The sweet taste of success
On the 2ndFebruary 2007,54 trainees from the KPMG Johannesburg and Pretoria officesstarted one of the most challenging journeys of their lives. Most of them had just joined KPMG as Chartered Accountancy trainees, the beginning of their professional careers. Additionally, they were enrolled to complete theirfinal year of university studies on a part-time basis. This is generally regarded as one of the most difficult post-graduate qualifications in the country when undertaken as part of a full-time study programme and consequently, doing it part-time is believed by many,to be next to impossible.
Why study part-time?
For many of these students this was their last chance to complete their university studies and eventually qualify as Chartered Accountants. Having previously unsuccessfully attempted the Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA) full-time at a residential university, it seemed as ifit would be the end of their dream. Finances, admission rules and various other stumbling blocks prevented these students from returning and studying full-time. KPMG, together with the KPMGAcademy gave them an opportunity to enrol for the CTA on a part-time basis and commence their three-year training contract simultaneously.
Why did KPMG start the KPMGAcademy?
The KPMGAcademy was started in response to the immense skillshortage that currently faces the accountancy profession. The shortage was recently estimated at approximately 1500 per year and is said to be growing. For this reason, KPMG needed to provide more people with the opportunity to enter the profession and one way to do sowas to providestudents with a three-year training contract whilst studying on a part-time basis. Many of these students would probably have been lost to the profession had this opportunity not been available to them.
What does the Academy do?
The Academy provides all KPMG employees studying towards their CTA with a full academic support structure to help them make a success of their part-time studies. In 2007, the first year of the Academy’s existence, the support was provided to employees in Gauteng.The support included a team of lecturers and a life-coach appointed by KPMG, to provide lectures, tutorial sessions, extra assessment opportunities, exam and study technique coaching as well aslife skills training and support. Students were registered at UNISA for their CTA qualification with all the additional support provided by KPMG at no additional cost to them.
What results did the Academy achieve in 2007?
After many months of blood, sweat and tears, the final results were released on Friday 8 February 2008.
Of the 54 students who participated in the KPMGAcademy in 2007, 32 passed their CTA examinations – a pass rate just short of 60%. This is a phenomenal result, specifically for a part-time programme if compared to similar programmes in the past that had pass rates as low as 15% - 20%. The 32 successful employees truly savoured the sweet taste of success!
Next month these students will have the opportunity to write the SAICA Part 1 Qualifying Examination (QE). All the unsuccessful students will all be provided with another opportunity to join the Academy in 2008 and make their dreams come true.
The Academy in 2008
The KPMGAcademy accepted 113 students into the Gauteng programme for 2008. These included employees from the Johannesburg, Pretoria and Secunda offices of KPMG. From 2008, the Academy is also presenting a programme in Nelspruit for employees in that regional office. The lack of a residential university in the MpumalangaProvincehas created a significant challenge in attractingChartered Accountancy trainees to the Lowveld.
The auditprofession in the Lowveld had to employ auditing trainees without the CTA qualification due to the difficulty in attracting adequate numbers of CTA trainees in comparison to Gauteng. The KPMG Nelspruit office has 22 trainees in 2008 who will study part time for the CTA exam.
By: Morné du Toit, Associate Director: KPMGAcademy.
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