Computer based assessment by ICMA

The Institute of Certified Management Accountants; ICMA Australia, the accounting body for both non-finance and finance professionals will commence its 2011 intake in June and the highlight of this year's programme will be shifting to complete computer based assessment of the "Financial Modelling" subject.

CMA Australia will give more prominence to this pivotal subject as it will enhance the finance acumen and financial model building skills of non-financial professionals which will help when taking vital corporate decisions.

"The importance of finance is much felt in the recent past while the world was undergoing a crisis period.

One has to understand the impact of numbers on their own existence and how the survival of the organization is ensured by better managing the numbers. In this context, the CMA programme is designed in such a way that a non-finance professional is trained to understand and deal with various financial aspects of a company so as to enable them to handle financial matters confidently," Finance Academy Senior Lecturer Chaaminda Kumarasiri said.

One of the key subjects in the programme is Financial Modelling.

This subject deals with useful tools that allow business options and risks to be evaluated in a cost-effective manner against a range of assumptions, identify optimal solutions in evaluating financial returns and understand the impact of resource constraints to make the most effective business decisions.

"We use spreadsheet (MS Excel) as the platform for modelling and planning to increase the weight on the computer based practical assessment to make it a fully computer based assessment," he further added.

Every year CMA Australia enrols over 100 to 150 students and it is evidence of the popularity of the flexible course of study. The course is structured in such a way that it'll offer a cutting edge qualification in this dynamic corporate environment specifically for professionals at the senior management level.

ICMA is a rapidly expanding accounting body in Australia with an increasing membership all over the world. ICMA has been present in Sri Lanka since 1999 with the Academy of Finance as its strategic partner.