The GMA Conversion Program

Minimum Entry Requirement - NON-Accounting degree or NON-accounting professional qualification (from a recognised institution)

This program is available to those who have a Degree of Professional Qualification in a Non-Accounting field from an accredited University or recognised Professional Institution. (Holders of MBA degrees would usually need to do ONLY two subjects of the four in this program, i.e. Finacial Statement Analysis and Management Accounting).

The program consists of the last 4-units of the GMA program, and is equivalent to an Graduate Diploma in accountancy. Details of this 4-subject program are provided below. Students successfully completing this program are awarded a Graduate Licentiate in Accountancy from the Global Business School, and may describe themselves as a Graduate Management Accountant (GMA) of the ICMA. Those having 3 years relevant experience can apply to the ICMA for Associate Management Accountant (AMA) status.

The GMA Conversion Program is particularly relevant to those without an accounting background, who are also undertaking an MBA. By incorporating 6 coursework units, two of these being core subjects in most MBAs, i.e. the Accounting and Corporate Finance subjects, the can obtain both an MBA and a CMA.

In addition to the 2-core units, these students will need to do two further electives, Financial Statement Analysis and Managerial Accounting. On the completion of this 'conversion' program, these students will also undertake the advanced CMA units required by all students prior to certification, i.e. 'Advanced Management Accounting' and 'Advanced Strategic Management Accounting'.

The four subjects of GMA Conversion Program are:

• Financial Management (Corporate Finance)
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Financial Modeling (Accounting for Business)
• Managerial Accounting

Shown below, is a typical example of the accreditation that ICMA members obtain in University MBA programs:

MBA students with or without an accounting background, have an opportunity of selecting their electives in such a manner as to satisfy the educational requirements of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA). Students without an accounting background need to do all subjects in elective groups 1 and 2, while accountants need only to do those in group 2. The electives are as follows:

* Relevant experience in management accounting is broadly defined to include the gaining of experience in the provision of information in a wide range of managerial functions including costing, pricing, marketing, strategy, financial analysis, logistics, information systems, etc.