[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

CA is the smuggiest designation.

Really? How can you tell?

Originally Posted by Ducay

As someone in this field; I can tell you that essentially no CA's see it as a good idea, regardless of how close to retirement they are. Every CA worked towards their designation and put in hundreds of times more work and time towards their letters than a CMA/CGA did. The amount of work involved is not even within comparison. If the merger does happen I'd love to have the CMAs/CGAs required to pass some form of qualification exam that doesn't involve multiple choice or group presentations (what a joke) before they can use the CPA designation. Sure, full "merger" of the two wouldn't be for 10 years, but if we're talking the life of a career, that is a pretty big impact if you're going to go from X amount of CA's to 10x as many CPAs in 10 years.

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

And we will all be dumber for it.

Seriously.

CGA < CMA < CA

in general terms.

Now all of a sudden they are all in one pot? This will make hiring a lot harder, hopefully they keep the requirement for CPA-CA or what have you. I like being able to source a CMA or CA for my staffing needs based on the letters behind the name, not having to read in detail what their work history is to glean an insight into their stream into CPA.

Originally Posted by Ducay

So we give ourselves more clout by bringing a ton more members that essentially dilute the prestige of our designation? Get real.

You think execs/boards will think the same of CPAs when every kid and his dog has one? Just because the CMAs/CGAs (CGAs moreso) have lax entry/designation criteria and can churn out members doesn't make them any more knowledgeable. They're the Russian army of the accounting world; just using sheer numbers to attack; but with only 1 of 5 soldiers actually getting a rifle.

Originally Posted by Ducay

I guarantee you if it went to a vote; you'd see infinitely higher acceptance rates among CMAs/CGAs, and why not? They're getting a Porsche designation at a Chevy pricetag, there is nothing but upside for them and I don't blame them at all for it.

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

Most of us believe it is, hence the huge backlash against the merger. CMA's care about allocations and CGAs care about personal taxes. Neither of them are going to attempt to sway anything bigger than a CAPPA meeting.

Originally Posted by Ducay

The bolded statement above is exactly why I don't want these other designations merging; any CFO at a "real" company had better know each and every applicable IAS/IFRS that impacts their company or they're gonna get themselves in a heap of problems.

Sure, I don't know the exact ins and outs of each and every line of each IFRS standard, but I sure as heck know all those that might relate to the company's I'm involved in; as well as those that could impact them. CMAs/CGAs just don't get the exposure (forced (CASB/UFE) and real world) to the technical aspects enough.

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

The above is why CGA's / CMA's should never be allowed to merge. It always matters. The training you get as a CA is unparalleled anywhere.

You might as well say "The reality is that no doubt BSc (Med) are harder to get but after a certain level, what you learned as A Doctor (CA)/Nurse(CMA)/Orderly(CGA) ceased mattering."