IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants) announced today the establishment of a Sustainable Business Management Global Task Force(IMA.SBM.GTF)to speak on behalf of the management accounting profession, accountants, and finance professionals in business.

This comes as governments, regulators,and standard setters debate the future of accounting and a range of new corporate reporting requirements.

“Just about all of the emphasis today with respect to sustainable business is on external ESG reporting,” said Brigitte de Graaff, CMA, CSCA, Chair of the IMA.SBM.GTF. “While this is important, it is not the whole story. We want to lead by emphasizing the role of management accounting and finance in facilitating the building of resilient, sustainable businesses. We aim to be the voice of the profession to make sure management’s perspective in these significant changes to accounting are not overlooked but prominent.”

Highlighting the role of the task force in the Middle East region, Hanadi Khalife, Senior Director, MEA & India Operations at IMA said, “Companies in the UAE are stepping up their efforts to put ESG frameworks and policies in place to establish the country as a global sustainability leader. The task force will be involved in multi-level engagement with the government, regulatory bodies, and relevant organizations to provide a purview of the global management accounting community. This initiative will definitely set a benchmark in populating the best and most sustainable practices across the business communities and is fully aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”“IMA is uniquely positioned to address the critical role of the profession in building sustainable businesses. We continue to aim at supporting this in a way that would build value for all stakeholders, promotes trust and facilitates meaningful action,” said Shari Littan, IMA Director of Corporate Reporting Research and Policy.

As one of its primary objectives, the Task Force is defining a set of fundamental principles for building a successful and sustainable accounting ecosystem.

In fully supporting the formation of the task force, Jeff Thomson, IMA President and CEO, said, “As the world continues to change,so too must business change to focus more holistically on sustainable business management for long term value creation. IMA is making the case that sustainable business is good business in a complex, uncertain, and multi-stakeholder environment. We’ve shown the world accountancy for the 21st century — how the CMA certification is different because the body of knowledge emphasizes strategic thinking, analytics, decisionmaking, and business leadership across an organization for both tangible and intangible value creation.”

The Task Force will look to:

• Advocate on behalf of the profession before governments, regulatory authorities, and other organizations on sustainable business management and the perspectives of accountants and financial professionals in business.
• Educate IMA members and the global business community on the role of accounting and finance professionals with respect to sustainable business information and management.