Students complete a demanding journey
• Some 2,247 candidates sit competence examination on their way to qualification
Recently 2,247 young South Africans completed their seven year (or, in some cases, longer) journey to qualifying as chartered accountants [CAs(SA)] when they passed the final professional examination, the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).
Nwabisa Tsengiwe, senior executive: marketing, communications and PR at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica), says the latest APC sitting had an 89% pass rate.
“The candidates who sat this assessment have been through a demanding seven-year journey,” Tsengiwe says.
“Achieving a pass in the APC examinations is not just about your talent and your technical capability, but also your diligence and commitment and the pass rate demonstrates the candidates’ resolve.”
Karin Iten, project manager: marketing at Saica, says a chartered accountant’s seven years to qualifying begins with four years of university study that includes a three-year Bachelor of Commerce undergraduate degree, as well as a CTA (Certificate in the Theory of Accounting) postgraduate degree.
“At this point the graduates then enter a three-year training contract with a Saica-accredited training office.
“During these three years, the trainee needs to pass the first set of professional examinations — the Initial Test of Competence (ITC). Most trainees write the first January following their entry into their training contract (articles).”
The next step trainees need to complete is the Professional Programme which is a seven to eight-month programme in which further development of pervasive skills is addressed.
“They are eligible to write the APC after they have completed and passed the ITC exam, sat and passed their Professional Programme, and then completed a minimum of 20 months in their 36-month training contract,” Iten says.
As this is a competence-based assessment, there is technically no pass mark for the APC examination; candidates are either deemed competent or not, another reason they have to complete a minimum of 20 months of their training contract before making the attempt.
“In these 20 months they are immersed in the demands and practicalities of their profession in the working environment. They have to know what they are doing and be able to apply themselves so they cannot just ‘wing it’,” Iten says.
The CA of the past may have been consider a “bean counter” or someone whose main task was simply to track an organisation’s financial position.
However, given the depth and flexibility of their financial, business and management training, increasingly CAs(SA) have moved into other areas of responsibility. This elevated relevance and business leadership ability is evidenced by the significant number of company CEOs who are chartered accountants.
Tsengiwe says Saica is aware of the changing demands CAs(SA) face and it is consciously developing the appropriate evolutionary path.
“Saica has focused on a strategy to taking a CA(SA) from being seen as merely a numbers person to making them someone valued as an analytical and strategic thinker. They can use the numbers and their technical skills to strategise for a company and build a path going forward.
“The success we are having as a profession in terms of fitting this broader business and organisational role is illustrated by the fact that one in four CEOs of JSE-listed companies is a chartered accountant.”
Saica’s Professional Development Division is working on a project (CA 2025) investigating what further and relevant skills need to be developed in prospective CAs(SA). The initiative, referred to as the CA of the Future, seeks to broaden CAs’(SA) skills-sets so that they are not only technically competent but can also work in a business world and global economy.