The South African chartered accountancy profession transforming at a steady pace

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 The South African chartered accountancy profession has seen a steady increase in the number of aspiring black chartered accountants passing their Financial Management examinations.

According to the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), at least 68% of the total number of candidates who passed the 2011 Qualifying Examination Part Two (QEll) in the Financial Management Stream, are black. The overall pass rate for QEII written in November 2011 is 83%, a record 10% improvement compared with the 73% pass rate in 2010.

QEII is the final examination for trainee chartered accountants [CAs(SA)] and is the culmination of what is normally at least seven years of studying and training.

Commenting on the results, SAICA's CEO Matsobane Matlwa congratulated the candidates on the high pass. "We will continue to maintain the high standards, as well as the relevancy of the training, among CAs(SA) as this is what makes the designation exceptional and highly recognised internationally," he said, adding that the hard work and commitment from the aspiring chartered accountants is also worth noting.

There are currently 33 167 CAs(SA) registered with SAICA, of whom 2185 are African, 876 Coloured, 3082 Indian and 25 302 White.

Matsobane is upbeat about the progress in transforming the profession, stating that there has been a significant increase in the number of black chartered accountants entering the CA(SA) pipeline. The pass rate among African candidates has improved significantly from 49% to 77% between 2009 and 2011.

"This growth in the pass rate of African Black candidates is positive manifestation that our transformation programmes are bearing fruits as more successful black candidates emerge," he adds.

SAICA's Senior Executive: Professional Development Mandi Olivier is impressed by the quality of these passes, of which six of the top ten candidates obtained honours (a pass rate in excess of 75%). She attributed the increase in the pass rate to the following factors:

    the higher number of first time candidates;
    the introduction of the new training model that the institute implemented in 2010; and
    new teaching methods being introduced by the Specialist course provider (APT).

"While adhering to our high standards, we have also seen an increase in passes among first time candidates. What is equally interesting is the fact that four of the top students are female and three Black candidates were also among the top ten," she observed.