In an encouraging sign of the increasing influence of women in accounting, three of the six CIMA Australia boards now have female chairpersons. Paul Turner, regional manager for Australia and New Zealand, spoke to South Australian chair Rebecca Bennett (left) and Victorian chair Eilis Kelly (below) about their success.
Why did you choose CIMA?
Rebecca Bennett: My main influence in choosing CIMA was my first manager – John Grundy FCMA. I left school at 16 having completed my GCSEs and took a youth training job with a private company in their finance department as their junior.
John mentored me through my B-Tec and gave me the opportunity to get involved in the various accounting functions, learning AP, AR, bank and balance sheet reconciliations, budgeting and month end. I really enjoyed this work, and John encouraged me to continue through AAT and on into CIMA.
Eilis Kelly: I chose CIMA after taking a primary degree in politics and sociology. CIMA was the best all round finance programme, with a strong focus on driving business strategically.
How has it assisted your career success?
RB: I have seen the most significant benefits in coming over to Australia. Not only has my CIMA qualification allowed me to get my visa, it has opened doors for me into senior accounting roles.
It is recognised that CIMA offers a well rounded accountant to the Australian market with its focus on management accounting and strategy, not merely a number cruncher to get through the month.
EK: Having moved to Australia, the mutual recognition agreement with CPA was hugely important. Today many companies are not aware of the CIMA qualification and having CPA allowed me to get a foot in the door. Coming from Ireland, where CIMA is more established, it was a quite a difficult transition to the market here.
Why did you run for election?
RB: Having been on the branch committee, I really enjoyed getting involved and organising CPD events for our members. The opportunity arose and I was honoured to be nominated.
EK: I ran for chairperson, firstly because I was asked (my enthusiasm must be catching!) and because I also believe that all our students and members should be made to feel welcome and part of a community – for a new arrival, it can be daunting.
Personally, my involvement with the branch in Victoria has been hugely important to my personal and professional development.
What do you hope to achieve as chairperson?
RB: Being chairperson has opened my eyes to the opportunities that are out there for recruiting new students and helping CIMA gain more commercial recognition in our state.
I would like to support our student base in Australia by helping achieve a similar training regime to what we have in the UK. I highly valued the contact hours when I was training, and would like to see something similar over here.
I am also working to partner our branch with sponsors for regular CPD event to keep our members up to date with technical changes relevant to Australia.
EK: As chair for Victoria, I would like all our members, and especially our students, to feel proud to be part of our organisation.
We need to promote ourselves here as being the number one professional body that the market draws management accounting professionals from. In short, ‘We are loud, we are proud and we are here to stay.’
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