CPA Canada's management accounting guidelines

 My previous post outlined the various generations of Management Accounting Guidelines that had been issued by CMA Canada over the 30 years prior to the CPA Canada merger. There have been several issued since that time, and are described as having the following intent:

Change. It's global. It's constant. It's disruptive. It's the one constant in life and business that impacts everything. The drivers of change—societal, technological, economic, environmental, and geopolitical—are creating unprecedented challenges for organizations and CPAs alike.

The role of CPAs is also evolving to address the constant change. CPA Canada is developing resources in the form of management accounting guidelines (MAGs)—which provides guidance on how to implement a particular strategic or operational activity in your organization. The MAGs are meant to provide strategic insight into the competency areas of strategy, risk, financial, performance, and professional and leadership skills (with an overarching theme of emerging business issues and needs), along with the associated impacts, risks and opportunities for the business and accounting professional of today and tomorrow.

The MAGs are suitable for business and accounting professionals as they embark on their professional development journey. Such guidance is relevant in ensuring both professionals and organizations are resilient, adaptive, and innovative, creating sustainable enterprises.

That appears to be a more prescriptive approach than what had been used at CMA Canada.

Here is a listing of the various ones that have been released under this page:

Strategy management

• Strategic partnerships - overview, guideline and case studies
• Strategy mapping - overview, guideline and case study 1 and 2

Financial management and financial reporting

• Future value drivers - overview, guideline and case studies
• Finance and accounting outsourcing - overview and guideline

Performance management and measurement

• The CAM-I performance management framework: How to evaluate and improve organizational performance - overview and case study
• A practical approach to managing risks for small- to medium-sized organizations - guideline and case study
• The CAM-I risk value curve: Understanding your risk appetite to create value - guideline
• Performance measurement for non-profit organizations - overview, guideline and case studies
• Business model design - overview, guideline and case study 1 and 2
• Process-based management - overview, guideline and case study 1 and 2
• Scenario planning - overview, guideline and case studies

There's more...

However, there are other guidelines that do not appear on that list, but are identified as such elsewhere on the website. A simple site search revealed them, which suggests that there is rather poor maintenance going on there:

• Cybersecurity from the inside out: guideline and case study
• Divestitures: overview, guideline and case study
• From data to decisions: A five-step approach to data-driven decision making: guideline and case studies
• GHG emissions management: Linking strategy, risk, & performance management: guideline and case study
• Organizational change management: guideline and case study
• Rethinking organizational strategy: A value-focused approach to strategic planning: guideline and case study
• Using humanity to drive organizational change: guideline and case study

What's new, and what has been carried forward?

Most of CPA Canada's releases appear to be new work, but the following appears to be carried forward from CMA Canada:

• "Finance and accounting outsourcing" appears to be a simplification of the original Outsourcing the finance and accounting functions issued jointly by CMA Canada, CIMA and AICPA
• "Organizational change management" appears to be an expansion of Organizational restructuring (MAG10)
• "Process-based management" is based on "Implementing process based management in organizations". Sadly, I can't seem to find a PDF file of the original guideline.
• "Strategic partnerships" appears to be an elevation from Strategic partnering, CMA Emerging Issues Paper 8
• "Strategy mapping" appears to be based on Using strategy maps to drive performance 

Going forward...

That leaves a lot of CMA Canada's original work somewhat in limbo for the newer members of the profession. However, the rule has always been that guidance is in effect until it has been formally revoked. In fact, it is a statutory requirement for CPA Québec that such guidance must be followed:

19.0.1. The management accounting standards generally accepted in the profession are those set out in the Management Accounting Guidelines of the Society of Management Accountants of Canada.

When a member deviates from one of the guidelines, the member must, to the extent possible, refer to authoritative literature and indicate the deviation.

CPA Ontario does not have that stated explicitly, but the CPA Ontario Code of Professional Conduct does state in Rule 203:

A member shall sustain professional competence by keeping informed of, and complying with, developments in professional standards in all functions in which the member provides professional services or is relied upon because of the member’s calling.

That would appear to cover the field with respect to having to be aware of the extent of a member's obligations. It is rather broad.

What appears to be still valid, on which CPAs must still have regard during the course of their duties in management accounting? The following appears to be the case:

• From the original sequence of guidelines issued to 1999, MAGs 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 18 and 24 have not been replaced
• The 2002-2005 Management Accounting Standards are still in effect
• The 2005-2006 series of guidelines has not been replaced
• The 2007-2012 work done in conjunction with CIMA and AICPA, to the extent it has not been reissued by CPA Canada, is still in place
• The guidelines issued by CPA Canada

It appears that CPA Canada still has a lot of work to do to incorporate all of this on its website, as links to the sites of the legacy organizations no longer exist.