The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMA Pakistan) was established in 1951 with the objective to regulate and promote the profession of Management Accounting in Pakistan. By virtue of the authority vested in by the Act and Regulations, the Institute has been entrusted with the responsibility to provide education, examine competencies and confer internationally recognized post-graduate professional certification. After qualifying and fulfilling prescribed requirement of membership, the Institute awards following designations:
The students on qualifying examinations and meeting membership requirement are awarded membership of the Institute which is a professional and legal status to join the fraternity of Institute’s members. The membership is a life-longassociation which tends to continue by paying prescribed annual subscription fee. Currently, the Institute has over 5,000 members in Pakistan and abroad. Out of total members, about 20% of members are serving abroad which shows the contribution of the Institute towards global economic development.
Management Accountant is the bi-monthly official flagship Journal of ICMA Pakistan which updates on current trends in the field of accounting and finance as well as professional and macro-economic issues. It serves as a premier resource for young and professional accountants to find new trends in management accounting and also provides a useful source of knowledge and reference for the corporate sector. Every issue of Journal is brought out on a specific theme and carries focused articles, exclusive interview of dignitaries; survey reports, economy watch, regulatory watch and other useful writeups and information worth reading for professionals, business and industry.
To keep members and students in particular and other professionals in general, the Institute as part of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) regularly organizes nationwide trainings, seminars, workshops and conferences. The CPD activity helps in the capacity building and is essential for a professional to remain updated with the changes taking place in the profession.
The deliberations made and insightfulness shared in these CPD programs become a source of immense learning for members and students. At an average, in a year, more than 2,000 CPD hours are nationwide conducted at the Institute.
The Institute has a proper quality Control system in place that encompasses policies, procedures and periodic reviews of the work of CMA Firms engaged in public practice. The objective is to ensure that practicing members and firms are engaged in audit and other practices are in line with the relevant rules, regulations and professional standards. The well-defined Quality Assurance Review Framework helps firms in maintaining set benchmarks and to keep them updated with the changes taking place in the profession to provide state-of-the-art services to the clients. Through Quality Assurance, practicing firms are not only meeting customers’ expectations but also complying global standards followed by practicing firms all over the world.
The Council strengthened technical support to provide technical updates and professional advice to practicing and other members of the Institute. The support to the practicing members and industry includes technical support to the Government on legislations; development of cost accounting standards, records and guidelines for the industry; quality assurance; capacity building and practice development of Management Accounting firms of ICMAP, and preparing Budget commentaries, Directories of practicing members, Registration of CMA Firms etc.
Members become eligible to pursue a career in practice after obtaining Certificate of Practice (COP) from the Institute. The certificate is a license for members to do public practice and management consulting functions. Under the license, a member may act as auditor, liquidator, trustee, executor, administrator, arbitrator, receiver, adviser or representative in the matters involving costing, financial, company law and taxation or may appointed by Federal Government or Provincial Government or a Court of Law or any other authority established under the law to which their expertise are solicited.
The Corporate Relations function of the Institute assists students in their career development. It creates training and internship opportunities for students and helps in bringing awareness about the role of profession of management accounting in the industry. Keeping in view that corporate sector is ultimate beneficiary of Management Accountants; the Corporate Relations function invites dignitaries from the corporate sector and takes various steps to strengthen relationship with the corporate sector.
The National Awards and Convocations ceremonies are held for qualified students to recognize their completion and confer degrees.