What's in a Designation?

CIMA Associate Certificate

Believe you me, when I started this whole thing, the pessimist in me half-thought that I'll never get here someday. Last March, I finally passed the last of my exams, the T4 (or TOPCIMA as it was called then), to finally become an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the UK.

And so here I am, now a fully-fledged something. In the world of finance, there is so many designations that one can drown in an alphabet soup just by reading them all aloud. I don't mean to make light of it. It's not. I know how difficult it is; to get accreditation is no mean feat.

Each institute (and its members) always profess to be the best, yet I know that our designations don't make us all good nor bad. After all, not all 12 eggs in a dozen tray are equally the same. I'd like to think that all accountants have our day in the sun and if we act professionally and do our jobs well for whomever we work for, we do right by our professional association.

Much like a Midas touch, designations can work wonders for any career in accounting - more pay, more respect, more direction, more open doors, more opportunities, more responsibilities, promotions, et al. And though I admit that I didn't study further for all the mentioned benefits, they did cross my mind once I started. I suppose it's cliché but in all honesty, I did it for myself, to see if I could push myself to achieve more of something else.

And what more can you ask for than to proudly write the letters after your name, knowing that you deserved them?

Second Leg In The CIMA Diploma

I don't know if I should be disappointed that my notoriety in recent years was never enough to get me onto any of the pages, nevertheless, the front page of a newspaper. The last time my name was published, it was in 1993. I had just graduated from high school and the education department decided to let everyone in the town know. I bought my own copy of that paper and had the page laminated. I still have it to this day.

My recent brush with publicity also has something to do with my studies. I've been studying CIMA for the last couple of years and finally, last May, completed my Managerial Level subjects and am receiving an Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting. But instead of just sending over the diploma (like last time when I finished the first leg), CIMA emailed to say that my name will also be published on a listing as a passed student. And since it's the new age of technology,  the published name will be on their website and not the local papers.

Shame that I couldn't laminate this post....but I was still excited! I just had to blog about it. Now I can't wait to finish off the Strategic Level subjects. I hope to do this in one go in November. Wish me luck!



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Taking A Sabbatical

PHOTO NOT MINE

As my CIMA exam approaches, I have to, once again, take a pause in my normal blogging life.

I have less than a month to revise the work that we've done for the semester and am really hoping that I pass Performance Management first time. Like I said on a previous post, I am slightly unprepared but still hoping for the best.

My blogging sabbatical should not last more than a month.

So I guess I'll see you guys on the other end of November :-) Till then.

Unpreparedness Come Undone

I have not been my usual active blogger self lately, you might have noticed. I have decided to slow down with the memes and posts, and might slow down even more in the coming month. You see, in less than a month, I will be sitting on my fourth CIMA exams.

I am slightly unprepared still but hopefully by that time, I will have gained the necessary and required knowledge to pass the subject I am taking this semester.

I seem to have a slight bad luck when it comes to year-end exams as I failed the last one I did last year. Mind you though, it was my first year back at studying and I was busy with my holiday plans, so that could have something to do with that.

I hope this year I break the bad luck spell.

First Leg In The CIMA Diploma

I was so excited to have received words that my CIMA diploma had finally arrived in South Africa.

After passing the infamous subject, Enterprise Operations (which I failed once before), I had officially finished the Operational Level of CIMA.

For motivation, CIMA issues diplomas for each level that you finish. I have 2 more levels to do before the final TOPCIMA - Managerial and Strategic.

Originally I got exemptions for the Certificate level of CIMA because I already had a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting Science before deciding to go for CIMA. It was a recognition of prior learning route for me.

I am slightly spurred on to get on with my managerial level, which I still have 2 subjects left.

Wish me luck. And before I know it, I'll be ACMA soon.