Creative Accountants – a defendable truth

Over the past several years, CMA Canada, along with its provincial partners, has worked towards the development of a unified brand vision and positioning for the CMA designation. The result was a national communications platform that established CMAs as “more than accountants.” While these efforts helped put the CMA designation on the radar of employers and future prospects, it also sparked increased competition in the marketplace, resulting in an increasingly complex and competitive arena for all three professional accounting designations.

As a result of the unified brand platform, Alberta has witnessed a substantial increase in awareness within the employer market. Complementing this, on a national level, CMAs remain the leading employer preference when hiring mid- to senior-level financial management positions.

“While good initial inroads have been made, the partners recognized that the time was right to stake our territory in a way that would not only disrupt the marketplace, but that would also present the designation in a way that had never been accomplished,” says Marketing and Communications Director for CMA Alberta, Shannon Pestun.

Over the past year-and-a-half, CMA Alberta, along with the national partnership, has researched, gained market intelligence and anticipated future needs relating to the business environment. Through research, we learned that our members wanted to demonstrate to the business world that they are leaders capable of shaping business today and well into the future. And through that voice, we learned that it is clear that accounting and leadership are more than what is obvious. Overwhelmingly, our members expressed that numbers are a commodity – but that what we do with the numbers is the precious resource. In essence, CMAs bring forward the magic combination of right-brain and left-brain thinking that results in success.

So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the phrase “Creative Accountants” came to the forefront. We knew the expression would ignite a great deal of conversation, even controversy. But, even in controversy, we knew it was the right thing to present to the market, for the market was in need of something bold, aggressive and assured.

We knew this because the defendable truth lies in the fact that CMAs are unique in their mindset and the attributes they bring to their complementary skill set. And thus, we define Creative Accountants as those who use their holistic thinking, resourcefulness, innovation, vision and creativity to deliver solutions that result in value. CMAs drive business success.  They possess a strong sense of professionalism. They have earned their reputations for business excellence and have proved over and over again that they see beyond the numbers to find opportunities.

As for being Creative Accountants? Sure it’s a lofty title. But it’s one that CMAs are well deserving of.
   

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