Marcelo Alberti, previously an advisory manager with Deloitte who is now director of U.S. GAAP and Accounting Policy with agribusiness company Bunge, is just that type of professional, and he owes that largely to his being a CMA® (Certified Management Accountant).
Armed with the competencies afforded by the CMA, Marcelo set to work helping companies make better-informed financial decisions. One of many successful projects with Deloitte stands out as an example of how Marcelo employed his analytical and decision-support skills to drive profitable change.
“One of the largest global manufacturing organizations wanted to change its costing system to ABC (activity-based costing) to better identify activities that cause overhead costs to be incurred. The company engaged with Deloitte to assist in the new cost system implementation – from initial gathering of business and technical requirements and demonstration of test scenarios to confirm that the solution chosen could run the ABC system for the company’s processes all the way through actual alignment of cost data and system configuration,” Marcelo explained.
The end result for Marcelo’s client was that it was able to transition to an ABC system leveraging cost accounting and technology capabilities, allowing additional transparency and visibility to cost drivers, and providing more clear cost information to be used for strategic decision making.
Marcelo’s work with this global multinational perfectly illustrates the value that CMAs bring to organizations. His ability to see beyond the numbers, rooted in the cost accounting competencies taught by the CMA, allowed Marcelo to make more impactful recommendations and drive real change.
Marcelo’s story illustrates how CMAs can help organizations enhance productivity and better understand the story behind their costs.
For more information about the CMA, visit www.imanet.org/cma-certification.