I am honored to be serving as President of the Akron Chapter for the upcoming year. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. I want to thank the incoming board for their service. I look forward to working with them to plan for an exciting year ahead! There are still a few positions available- Secretary and Co-Director of Advertising. Please consider getting involved in your chapter!

The planning meeting is Saturday, June 21 at Moe's Restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls. Breakfast starts at 8:30 am with the meeting at 9:00 am. All members are welcome. Your input and ideas are encouraged and welcomed at any time. Please send your ideas to me at beckypima@yahoo.com. What would you like to see this year?

I will let you know in next month's newsletter what the board is planning for the year. One event that is planned is the Night at the Races at Northfield Park on August 18th. The chapter is co-sponsoring the event with the Cleveland East chapter. More information can be found in a separate section in the newsletter. It will be a good chance to meet other members in the Cleveland area, network and have some fun!

So, consider getting more involved this year by attending monthly meetings, board meetings, chapter events, serving on the board. I know you find it as rewarding as I do.

Becky Price
President
Akron Chapter IMA

Please join in welcoming the following new members:

David Shield of Veyance Technologies who transfered in from the Columbus chapter
Jacqueline Becker of Precision Castparts Corp
Regina Parry of Berk Enterprises
Brian Daniels a KSU student sponsored by Dona Bowman
Kimberly King of Unicor Federal Prison Industries
John Buchanan of Ferro Corporation
Robert Sandy of National City who transfered in from Cleveland chapter.

To My Fellow Members of the IMA, Akron Chapter:

Another successful Chapter year has ended under the leadership of our President, Doreen Kuster, and a new season will begin in September under the leadership of our new President Rebecca Price. Coincidentally, along with the change in leadership there are also changes in the CMA program, but not our dedication to provide our members who are interested in obtaining their certification in management accounting with the tools and opportunities to successfully pass the exam.
To help provide candidates with better tools and greater incentives to complete the CMAŽ exam, the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMAŽ) enacted the following policy changes (I have included my own personal comments regarding the impact of the policy changes after each one):

(1). Transition Program: Effective April 18, 2008, those who were enrolled in the previous Certified Management Accountant program, which ended on December 31, 2007 will now have the opportunity to meet that goal by passing Part 2 (Management Accounting and Reporting) and Part 4 (Business Applications) of the Revised program. This offer will only be available to active IMA members who had only one part of the prior exam remaining. The time limit to complete these two parts will be four years from the date you have passed your first part in the previous CMA program or April 30, 2009, whichever comes later.

The addition of this transition program provides a great opportunity to our members who passed any three parts of the old program that expired on December 31, 2007 to obtain their certification without having to pass all four parts of the new exam. Instead, you can obtain your CMA certification by sitting for and passing Parts 2 (Management Accounting and Reporting) and Part 4 (Business Applications) of the new exam format. Another advantage of this new transition program is that it allows you to participate in the same review programs and use the same study materials as the candidates for the current program. Chapter members who qualify under the transition program have until April 30, 2009 or four years from the date they passed the first part under the old exam, whichever is later, to successfully pass Parts 2 and 4 of the new exam to obtain their certification.

(2). New calculator policy: Beginning May 1, 2008, candidates can continue to bring the simple six- function calculator that has been the standard for the exam, or they can bring either the Texas Instruments BA II Plus or the Hewlett-Packard 10BII, both of which perform net present value calculations.

This is not a major change in my opinion. Previously, net present value tables were provided on the exam when a question required such calculations. Allowing calculators that perform net present value calculations into the test area should allow for faster NPV calculation provided the user understands this functionality prior to the exam.

(3). Higher and uniform exam fees : Effective July 1, 2008, fees for taking each exam part in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and internationally will be $190. This fee increase reflects ICMA's increasing costs and increasing value of the program, as well as matches the prevailing market rates for similar exams.

