As you may already know the AICPA and CIMA agreed to form a new association last year. At the end of March 2017, the AICPA announced that they would begin to implement some new branding as a result of the new association. This was announced in a letter from chair of the AICPA Kimberyl Ellison-Taylor and the CIMA President and chair Andrew Miskin. You can see the new AICPA logo below.

AICPA CIMA Merger

 

 

The AICPA made the following statement in the letter.

The look was developed through extensive testing with members and students who described it as professional, visionary, dynamic and influential. The same logo, colors and other attributes will appear across our brands to represent a consistent beacon of quality and integrity around the world.

There were also some reassurances in the letter that members will receive the same benefits under the new organization. This is most likely because many accountants fear change and are unsure of what this  means for the future of the profession. If the AICPA is such a strong brand, then why did they need to form a partnership with CIMA.

AICPA used to stand for American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Now it is confusing what it stands for.

Does it stand for American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or does it stand for Association of International Certified Public Accountants? It’s definitely a little confusing because the AICPA is still maintain their old AICPA.org website but there is also a new AICPAglobal.com website.

The new association is meant to help represent more than 600,000 current and future accounting professioanls.

AICPA members automatically get dual membership in both organizations through their annual dues. The AICPA and CIMA have come together and formed a new designation as well. That designation is the CGMA.

As you may know that the AICPA does not govern CPAs. It is the individual state boards that govern who is a CPA. So even though this is confusing, it is pretty clear that the designation of certified public accountant is still very much a USA designation.

AICPA and CIMA formation of a new association

Back in 2011 the AICPA and CIMA partnered together to launch a new association in 2011 and that is when they really launched the CGMA designation. The problem was that they didn’t really bond the two into a new association until 2017. The members of both organizations approved the merger in 2016.

AICPA CIMA Mutual recognition

The AICPA and CIMA both give mutual recognition the CGMA designation. In recent years both bodies have been pushing the CGMA designation. CGMA stands for Chartered Global Management Accountant. It is considered one of the premier designations for professional accountants working in business and government.

How does one obtain the CGMA designation? Both the AICPA and CIMA offer pathways to get your CGMA designation.