A Management Finance personal must be looking around the whole business environment rather than focussing only finance, said Jeffrey C Thomson, President and CEO of Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).

"Especially when there is an economic slowdown looming around, the investor or the business owner must pay attention to the fundamentals of the economy. A finance management person makes sure the fundamentals are strong. He needs to see the happenings around his business sector. The opportunities around. It is all about maintaining a healthy financial profile with strong balance sheets, good cash reserves, smart investments, and smart risk management and internal controls for the business owner," Mr Jeffrey C Thomson said in an exclusive chat with IniansinKuwait.com. He was in Kuwait to attend the annual conference of IMA Kuwait Chapter.

With its extensive professional network within the IMA, we keep our members up-to-date with latest happenings around accounts and management, he said. The technology plays very important role in today’s accounting, especially when you are dealing with large quantity of data where accuracy of data is very important. "Knowledge will be the key driver for the change incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), fintech, blockchain, bigdata, etc" This is the time when countries in this part of the world are changing their focus from oil based economy to knowledge based economy. There management accountants play important role in enhancing their performance with digital transformation. Business needs to explore more sectors, diversify and find opportunities. "But at the end of the day, it is the talent of your finance and accounting team that matters. It is all about advancing competence and talent in management accounting and finance and corporate strategy,” he explained.

Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), with a global network of more than 125,000 professionals, provides certification, the Certified Management Accountant (CMA), for internal financial management responsibilities, including planning, budgeting, business reporting, decision analysis and risk management. "I am very very excited when my organisation is making it to 100 years. We are very proud that we are being part of the growth and respected for accountancy around the world. At the end of the day, we have a great profession that makes a difference for people, organisation and society and we want to increase our relevance and influences of professional accountants in business for the next 100 years leveraging what we achieved in the past 100 years", Mr Jeffrey C Thomson said.

"My first advice to anyone in accountancy profession is to be part of this professional network, where you can develop your professional skills with various opportunities like CMA certification, etc. CMA (Certified Management Accountant) certification has been the global benchmark for management accountants and financial professionals. "Those in the accountancy world, do not limit yourself to accounts and finance only. You need to look around the entire business. Get more idea about the sector, the environment around the business, which will definitely help you to give the right input for the investor or the business owner," Mr Jeffrey concluded.