Believe you me, when I started this whole thing, the pessimist in me half-thought that I’ll never get here someday. Last March, I finally passed the last of my exams to finally become an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the UK.

And so here I am, now a fully-fledged something. In the world of finance, there is so many designations that one can drown in an alphabet soup just by reading them all aloud. I don’t mean to make light of it. It’s not. I know how difficult it is; to get accreditation is no mean feat.

Each institute (and its members) always profess to be the best, yet I know that our designations don’t make us all good nor bad. After all, not all 12 eggs in a dozen tray are equally the same. I’d like to think that all accountants have our day in the sun and if we act professionally and do our jobs well for whomever we work for, we do right by our professional association.

Much like a Midas touch, designations can work wonders for any career in accounting – more pay, more respect, more direction, more open doors, more opportunities, more responsibilities, promotions, et al. And though I admit that I didn’t study further for all the mentioned benefits, they did cross my mind once I started. I suppose it’s cliché but in all honesty, I did it for myself, to see if I could push myself to achieve more of something else.

And what more can you ask for than to proudly write the letters after your name, knowing that you deserved them?