Time will tell regarding the effectiveness of the ICMA's campaign to increase the recognition and demand for the CMA certification. As your representatives to the ICMA, we will continue to strive for that recognition and value.

(4). Waiver Fee Increase to $190 per exam part Effective July 1, 2008.

This coincides with change number (3) above.

(5). New spreadsheet program: ICMA is targeting April 1, 2009, as the date when candidates taking any exam part will have access during the test to an Excel-like spreadsheet program, which will make it easier to perform calculations, including net present value.

This provides another tool to allow for easier calculations which, I believe, allows you a higher success rate and completion of the exam within the time limit.

The following changes reflect ICMA's experience that candidates - for a variety of reasons, of course - tend to procrastinate on finishing the exam. These changes, discussed below, encourage candidates to take the exam promptly.

(6). Elimination of 50%: Effective July 1, 2008, the 50% credit that is now offered to candidates who decide not to take the exam after they have registered will be eliminated.

The bottom line on this policy change is, don't register to take the exam unless you are serious about taking and completing it promptly.

(7). Entrance fee changes: Effective July 1, 2008, the one-time entrance fee to take the exam will increase from $125 to $200. This increased fee represents increased value: included will be four electronic books (in pdf format) of sample questions and newly retired questions, as well as the CMA Assessment Tool to help candidates determine which areas require further study (these materials together normally sell for more than $100).

We will certainly utilize this material as part of the review programs we will continue to offer at the University of Akron.

In addition, this entrance fee will expire in four years. If a candidate has not completed the exam by that time, the entrance fee must be paid again.

(8). New $75 student fee: Beginning July 1, 2008, students will pay $75 when they enroll in the CMA program. Students will continue to receive a discount on their IMA membership fee and can take the CMA exam for half price. Included for the fee will be the four electronic books (in pdf format) of sample questions and exam content information, as well as the CMA Assessment Tool.

This is an important piece of information to communicate to our student chapters.

(9). New testing time window and schedule: Effective January 1, 2009, the exam will be offered according to the following schedule:

January and February: Parts 1, 2, and 3
March: no exam parts offered
April: Part 4 only
May and June: Parts 1, 2, and 3
July: no exam parts offered
August: Part 4 only
September and October: Parts 1, 2, and 3
November: no exam parts offered
December: Part 4 only

The implementation of windows will benefit candidates by encouraging the formation of live review courses. Further, it will provide candidates with a month to study and prepare for Part 4 once they have completed Parts 1, 2, and 3. Candidates will also receive their Part 4 results six weeks prior to the next Part 4 window (as opposed to the current two weeks), giving them more time to prepare should they need to re-take Part 4.

Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the exam will no longer be offered on demand. Therefore it is important to review and be clear on the annual testing schedule to help you better match your preparation with when that part of the exam is being offered. Those of us responsible for administrating the review program with the University of Akron Continuing Education & Workforce Development Division will be meeting prior to the start of the fall sessions to ensure that we offer review programs that best match the new test availability schedule.

If you have any questions regarding the CMA exam and the review programs and discounts offered through the IMA, Akron Chapter, feel free to contact me for assistance and support.
It has been a privilege serving as the IMA, Akron Chapter director of CMA Education over the past several years, and I look forward to continuing in that capacity during the upcoming 2008-9 season.
Have a wonderful summer, and I look forward to seeing everyone at our first dinner meeting of the new year in September.

Steve Law
IMA, Akron Chapter
Director CMA Education
(330) 666-8395
stevelawnj@hotmail.com

Please contact Roy Howarter if you have a job available or are looking for an employment opportunity.

Roy Howarter - Akron IMA Employment Director, 1- 800-321-5583

The perfect hire starts with the perfect job description, which serves as the basis of your all-important job ad. After all, hiring mistakes often result from a job description that failed to capture the essence of the open position. Consider the following tips:

Cover the key components. Lead off your job description with the position title, followed by the department and to whom the person will report. Next is a two- to three-sentence overview of the general nature, function and purpose of the job. Then list the primary areas of responsibility (consider using bullet points to differentiate tasks), along with important periodic duties. Follow this by citing a list of the skills, attributes and educational background you desire.

