Letters.
| Position | Brief Article |
Financial Management, 63 Portland Place, London W1B 1AB; financialmanagement@cimaglobal.com
Change of the century
I have been reading CIMA's magazine for over 50 years and never has there been such a major change as in the new issue. It is truly a magnificent step into the 21st century. You and your staff deserve congratulations.
William H Hill FCMA Top performers
I read your article on the arts sector with interest ("Arts nouveau", FM, September). Common perceptions that the performing arts are extravagant luxuries and elitist are not supported by the facts -- 20 per cent of the seats at the Royal Opera House (ROH), 50 per cent of those at the English National Opera (ENO), and 100 per cent of the seats at a Rambert Dance Company performance cost less than a seat at a premier league football match.
More people attend the ROH or the ENO in a year than watch some premier league football clubs at home in a season. And, while salaries of many footballers are over 1,000 [pounds sterling] a week, many in the arts are employed only for part of a year, at barely more than the minimum wage.
The arts is a major employer and brings in 2 billion [pounds sterling] from tourism annually -- far more than the state funding required to support it. Most importantly, the way in which the arts enrich our life is a performance indicator too valuable to measure.
Geoff Hunt BSc FCMA Director of finance and administration, Rambert Dance Company Qualified disapproval
I interpret the response of Mike Jeans to the question of whether the word "accountant" could be dropped from the institute's name, (Letters, FM, October) as an admission that the name CIMA is changing.
I studied to pass professional chartered accounting examinations, not an MBA. I have a degree in accountancy, but that's not the same as a chartered accountancy qualification. I also know several MBAs and have studied the syllabus, and the qualification is not of the same quality. Why should we devalue a respected professional accounting qualification by dropping "accountant" from the name?
I am sure that other professions would not give us the same respect if we become "financial managers". How often do CIMAs develop balanced scorecards, compared with the number of times they advise on accounting policy and interpretation of accounts? And what will the new CIMA status be? Will we be the "new" university peripheralised by the "proper" universities?
Mike Jeans asks whether the name matters and hopes...
To continue reading
Request your trialCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
