The Certified General Accountants of British Columbia (CGA-BC) is the self-regulating professional association of Certified General Accountants in the province of British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. CGA-BC is the largest and fastest growing accounting designation in the province of B.C. As of February 2011, it has more than 10,000 members (CGAs) and 5,000 CGA students. The Association is responsible for the training, accreditation, regulation, ethics and discipline, and professional development of its members. CGAs work in businesses of all sizes and virtually every sector of B.C.'s economy: banking and finance, business and industry, government and the public sector, the not-for-profit field and public practice. CGA-BC also administers and delivers the CGA program of professional studies to its students.
Contents
- Birth of the Association
- A national association
- The program of professional studies
- Technology
- International opportunities
- Governance
- CGA Program of professional studies
- Competency based learning
- Online delivery
- International designations recognized by CGA BC
- Related associations
- Global partners
- References
CGA-BC's headquarters are in Vancouver. The Association comprises 15 chapters covering all of British Columbia, and is in turn a provincial affiliate of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada), the national body of CGAs in Canada. CGA-Canada comprises Canada's provincial affiliates as well as organizations in the Caribbean, Bermuda, China and Hong Kong. Provincial, territorial and international affiliate associations work collaboratively with CGA-Canada as a federation. Worldwide there are more than 68,000 CGAs.
Birth of the Association
The Certified General Accountants Association began in Montreal in 1908 when John Leslie, then assistant comptroller of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), and two CPR staff formed an association to promote the development of their accounting skills. By 1913, the Association had grown to 83 members from more than 50 companies. On April 14, 1913, the Canadian House of Commons passed an act incorporating the [Certified] General Accountants' Association as a self-regulating professional organization.
A national association
The Association spread out steadily from its Montreal headquarters; branches opened in regional centres across the country to support an ever-growing number of members and students. By the end of the Second World War, there were offices from Halifax to Vancouver. During the post-war era, the Association solidified its position in the Canadian accounting landscape and continued to expand its membership. Along with that growth came changing regional requirements that saw provincial branches lobbying for, and receiving, their own charters. CGA-BC received its charter in 1951.
The program of professional studies
Education, examination, and professional development were the three cornerstones of the CGA organization as far back as 1910; it established its first formal partnership with an educational institution, Shaw College in Toronto, shortly after the Association's inception.
As the CGA Association worked with educational institutions across the country over the next four decades, the CGA Association introduced a standardized, nationwide curriculum developed in conjunction with the University of British Columbia (UBC).
With an initial investment of $100 each of their own money, 41 CGAs in B.C. personally underwrote the cost of the preparation of the program, modelling it after UBCs Faculty of Commerce's five-year baccalaureate program. These links with UBC continue, ensuring that the program maintains first-rate academic standards.
Today, there are more than 25,000 students worldwide enrolled in the CGA program. In B.C., 70 per cent of all accounting students are registered in the Association’s CGA Program of Professional Studies.
Technology
The Association recognized the value of technology to the accounting profession early on, and introduced computer-based learning in the late 1980s. Online course delivery is an integral component of the Program of Professional Studies. Trained on industry-standard software, students are able to meet the demands of today's high-tech work environments.
International opportunities
In 1993, the CGA Program of Professional Studies was launched in China, in partnership with the Beijing University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. The CGA Association continues to perform consulting services for the National Accounting Institute (NAI), which offers continuing professional education for accountants in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition, the CGA program has been offered in Hong Kong since 1989, in conjunction with the School of Professional and Continuing Education at the University of Hong Kong. The Association was instrumental in setting up CGA offices in Hong Kong and the Caribbean to deliver the CGA program in those jurisdictions. CGA-Hong Kong gained affiliate status in July 2003, giving it the authority of a provincial or territorial Association.
Governance
Founded in 1951, CGA-BC is directed by a Board of Governors in accordance with the Association's Act of Incorporation, the provincial Accountants (Certified General) Act.
The Board of Governors sets policy and works to accomplish the Association's strategic plan, receiving input from the Association's standing committees, advisory groups, task forces, and the administration. Members are also represented locally through their chapters. The Association's governance model recognizes that authority in the organization derives from the members under the Association's bylaws. Members elect the Board of Governors to represent them and the Board has authority over standing committees, board task forces, advisory groups, the strategic planning group, the Executive Committee and the Executive Director. The Board of Governors approves the Associations policies, strategic plan, budgets, tactical plan and the appointment and performance of the Executive Director. The Executive Director is responsible for the overall management of CGA-BC operations.
CGA Program of professional studies
The CGA program of professional studies is a multi-year process of accreditation through which individuals are granted the Certified General Accountant (CGA) designation.
CGA students work full-time in the accounting and finance field while studying on a part-time basis. CGA-BC refers to this flexible approach in which students don't have to give up their incomes while studying as "earn while you learn".
Competency-based learning
The CGA program is a competency-based curriculum that requires students to perform tasks and roles to standards expected in the professional accounting and finance environment. The knowledge, skills and professional values required of a CGA are based on the CGA Competency Framework, a set of 130 competencies required of a newly certified CGA, under three general areas: professionalism, leadership and professional knowledge. The complete academic program consists of 19 courses, two business cases, and professional qualification exams over three stages: Foundation Studies, Advanced Studies, and PACE qualification.
Online delivery
The CGA program of professional studies is designed to provide flexibility while ensuring the highest academic standards. Students complete their studies in an online learning environment that integrates text materials, study guides, video and audio tools, discussion forums, group case study and project work, web research and email.
International designations recognized by CGA-BC
The following foreign accounting designations are recognized by CGA-BC for advanced standing in the CGA program:
Foreign accounting designations not listed here are considered on an individual basis. Members in good standing with any of these organizations are eligible to obtain advanced standing on the CGA program. These individuals must include a letter of good standing from their professional accounting body and provide it when applying to the CGA program. They must have obtained their recognized designation by way of the program/examination set by the professional body; that is, the designation in question cannot be obtained through a mutual recognition process.
Related associations
CGA-BC is part of the global CGA family with associations in every Canadian province and territory, as well as in Hong Kong, China, Bermuda and throughout the Caribbean.
Global partners
Through mutual recognition agreements with several of the worlds largest accounting bodies, CGAs have the opportunity to extend their designation’s portability to approximately 170 nations. Each agreement allows for qualified members of either body to become a member of the other, and to enjoy the benefits that both associations offer.
To date the Association has partnered with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the world's largest accounting body, CPA Australia and CPA Ireland.