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Joining SAICA in Cape Town

Are you studying accounting and  dream of  joining SAICA —the body for chartered accountants in South Africa?

Then you know that joining SAICA requires commitment and dedication.

When you are ready to become part of the accountancy body, you have to write an Initial Test of Competence (ITC) which, since January 2025 is now called the Inital Assessment of Competence (IAC).  A candidate becomes eligible to sit for the IAC for 3 consecutive years.

This initial exam can be taken a year after obtaining the SAICA-post graduate qualification. Once the IAC is passed, you will have to sit the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).

To meet the criteria for the APC, you will need to have passed the IAC and have completed 20 months of a registered training contract and a professional programme. If you need help preparing for the IAC exam or the APC exam, reach out to a professional chartered account offering tutorial services in Cape Town.

How to Become a Professional Accountant in South Africa

Chartered accountants (CAs) are respected in South Africa and that is because achieving this prestigious qualification is never easy.

Chartered accountants are not just experts in the world of finance, they are leaders fully capable of launching and running successful businesses. The journey to become a leader in the financial field starts with acquiring a degree from an accredited institution.

After obtaining a degree, aspiring CAs must complete the postgraduate CTA. The CTA is a yearlong programme that covers subjects such as taxation, auditing, financial management, and financial accounting.

The CTA aims to equip accountants with the knowledge they need for their board exams and the competence skills to be a professional accountant in any firm. Being a trainee accountant is also an integral step towards advancing in the field.

By November of the year that you will complete your CTA, you should already have applied to audit firms or commercial companies where you would like to complete your 3 yearlong articles. The board exams would be made up of the IAC and APC that you will need to complete.

While becoming a professional accountant in South Africa is quite a journey, accountancy candidates are encouraged not to take this journey alone. It is suggested that before you sit for your IAC/ICT exam in November, you connect with an accounting tutor to get to grips with expectations.

It is also vital to visit the SAICA website regularly to stay abreast of the latest exam dates and any possible changes. You need to do everything you can to prepare for the questions that could possibly be asked on the ITC exam and to find out from previous candidates who wrote the paper what their experience was like. Work with past papers so that you understand the types of questions that could get asked.

Use online resources and tips and tricks when getting ready for the SAICA exams. Preparing for the exam for the whole year helps when you have to wait for a few months for your results to arrive.

How to Ace the APC Exam with a Private Tutor in Cape Town?

Months and years of preparation seems like the right answer for how you can ace your exams.

However, the few other tips we can give you is to take it month by month and subject by subject.

Allocate a few days of the year to accounting, and another few days to auditing, etc ...  Within a few months, you need to have devoted enough time to accounting, auditing, taxation and management accounting. Preparing for the APC exam is important, but so too is your overall health.

Make sure to get enough rest as well. You won't be able to showcase your competence in any subject if you are too tired when you write the big exams. Accounting enthusiasts are encouraged to get much sleep prior to taking the exam. The secret to getting the much-needed sleep that you deserve as an aspiring accountant is to never leave anything to last minute. Use all the months in your year wisely to prepare for your big board exam.

Rope in the services of a private tutor, if need be, so that you can be guided by an expert. With the help of a private tutor in the greater Cape Town area or with a private online tutor, you will be able to take audit of your study plan before you start doing audits for larger companies.

You can expect to pay on average R199/h for sessions with one of our professional tutors. That is quite a reasonable amount to pay for help with writing such a stressful test in February, July, or August.

Since the pass rate for the board exam is rather low, do all it takes to prepare for the SAICA exams.