IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants) and the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA) signed an agreement this July pledging to work together in the Netherlands to strengthen the international position of Dutch finance professionals.

Under the agreement, IMA and the NBA will, among other things, share research and organize joint events. This way both organizations will combine knowledge of the local market with the international perspective in which almost every finance professional works nowadays.

NBA members also will receive a discount on IMA’s CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) certification. This partnership is part of NBA's ambition to strengthen partnerships with international organizations.

Alain Mulder, IMA director of European operations, said, "As an international association, IMA continues to expand our network in Europe because we see that professionals long for an international perspective. Our collaboration with the NBA will help us bring the benefits of the CMA to NBA members, enabling them to pursue a career in an international business environment where they bring added value beyond the numbers. IMA also offers NBA members an international network of more than 125,000 finance professionals."

Harm Mannak, managing director of the NBA, noted, “This collaboration is in line with the NBA's ambition to provide our members with the largest possible and socially relevant network. For many accountants, the CMA certification is of added value.”

Mannak [on left] and Mulder signed the new agreement

The NBA is the professional body for accountants in the Netherlands and was formed from the merger of two Dutch professional accountancy organizations—the Royal Dutch Institute of Chartered Accountants (Royal NIVRA) and the Dutch Association of Accountants (NOvAA)—in January 2013. NBA’s members include more than 21,000 professionals working at public accountancy practices, government agencies, as internal auditors, or in organizational management. The NBA is a member of IFAC, the International Federation of Accountants, of which IMA is also a member.