A University of Saint La Salle 2009 magna cum laude accounting graduate is the Institute of Certified Management Accountants Gold Medal Awardee for garnering the highest score in the United States Certified Management Accounting (CMA) examination.
The awardee is Rodrigo Casiano Jr., 33, of Brgy Estefania, Bacolod City, who took the two-part CMA examination at an authorized testing center in Makati City in May and June.
“This is similar to our local CPA, but this one is a global certification”, said Casiano, who now works for Accenture in Manila.
He currently has no plans of working abroad or in the in the Unites States, but topping the CMA examination “will come in handy later if an opportunity comes”, he said.
“A CMA certification is recognized globally. If I move abroad or to the US, I can work there as a CMA. Unlike the CPA in the Philippines, which is only recognized here,” he said.
Casiano said he got his examination scores in August but the actual global ranking was not announced until this November.
“Since I got high scores (480/500) I was told I was a candidate for the global award. For me, it’s really just a bonus to get the award. Passing the global exam was my priority since it’s one of the prestigious and challenging global certifications. Anyway, it’s an honor to receive the award, to be awarded in Austin, Texas, next year. I hope I have brought pride to our country and inspired my fellow Filipino accountants to aim high and be globally competitive,” he said.
Casiano said “I took the CMA examination to further advance my skills in management accounting, to future proof me as the business environment and technology continue to evolve and disrupt our ways of working. This will enable me to become globally competitive and relevant so I can add more value to my organization and the community,” he said.
He is also teaching part time at the USLS BS Accountancy program “so upskilling myself would help my students as well’, he added.*