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Certified Management Accountant

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If you had asked Lorinda McArthur if fruit was in her future, she probably wouldn't have said yes. But it's funny how life takes its twists and turns.

McArthur works as a controller for a research and development firm. It is developing and marketing a technology that will increase the shelf life of fruit. There are no chemicals involved and the technology will also work on vegetables and flowers.

So how does a CMA become involved with such a cutting-edge company? "I always wanted to work in industry. That's why I took my CMA," says McArthur. "After finishing my designation, I applied for a few jobs. I took my time to decide 'Yes, that's the job I want' or 'No, that's not what I want.' I wanted the right job for me. It took me about eight months to find the right job -- this job."

McArthur chose this position because of the challenges it offered her. "Our company doesn't do your garden-variety accounting," she says. "We're a small company with the logistics of a large company. Because we have worldwide distribution, we are all over the world. We have to deal with as many foreign currencies as there are currencies."

McArthur's job truly has an international flavor. "There are seven companies besides the parent company on which we do full accounting consolidation," she says. "Five of them are British. These ones are required to do their own accounts, according to the United Kingdom's generally accepted accounting principles.

"With our statements, we have all our books in Canadian funds. But for reporting purposes, we report under an international standard of accounting principles in U.S. dollars."

At one point, the company bought out four of the partners with which it had set up joint ventures. All this has really put McArthur's accounting knowledge to the test and challenged her to expand her capabilities.

It's been that way since her very first day on the job. When she arrived at the company, McArthur faced a huge challenge. Previously, a part-time bookkeeper that worked off site did all the books at the head office. The books of the company's offices in London were done in London, and the joint venture firms had their books done in their respective countries. McArthur was given the enormous task of bringing it all together.

"I had to come in and get all the books under one umbrella -- and in one country," says McArthur. "After I had got them up and running, I had to install them in a new computer system. I was working a lot of long hours!"

Now, says McArthur, "It's going very smoothly. I have a great assistant, and I don't have to work the long hours anymore."

Still, she adds, the challenges continue to change from month to month. And that's just the way she likes it. "Our company is evolving and it's certainly not boring!" she says. "I wanted variety and challenges in my career -- and I certainly got it."

According to CMA Jim Horsch, variety is what management accounting is all about. Horsch doesn't do the number crunching that many people picture when they hear "accountant."

"One of the highlights of my career was creating a multiple-year financial and operating plan," Horsch says. "It started out as a three-year plan that identified where we would spend our money. We later expanded it to a five-year plan. It was a lot of fun getting the business leaders to debate and then come to an agreement on the plan."

Horsch doesn't limit himself to accounting. After becoming the chairman of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants' (ICMA) Board of Regents, Horsch traveled to Brazil.

"I was invited to Brazil to help this financial institution set up the Brazilian Institute of Management Accountants," he says. "I had to do a crash course in Portuguese!"

Horsch has been very involved with the ICMA -- reviewing programs and even developing an online computer exam for CMA candidates. "Students used to have to wait three months to get their exam scores," he says. "Now candidates can see how well they did in seconds."

After completing his undergraduate degree in business administration, Horsch got a job with a power company. Going back to school to get his CMA was necessary for a successful career as an accountant. "I realized that I needed some certification in my profession," he says. "The CMA was very broad in scope -- it wasn't just about accounting. It covered math, behavioral science, decision sciences and economics, to name a few areas."

And a few years ago Horsch had the opportunity to stand on the other side of the classroom -- as a teacher. "I happened to run into an old teacher from my high school at a store," he says. "He said that I ought to come back to the school and talk to his class. So I went and lectured to an...algebra class. I identified ways to apply algebra to business."

How did it feel to play teacher for a change?

"It was nice to be back at my old high school," he says. "I hadn't been back there in 25 years. I felt like I was contributing something, not just getting something."