SAICA vs SAIPA vs CIMA - a newbie's guide on choosing

If you're studying accounting you've probably heard of SAICA, SAIPA and CIMA.  So, who are these institutions and what do they offer you as a member?  And, what do you have to do in order to obtain membership?  And, more importantly, how do you choose?

In order to apply for membership to any of these institutions there are usually two components that you need to satisfy:  academic qualification and practical experience.  I will discuss each briefly below.

SAICA
SAICA is the acronym for the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.  It is a professional accountancy body that regulates the auditing and accounting professions in South Africa.  In order to qualify as a chartered accountant, you need to complete SAICA's prescribed academic and practical training. 


Membership offered:
- CA (SA) (Chartered Accountant)
- AGA (SA) (Associate General Accountant) - will not be discussed in this post
- AAT (SA) (Associate Accounting Technician) - will not be discussed in this post

Powers:
As a CA (SA) you may sign off on independent reviews and register with SARS as a tax practitioner.  If you are also a registered auditor, you may conduct audits and sign off on the reports thereof.

Academic qualification:
You need to obtain a SAICA recognised academic qualification in order to continue your journey towards CA (SA).  You can find a list of these qualifications here.  After you obtain your degree, you will do either Honours or CTA at an accredited university.  Thereafter you will attempt SAICA's ITC (initial test of competence).  These exams are written in January and June of each year.  When you pass ITC you will continue to do APC (assessment of professional competence).  These exams are written annually in November.


Practical experience:
You need to complete a practical component of the qualification that will provide you with the relevant skills.

You can either obtain your degree (some firms require that you obtain CTA as well) and enter into a 36-month contract with your training office.  Remember that you have to choose an elective (more information regarding the electives can be found here, see Generic Training Plans).

You can also enter into a 48-month contract (more information can be found here, see "16. Term and Hours of a Training Contract" on page 13).

Alternatively you can enter into a 60-month contract while still an undergraduate.  Many firms require that you be at least a second or third year student.  If you enter into the 60-month contract, you may obtain academic remission if you obtain your degree during this period.  If you obtain your degree within the first 12 months of the contract, your contract will expire 36 months after the date on which you complete your degree.  If you complete your degree at another stage in the contract, you will get 12 months' remission and if you complete your degree during the last year of your contract, the remission will be the remaining part of your contract.

I often hear students say that they are applying for articles at one of the the Big 4 (Ernst & Young, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, KPMG and Deloitte) and many people are under the impression that this is the only type of articles that will get you somewhere in the corporate world.  Although it may seem more prestigious to have obtained articles from one of these firms, and no doubt that they do open up a lot of worthy career doors, I do advise students to keep in mind where they want to go with their careers.  If you plan on going ultra-corporate, as in joining Goldman Sachs, MTN, Investec, SAB or any listed company, you're most probably better off doing articles at one of the Big 4.  Many students who study accounting and plan on completing articles do not wish to qualify as chartered accountants.  For these students I recommend looking at a medium-size accounting firm.  I speak from experience when I say that you will honesty learn a lot!  When you join a firm you need to choose an elective (Audit & Assurance, Financial Management, Taxation, etc).  The bigger firms tend to give you work relating to your elective only.  Yes, you will complete a tax return and process a set of books, but you won't do it as often as when you join a medium-size firm.  Also, with a medium size firm you will acquire skills like dealing with SARS and CIPC, doing estates and business plans.  This may seem redundant, but these skills always come in handy.  A medium-size firm will not only provide you with experience across almost every industry, but you will also work on almost every type of client and do a wide scope of work, from sorting out filing right up to compiling annual financial statements and discussing these with your clients.


Just to give you an idea of what you can achieve by doing articles at a medium-size firm, here's an interesting yet totally true story.  Marnus Broodryk from Shark Tank SA was one of my seniors when I did articles at Enslins (Harrismith) Inc.  This is a medium-size audit firm in the relatively small town of Harrismith in the eastern Free State.  Now, Marnus didn't grow up rich.  He had to mow lawns and wash cars to pay for his own school fees.  He then joined Enslins after matric and he worked really, really hard.  I remember many days when we were going home at 17:00, Marnus would come back from an audit, and then continue with his next client's work.  While doing his articles, he studied part time through UNISA and obtained his degree in a record three years.  During his last year of articles he started The Beancounter, his own accounting and financial services firm of which the majority stake was recently sold to JSE-listed Transaction Capital.  As you can see, Marnus is an excellent example of someone who didn't do articles at the Big 4, but still made it big!  And, you can too!


You can find a SAICA training office here and information regarding training regulations here.


