The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), headquartered in London, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), headquartered in New York, are launching a joint venture that would give management accountancy a far higher profile in the United States and promote its development across the world.
The step, which requires ratification from the institutes’ respective governing bodies, would combine the strength of the AICPA in North America with CIMA’s presence in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
CIMA and AICPA would create a new not-for-profit joint venture to be called the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
This would promote a new professional accounting designation with new designatory letters which will be announced in due course.
Existing CIMA members could retain their current “FCMA” or “ACMA” letters after their names, or alternatively, they would have the option to use these as appropriate in conjunction with the new designation.
This joint venture would also promote the US Certified Public Accountant (CPA) qualification as a worldwide standard of professional excellence in public accounting.