Tell me: you are, for sure, for freedom of choice? For the availability of alternatives and opportunities? If so, then my article today will give you hope for a multipolar world of financial qualifications in Russian. Such a world where eyes run wide, instead of staring at one single point without alternative. For those who are not strong in allegories, I’ll say it bluntly: I’ll tell you about the end of CIMA's monopoly on a large Russian-speaking qualification for financiers.
First, a little background
There are many financiers in Russia. Even not so - there are a lot, and the most diverse: from accountants and specialists of planning and economic departments to financial analysts and financial directors. To stand out from this unstructured mass and show a potential employer that you are not a bastard, financiers join SROs - self-regulatory organizations. However, representatives of other professions do the same, but now we are talking about financiers.
These associations of professionals develop various requirements for their members, such as exams, professional codes, etc., both to give this SRO weight in the profession as a whole, and so that individual members of such associations can prove to anyone interested that they meet a certain The "gold standard" . By the principle: passed professional exams to a strict jury, which means that you have a certain verified set of skills. The firm does not knit brooms. And it doesn't matter who you are (self-taught or graduate of a high school), or where you are (from the east, from the west). The Association tested you - you are cool.
But there is SRO, and there is SRO. There are small-town homegrown associations that are a week old, and there are global structures over a century old. And other things being equal, when it comes to such a capitalist profession as finance, membership in an international association, of course, looks more solid. In our profession, globalization rules, what to say. That is why foreign names of international associations such as CPA (Certified Public Accountant), ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) or CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) are on everyone's lips. There are a few more associations with a narrower coverage, that is, more specialized, but they are much smaller acca tests.
But globalization has one unsightly side (one of them, to be honest) - it is its complete English-speaking nature. For our post-Soviet space, this is downright a barrier. Transparent, but bulletproof glass: you can see how good it is behind it: the grass is greener there, and career prospects go up to the sky, but only ... know Speak English. Well, we don't like to learn foreign languages, with rare exceptions.
But there are many financiers in Russia. No - a lot. And it's not just financiers who seek membership in worthy associations. Associations themselves, in order to be and appear even more worthy, strive to grow at the expense of new members. And no global professional association will be truly global without our mass. Apparently, they are well aware of this, despite all the sanctions and other ripples on the ocean surface. And, if the mountain does not go to Mohammed, then ...
ACCA took the first step by launching an international Diploma in IFRS (DipIFR) in Russian back in 2003. Then in 2010, CIMA launched the Business Performance Management Diploma (now called the “certificate”), which consists of two exams, P1 and P2. Then, in 2014, ACCA launched the Diploma in Taxation of the Russian Federation (DipNRF)
These laudable attempts to win the hearts of Russian-speaking financiers lacked consistency. Such "spot" diplomas-certificates covered the specific needs of specific people: someone needs blood-from-a-nose to understand IFRS, someone needs to tighten up management accounting, and a third needs taxes. And even if you acquire all three diplomas, they will remain just three scattered diplomas from two different global SROs that do not give official membership in either ACCA or CIMA. Unless you get too hot and take courage to take all the other subjects to any of these programs in the notorious English. Well, if not, then - that's it, we've arrived. Dead end.
CIMA makes a knight's move
But in 2017, everything changed all at once when CIMA launched a Russian-language Diploma in Business Management , unique for our market , and made not even a step out of it - no, a catapult! - Throwing a student right away to the last strategic level of the full-format English-language professional qualification CIMA after passing only three exams in Russian. Moreover, the registration itself for this catapult program gave automatic credit for as many as 5 exams of the professional English-speaking CIMA, plus the credit for 4 exams of the preliminary CIMA business certificate.
That was what a sensation! A catapult that allows you to quickly get from rags to riches - from yesterday's high school graduate to a student at the strategic level of CIMA, such an alluring way to cut corners! Well, who of the sinful financiers hungry for recognition, salary growth and the eminent brand of the global professional association can stand on their resume? Yes, this is not yet a CIMA membership, but it is already so close! Pass three exams in Russian, pass nine, and only 4 are left in English? We'll get out somehow!
End of the story? As it turned out, no. But for two whole years, almost complete lack of alternative to CIMA reigned - I mean, for the Russian-speaking public, of course: a chance for qualifying happiness with little blood.
And only today there appeared a worthy answer to the question that was hanging in the air for two years: "If not CIMA, then who?" ACCA launched its Trojan horse: Diploma in Finance and Business Administration in Russian.
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