IRBA
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors is the statutory body controlling public accountancy in South Africa.  In order to qualify as a registered auditor, you need to complete SAICA's prescribed academic and practical training in order to qualify as a chartered accountant and thereafter complete IRBA's ADP (audit development program)..


Membership offered:
RA (SA) (Registered Auditor)


Powers:
The same as CA (SA), and additionally you may perform audits and sign off on audit opinions.

Academic qualification:
This is the same as with CA (SA).  After SAICA's APC you will continue with IRBA's ADP.

Practical experience:
This is the same as with CA (SA).  Here is an extract from IRBA's website:  "The ADP is a specialisation period after you have qualified as a CA.  It takes a minimum of 18 months. You must do this period at an auditing firm that is registered with the IRBA. During this period you will gain experience in auditing at a more senior level, you will also be involved in tasks that are more complex. This means that you become a specialist as an auditor. You will be allowed to sign audit opinions only once you have successfully completed this ADP and registered with the IRBA."

You can find more information on IRBA here and qualifying as a registered auditor here.

SAIPA
The South African Institute of Professional Accountants offers membership to the general accountant.  You will still need to complete a recognised degree and articles, although SAIPA has their own articles which you may opt for if you prefer not getting involved with auditing.  Keep in mind, should you wish to make a career change and continue your studies to qualify as a chartered accountant or registered auditor, you will have to enrol for 36-months of SAICA articles.

Membership offered:
Professinal Accountant (SA)

Powers:
As a Professional Accountant you may sign off on independent reviews and register with SARS as a tax practitioner.

Academic qualification:
See information about academic qualifications here.

Practical experience:
See information about practical experience here.

CIMA
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants offers a prestigious specialised qualification to students who wish to specialise in management and cost accounting.  The CGMA qualification is recognised globally, which means that when you pack your bags for Dubai, Sydney, London or New York, you will be well equipped to land yourself a decent executive job as a cost or management accountant.  This qualification is very highly regarded in especially the UK.

I often hear students asking which is better, SAICA or CIMA.  Asking that question is much like asking which is better, a brain surgeon or a knee surgeon?  Well, that depends, do you want to specialise in brains or knees, and which one does the patient need?  SAICA and CIMA are both accounting regulatory bodies, but they specialise in different types of accounting.  SAICA is a local institution (although accredited with IFAC) and offer accreditation and regulatory services with regards to financial accounting.  CIMA is an international institution with offices around the globe (and here in South Africa) and offer accreditation and regulatory services with regards to management accounting.  So in order to choose between SAICA and CIMA, you rather need to ask the question, which is better for me, financial accounting or management accounting?
I will do another post on the difference between financial and management accounting, check back soon for more on this topic. 


Membership offered:
CIMA Cert BA (once you have completed the certificate level)
CIMA Dip MA (once you have completed the operational level)
CIMA Adv Dip MA (once you have completed the management level)
CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountant) (once you have completed the strategic level)

Powers:
As a Chartered Global Management Accountant you may sign off on independent reviews and register with SARS as a tax practitioner.  You can register with SARS as a tax practitioner after completing the certificate level.

Academic qualification:
In order to start your journey towards the CGMA designation, you need to complete the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting.  This consists of 4 modules.  You may obtain credits for these modules if you already have an accounting degree or other accounting qualification.  You can enquire with CIMA to find out for which modules you'll be credited.  After completion of the certificate, you may use the designation CIMA Cert BA.

After you have completed the certificate level, you will move on to the professional qualification.  This consists of three levels and three pillars.  Each level consists of 3 objective tests that represent a pillar.  Each level has a case study test.  See this link and scroll to page 3 for more information on the compilation of the professional qualification and the syllabus.

Practical experience:
With CIMA you complete three learnerships in order to satisfy the practical component of the qualification.  The first is 12-months in duration, the second is 24-months and the third is also 12-months.  You can complete these learnerships at any company, provided that their work scope will offer you sufficient experience.  For example, let's say you currently work as a bookkeeper for a construction company, then the owner of the company can contact CIMA to have his company assessed and accredited and you can do the CIMA learnerships with your current employer.  The company can also get around R60 000 in a tax deductible allowance per learnership for having you as a learner. 


Conclusion:
Decide where you want to go with your career and make sure that you are well informed regarding the different options available.  When I started out in 2007 I told many people what I wanted to do, and everyone said "oh, you have to become a CA then".  It tends to be the standard answer people give you.  After reading this post I'm sure that you will be equipped with a little bit more information to make an informed decision.

Best wishes and good luck with your choice!

Please let me know if I have any of the above facts wrong or if you think I should add something to this post that might be helpful to other readers.