The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) strongly advocates for its members (accountants) in South Africa that they are well-rounded capable individuals who can run any kind of business. SAICA has gone as far as securing “CA programmes” with almost every major corporate in the country and some reputable government institutions such as the National Treasury.
The CA programme is designed in such a manner that the candidates (members) taking part get more experience in the workplace than any other average employee starters as it’s more of a rotational programme in the different strategic areas (departments) of the institution.
While this is good for its members, question that arises is whether the CA Programme unfairly disadvantages some of the other employee starters that do not get as much experience and exposure, which would result in companies not fully utilising their other great talent (employees) within the business.
Chartered Accountants, particularly in South Africa, don’t always live up to their irrational exuberant status (hype) of being great business leaders and there has been numerous times this has occurred.
The board of Steinhoff, for instance, was made up of more than 90% of Chartered Accountants before its calamitous collapse.
The KPMG’s role in South Africa’s State Capture, the creative accounting practices that occurred at Tongaat Hulett, and many other questionable accounting practices that are currently followed by some of the largest corporates in South Africa under the vigilant eyes of “Chartered Accountant” executives, are just some of the examples one can point to as evidence that being an Accountant or a Chartered Accountant in particular, does not automatically make you a great business leader.
There has also been a number of times that some South African companies, most of which are led by “Chartered Accountant” executives, fail quite miserably with significant financial costs when they attempt to grow outside of their South African market and expand internationally.
What is even more interesting is how Chartered Accountants are viewed in other markets other than South Africa. In major labour markets around the world, including in the United States and United Kingdom, they are treated for exactly what they are, an Accountant, and this is reflected in their salaries in those markets, which are fairly average, as opposed to South Africa, where they are relatively exorbitant (excessively high).
This raises a question if SAICA is doing a great disservice to major companies in South Africa and other public entities with its CA Programmes that are meant to secure their members executive positions in the long run?
Yes, it does, in my opinion.
Companies that run CA Programmes usually exclude other young talent that is not part of the CA programme within the business of opportunities to make any significant impact or get roles that can contribute to major developments within the business or institution.
The idea that you are a Chartered Accountant in South Africa does not mean that you are destined to be a great business leader or manager.
Leadership is a skill on its own, and it can be fairly argued that it requires some qualities that are innate and some that can be honed overtime with experience.
Globally, major successful companies, spanning across different industries from finance to Technology, are led and mostly founded by people of different skills and educational backgrounds.
The spurious demand (hype) that SAICA has created about Chartered Accountants in the South African labour market over the years has some serious repercussions that I think are somewhat toxic to society in general.
Can we then hold SAICA ‘accountable’ for these repercussions?
What repercussions are these in the first place? Well, that is a debate that can quickly escalate to seem personal based on my experience of interacting with Chartered Accountants.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this article are that of my own and do not represent the same views of any entities I am associated with.
