Association of International Certified Professional Accountants Issues Guide to Help Organizations Achieve UN's Sustainability Goals

Management accountants play a critical role in helping to drive trust, opportunity and prosperity and ultimately creating a sustainable future for businesses and people. A new guide published by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), the unified voice of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), provides guidance to help management accountants and their organizations achieve the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

The 17 goals and their 169 associated targets were created in an effort to address world issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment and social justice.

The Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) guide, “The role of the accountant in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals,” details the business advantage of the SDGs and provides direction to help organizations achieve some of their social and socio-economic objectives.  More specifically, the guide suggests that the skillsets, organizational role and ethical commitment of management accountants across the world place members of the accounting profession at the forefront of SDG planning and implementation. The areas accounting professionals can influence range widely, from developing new programs of activity, to evidencing major successes, highlighting risk and proposing alternative courses of action.

“Chartered Global Management Accountants are committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct and are well-suited to help organizations deliver the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals,” said Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA, Chief Executive - Management Accounting at the Association. “As these goals gain traction, the skillset of CGMAs, which includes expertise in governance, risk management and control, business analysis and decision support, among other things, will become increasingly desirable and valuable.”