It is open to young black accounting professionals with at least six years practical experience in finance and accounting or black graduates who have completed a three-year SAIPA learnership or articles. Applicants must enrol by 30 June 2016.
Selected candidates will undergo a programme of integrating their knowledge and practical skills and be assisted in their preparation for writing the SAIPA competency-based exam, Professional Evaluation, which – if passed – will see them being awarded the NQF level 8 designation of Professional Accountant (SA).
The designation is one of the few authorised by SARS to provide services as a tax practitioner. A professional accountant can also perform numerous functions and issue reports in terms of the Companies Act, Close Corporations Act, and Micro Lending Industry Regulations, Sectional Titles Act, Non-Profit Organisations Act, and Schools Act.
“Project Achiever aims to increase the amount of professional accountants available as trusted advisors to businesses in South Africa,” says Zobuzwe Ngobese, marketing and communication executive at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA). “The initiative is facilitated by SAIPA and funded by Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Fasset) and we are very happy with results yielded by this partnership thus far.”
“The biggest challenge facing South Africa today is the skills mismatch and the inability of our education system to produce graduates that can apply their knowledge in order to grow our economy and solve societal problems. To do that, you need to focus on building competence in cognitive skills and Project Achiever does exactly that,” says Prof Rashied Small, the education, training and membership executive at SAIPA.
“Project Achiever is a good example of competency-based learning that integrates theory and practical challenges in a simplified manner,” says Tania Lee, director of projects at Fasset. “In my experience, projects that have a personal development component as well as the usual professional development component, usually deliver the best results.”
The results for the first group that wrote the exam in November 2015 saw 104 of the 129 candidates considered to be competent and successful to enter the profession as Professional Accountant (SA), a 91% pass rate. The candidates reported that the programme developed their personal and pervasive skills, as well as their competencies to perform work functions as professional accountants. As the new generation of professionals, they appreciate the modern style of guidance offered during the initiative through alternative teaching and training approaches.
Fasset will fund participation by African Black trainees or candidates. Other candidates who are not black are also welcome to participate in Project Achiever at a nominal fee of R3,500. For more information, go to www.saipa.co.za.