Cut the clutter. While certain higher- level accounting and finance roles will likely require lengthier write-ups than others, don't go into excessive detail. The job description is meant to be a concise and clear snapshot - not an exhaustive laundry list of every minute aspect of the job.

Redefine roles when appropriate. When an employee first vacates a position, your instinct might be to dig up and dust off an outdated description. Your best bet, however, is to take the time to reexamine the role and identify what the position will require now and in the near future. Review your staff's mix of strengths and weaknesses and look for opportunities to fill skills and knowledge shortfalls as you revise the job description. Moreover, carefully review your team's current and anticipated workloads. You may find that instead of making a new hire to take on the duties described in the revised job description, it makes more sense to spread these responsibilities across the department and address gaps or heavy workload periods by bringing in temporary accounting professionals.

Don't box yourself in. Finally, don't be too rigid. Keep in mind that what you prefer in the "perfect" candidate might not be what is absolutely required to do the job effectively. Advanced academic credentials, for example, can function as helpful screening devices, but their absence shouldn't be a deal-breaker that prevents you from hiring an otherwise ideal applicant.

Accountemps is the world's first and largest temporary staffing service specializing in the placement of accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. The company has more than 360 offices worldwide, and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com.

Lisa Cain passed the CMA exam - Congratulations!

The chapter is co-sponsoring an event at Northfield Race Track with Cleveland East on August 18th. The dinner/meeting cost is $25 and the racetrack controller will be speaking.

Registration Info

The planning meeting for the 2008-2009 Akron Chapter IMA Board will be on Saturday, June 21, 2008 with breakfast at 8:30am and meeting start at 9:00am. The meeting will be held at Moe's Restaurant at 2385 Front St, Cuyahoga Falls.

Akron chapter IMA member, David E. Stout, Ph.D, Chairman of the Accounting Dept. at Youngstown State University, won the 2008 AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award. This award recognizes full-time college accounting educators for excellence in teaching and achieving national prominence in research for the accounting profession. Dr. Stout is the John S. and Doris M. Andrews Professor of Accounting at YSU and teaches in the area of cost/managerial accounting. He is a prolific author, with more than 70 published articles to his credit. He currently serves as the 2008-09 president of the Ohio Region of the American Accounting Association and president of the Academy of Business Education. Congratulations David!

Ken Bechtol

Through 8 tech session meetings (September through May), including the January 8 luncheon meeting, the following Akron chapter IMA members have perfect attendance: Ken Bechtol, Jack Brillhart, Jim Campbell, Joan Chamberlain (missed March, but attended January 8 luncheon meeting in place of missed meeting), Bill Dreyer (missed March, but attended January 8 meeting), Gary Floyd, Wayne Hawkins, Roy Howarter, Doreen Kuster, Steve Law, Nancy Layer (missed February, but attended January 8 meeting), Jim Pollock, Becky Price, and Linda Simko.

The following missed one meeting: Susan Arnold (November), Tamra Emmett (missed November and March, but attended January 8 meeting), Dean Hull (March), Kirsten Jagger (January), Harold Matney (April), Larry McKay (November), and Mike Savage (May).

The following missed two meetings: Andy Balint (November and January), Diane Saulino (September, November & May, but attended January 8 meeting), Rodney Seiwert (November and January).

You can be listed with "Perfect Attendance" in the Annual Program Book if you missed one or two meetings by making up your missed meetings by obtaining (and listening to) audio tapes of the missed meetings. You can get the audio tapes from Roy Howarter (330-769-5583 or R_SHowarter@hotmail.com) before July 1.

Ken Bechtol

email: floyd@sssnet.com

web: http://akron.imanet.org