IMA unveils Management Accounting Competency Index

The Institute of Management Accountants has released a new Management Accounting Competency Index, a proprietary measure designed to assess how strongly organizations value the finance, accounting, data, forecasting, risk and decision-making competencies that shape business performance.

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The group released a report Tuesday indicating how MACI scores were a significant predictor of whether leaders feel their organization is positioned for success over the next four quarters, based on a global survey of management accountants. It found larger organizations place a much higher premium on management accounting competencies than smaller businesses. The index found notable differences by industry, company type and region.

“Curiously, financial reporting was rated the least important by leaders of small organizations,” said the report, written by Jerome Rekart, senior psychometrician and head of research at the IMA. “This may be due to the simplicity of cost accounting associated with a small portfolio or when there is a limited number of product offerings or services. Alternatively, it could be that small businesses and sole proprietorships lack the internal positions/office for handling such matters and instead outsource it or use off-the-shelf software.”

The new report found that public companies place a higher value on management accounting competencies, but the size of the organization is still the deciding factor. The type of industry also seems to make a difference. Survey respondents from financial and other business services organizations had the highest MACI scores while those from the construction industry had the lowest averages. 

The IMA recently revised its Competency Framework to define the 10 core areas that are essential for the management accounting discipline in modern business, expanding the number from six core competencies. “We believe it now reflects where the profession is going in the skills and capabilities and competencies that professionals need,” IMA president and CEO Mike DePrisco told Accounting Today earlier this year.