Walking extra 'Miles' to offer end-to-end training services to students

With a mission to ensure that all graduates are recognised by their due potential, Varun Jain, founder of Miles Professional Education, the only specialized CMA review course provider in India, discusses various USPs of his organisation, the challenges ahead, as well as the changes needed for the education sector.

What is Miles Professional Education all about?

Miles Professional Education is an education start-up & India’s largest classroom training provider for US certification courses CPA (Certified Public Accountant), which is the highest accounting qualification in the US and is the reigning profession for public accountants all over the world. CMA (Certified Management Accountant) is the management accounting qualification in the US offered by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), US. CMA is the US equivalent of CMA/CWA in India and CIMA in the UK. Miles Professional Education is spread across 9 cities in India.

How is Miles different from the other online testing bodies?

Miles is a course provider and trainers for US review courses. We are not a testing body. We provide students with all tools (study material, live classroom training, online access & question banks etc) necessary to successfully pass these exams. Unique classroom training model are coupled with self-developed “user-friendly” study material. The student relations team provides assistance in evaluations of Indian scores, counselling students for exam preparation, visa and logistical assistance, license assistance from one of the 55 states in the US to placement assistance in Indian and multinational companies. Miles is the only training institute in India that provides end to end services to its student fraternity.

How do these certifications help in enhancing the job prospects?

In today’s world, a crucial objective of education is to be able to change not just one’s local markets, but to influence the entire world. CPAs and CMAs are equipped with this aptitude and ability to create a difference to their respective industries and thereby the international economy as a whole. Thus, a commerce graduate from India can now explore US professional certifications while taking classes from test-prep providers in India like Miles CPA Review or Indian franchisees of US-based providers. These certifications fit in as global professional chartered and management accountants. CPAs and CMAs have multitude of opportunities in big 4 consulting companies, MNCs and Indian companies with US presence.

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How do you justify short duration courses like CPA/CMA as opposed to the Indian Professional courses - CA/CWA/CS?

With increasing globalization and the presence of MNCs in India, knowledge and credibility of professionals need to be now recognized on a global platform. For instance, in accounting and finance, we have respected professional qualifications like CA and CWA (now Indian CMA) with demand across India for decades.

But nearly all MNCs are looking for more, that is, they are looking at professionals who can be showcased to their global teams with qualifications having global credibility.

That was the entire rationale behind Miles launching courses like US CPA, which is equivalent to the Indian CA and US CMA, which is the counterpart of the Indian CMA.

Not only do these US certifications like CPA and CMA empower professionals with global credibility, these are also focussed on what professionals really need to know.

What kind of jobs is available for fresh graduates who take up CMA?

In India, fresh CMAs can easily pick up job earnings in the range between Rs 400,000 to Rs 600,000 per annum, and with experienced CMAs in top management and finance positions in companies, there is certainly no upper limit to their pay packages. Most of the cream job opportunities for CMAs are with multi-national corporations. To summarize, CMA from a career perspective means 2 exams, 300-400 hours of study over 6 months, exams conducted in India and extensive opportunities with MNCs.

What is your geographical expansion in India and where do you see yourself in next five years?

Miles started with one office in Hyderabad three years ago. In these three years, we have been only moving up the ladder by introducing the courses in the key Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities in India. Miles is now present in 9 key locations in India. We train students in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Pune. We are soon looking at spreading our presence in tier 2 & tier 3 cities like Indore, Nagpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Orissa, Bhubaneswar etc. and wider presence in North Eastern Regions likes Assam, Guwahati, Siliguri etc,

Students can take up CMA along with their graduation and to offer this opportunity to maximum students, we are partnering with key colleges in cities across India. We already have tie - ups with prominent colleges in Kochi, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Pune, Bangalore, Gwalior etc. We are looking at closing atleast 50 – 75 college partnerships by the end of this year and gradually take the brand International. This will also increase our presence in India to such a large number.

What are Miles expansion plans outside India?

2015 is a very important year for us. Besides expanding our reach in India, our next big step will be to go International. By the end of 2015, Miles will have presence in Middles East (Dubai in particular) and one office in the US. Our team is already physically present in these locations and has already the ground work preparations.

Do you have any partnerships to offer the courses?

Miles has partnered with Wiley for its course offerings - CPA & CMA. For CPA, Wiley's study materials and online test bank access are a part of the organisation's pedagogy. For CMA, we have an official tripartite agreement with the Institute of Management Accountants and Wiley. As part of this agreement, we provide Wiley study materials and online test banks to the candidates in addition to the official discounts that Miles candidates are able to obtain.