The Institute of Management Accountants hosted its annual conference last week and heard from stakeholders, including the new leader of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, about the pros and cons of artificial intelligence.
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In one session of the conference in Tampa, PCAOB Chairman Jim Logothetis discussed the need for audit firm regulators to be more transparent, apolitical, and engaged with stakeholders, while emphasizing the continued importance of professional skepticism and judgment even as technology advances. Mr. Logothetis is a certified CPA and CMA and spent more than 40 years at Ernst & Young.
According to attendees, one of the biggest takeaways from the conference was that finance and accounting professionals not only want to know how to use AI, but how to ensure that it is cost-effective, practical, reliable, and based on strong fundamentals.
“IMA26 makes clear that accounting and finance professionals are moving from looking back at past transactions to helping shape what happens next,” IMA President and CEO Mike DePrisco said in a statement. “As AI accelerates that change, organizations need experts who can turn data into insights, evaluate technology from a financial perspective, and connect strategy to better business decisions.”
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“We’re seeing a strong interest from these organizations in developing learning programs that help finance and accounting teams quickly get up to speed on the topics of the day, such as AI and finance, advanced data analytics and CMA certification,” DePrisco said. today’s accounting In a recent interview.
He noted that the IMA has made changes to the Certified Management Accountant qualification examination. “We are eliminating the essay portion of the CMA and replacing it with case-based questions,” DePrisco said. “We’re starting with this exam period in May and June. We’re bringing the exam up to date and allowing candidates to challenge and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of real-world scenarios that occur in business.”
He noted that other organizations, such as the AICPA, are also transitioning to using case-based questions on exams rather than requiring essays. “English can be an unintended barrier for candidates for whom English is not their first language,” DePrisco says. “Most testing agencies have moved to this agency because it allows test takers to understand the material and more accurately demonstrate how they want to apply the concepts in a professional environment. What we really want is for each person to be able to apply the knowledge they have to their assigned work environment.”
Some of the trends expressed at IMA26 include:
- Scrutiny of the cost and ROI of AI is a major concern for finance leaders, especially as companies build processes, workflows, and workforce planning around tools where long-term pricing models remain unclear.
- Your talent pipeline needs AI literacy without losing touch with the basics. While companies are focused on preparing early career professionals to use AI effectively, they are also concerned about maintaining accounting fundamentals, critical thinking, professional skepticism, and the ability to function when the tools are wrong or unavailable.
- Finance teams are looking for practical AI use cases, not just hype. Participants focused on questions such as “What are we trying to accomplish?” “What problems does this solve?” rather than broad theoretical applications of AI.
- Data quality is becoming a prerequisite for AI value. Finance teams know that AI tools cannot provide reliable output if the underlying data is incomplete, inconsistent, or poorly managed.
Titan International CFO Hernan Rizo also talked about how finance leaders can leverage the cash they already have within their companies by being more disciplined around procurement, inventory, labor planning, and cost management. Other speakers include Cassandra Worthy, founder and CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global, and Jeremy Cox, senior vice president, corporate controller and chief tax officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
DePrisco noted that IMA is collaborating with the CFO Alliance, which has its own track at the conference for the second year in a row, and with financial executive networking group FENG.
IMA has expanded its scope of activities and services. “We have introduced a number of new products that are now really starting to take shape in the market,” DePrisco said. “We have offered a corporate membership program where organizations can sign up their teams to upskill and develop talent. More than 70 multinationals and corporations from around the world, from the United Nations to groups such as J&J and Mercedes-Benz, are participating in that program.”
IMA is also growing internationally. “There continues to be very strong interest and growth in IMA and CMA in places like India,” DePrisco said. “Currently, we have over 40,000 members in India. About a year ago, we opened a new market in Japan and made CMA available in the local language, Japanese and English for that market.”
However, a slight decrease is seen in China. “Since the pandemic, I think both IMA and other organizations have seen a decline in overall business activity in China. It’s stabilized now. China is still one of our top markets, in the top three. But where we’re seeing big growth is in India, the Middle East, and new markets in Southeast Asia like Vietnam and Japan. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has always been a strong market for us, but now Vietnam is emerging. We’re always looking for new markets where we can enter.”The demand is there. ”
Like other accounting organizations, IMA has seen a slight decline in membership due to the continuing shortage of accounting talent. “We’re seeing some headwinds in membership, especially with the decline in membership that we’ve seen in China,” DePrisco said. This was partially offset by increases in the Middle East and India. We are experiencing what many organizations are experiencing in the US in terms of an aging population, so the US is flat or down slightly. Many people are retiring and new professionals are looking for a different kind of experience in terms of affiliation and different membership models. ”
IMA has shown recent growth.
IMA is currently rethinking its membership program in terms of how it can better support what younger generations want from an association like IMA, which has approximately 25,000 student members. “We continue to do really good work at universities, not only in the United States but around the world,” DePrisco said. Last November, IMA held its 26th Annual Student Leadership Conference, bringing nearly 500 accounting and finance students to Cleveland for two days of learning, leadership, career preparation, networking and connections.
“This is my favorite event and it really gives me a sense of optimism and hope that this profession is going to be okay for the future,” DePrisco said.
IMA has
“Not only are we seeing good growth in the U.S., but we’re also seeing some universities outside the U.S. eager to gain IMA support because it means a lot to them in terms of reputation, credibility, and market differentiation,” DePrisco said.
IMA is also making updates.
“We believe this reflects the future direction of the profession in terms of the skills, abilities and competencies that professionals need,” DePrisco said.
This framework includes traditional accounting and finance core competencies along with technical and soft skills such as AI, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital transformation, sustainability, leadership, persuasion, influence, and innovation. IMA partnered with the CFO Alliance to present research at the conference focused on AI, its impact on the profession, and what individuals and organizations need to consider to take advantage of the technology.
“Overall it was a good year,” DePrisco said. “We are investing in new technology and new platforms to better support our members and the learning they need, so we feel pretty good about where we are right now.”
