By becoming a CIMA member, one can join the world’s largest professional body of management accountants and can use the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation and become part of a truly global network.
“Most accounting qualifications train people for private practice, working on external audit and tax issues. CIMA prepares people for a career in business. It teaches skills for strategic advice, managing risk and making key decisions. CIMA’s syllabus is designed to deliver a strong understanding of all aspects of business so that our members can contribute in many areas of an organization. Three years ago CIMA joined hands with The American Institute of CPA (AICAP) which is the world’s largest member association representing the accounting profession, with more than 400,000 members in 145 countries, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887,” he added.
AICPA members, he said represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. “AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and US auditing standards for private companies, non-profit organisations, federal, state and local governments. Through a joint venture with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), it has established the Chartered Global Management Accountant designation which sets a new standard for global recognition of management accounting, he added.
Charles said that ‘business’ is critical to any country. More success in business, more the people earn and more the taxes are paid, contributing to the socio-economic power of the country. “Today everything is technology driven and the data is doubling after every 18 months. Data and competitors are ever increasing with the time so the major challenges businesses are facing is how to sustain themselves. Sustainability has become the number one question for business organisations. Competitors are giving tough time to businesses. Pakistan also has number of additional challenges for the business organisations but all the organisations should acquire the right data and get the access to right information to make the right decisions for their sustainability,” he said.
Charles said that this week CIMA has collaborated with Institute of Chartered Accountant of Pakistan (ICAP), which is instrumental in regulating the profession of accounting in Pakistan. “We have differentiated ourselves from other organisations and focusing solely on business. We are truly international and our members are qualified to work across an organisation, not just in finance. In addition to strong accounting fundamentals, CIMA teaches strategic business and management skills: Analysis — they analyse information and using it to make business decisions. Strategy — they formulate business strategy to create wealth and shareholder value. Risk — they identify and manage risk. Planning — they apply accounting techniques to plan and budget. Communication — they determine what information management needs and explain the numbers to non-financial managers,” he said.
Talking about the assessment system, Charles Tilley said that we have online assessment system, All assessments are computer based and in the case of the objective tests are available ‘on demand’. We’re the first global accountancy body to pioneer a combination of computerised assessments to examine our syllabus. This reflects the wider use of technology in education and industry. Our syllabus and assessment gives you a robust and flexible learning experience to suit your lifestyle. The students can take on line exams in 5,000 centres in the whole world. Now we have coverage in USA also and there are 600,000 students worldwide.
CIMA and AICPA launched the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation in January 2012, designed to elevate management accounting and further emphasise its importance for businesses worldwide.
Charles Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA, is a prominent advocate for global reform of corporate reporting and a commentator on a wide range of business and management accounting issues. Charles was appointed Chairman of the International Federation of Accountant’s Public Accountants in Business Committee (PAIBC) for a 3 year term commencing 1 January 2014. Charles is a member of the International Integrated Reporting Council and chaired their Technical Task Force, which led to the development of the Integrated Reporting Framework. He is also a member of the Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability Project’s Advisory Council. He is Deputy Chairman at Great Ormond Street Hospital Foundation Trust in London, and is a non-executive director at the Ipswich Building Society. His business background includes having spent 14 years at KPMG, where he became a partner in 1986. Subsequently he was Group Finance Director at Hambros and then Granville Baird, both investment banks. Chief Executive of CIMA since 2001, Charles leads the senior management team and has spearheaded CIMA’s strategy of global growth, which includes
breaking into emerging markets and forging a transatlantic partnership with CIMA’s US counterpart, the American Institute of CPAs.