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Once you get to the end of your high school life, one of the most important decisions that you need to make is what to do once school is over. For the lucky few, it is all planned out and they know exactly what they want to do or what they want to become. For the majority however, it is a much more difficult decision.
Once the decision is made, a further decision is whether to study full time or part time.
There are many steps involved in becoming a Chartered Accountant (CA). First you get an undergraduate degree and then you need to obtain your honours degree. Thereafter you are required to complete your prescribed training know as “articles” (also known as a training contract) and during this time you write two qualifying exams (board exams).
When you do the above on a part time basis, you start your articles and your degree at the same time. This requires you to complete five years of articles. However, if you obtain your degree within 3 years you can get a year’s reduction off your articles. Studying part time requires hard work and dedication and will most likely take slightly longer than 3 years. Remember that you will be required to work long hours and still need to go home and study. In your fifth year, you will normally complete your honours degree which, if done part time, can now only be completed in 2 years. Following this, you will write your first qualifying exam at the beginning the next year and having already completed more than 18 months of articles, you can write the second qualifying exam at the end of that same year. Once you have passed the second qualifying exam you will be a qualified CA(SA).
If you decided to follow the full time program, you would firstly obtain your 3 year accounting degree, complete your one year honours degree and then begin your 3 years of articles. In the first year of your articles you would write the first qualifying exam. You would then be required to complete 18 months of articles before you can write the second qualifying exam. Once your 3 years of articles are complete, provided you have passed all the necessary exams, you will be a qualified CA(SA).
In my opinion, having followed the part time route, the advantages are endless. You get to see in practice what you are studying, the study material makes much more sense and you gain experience while you are still studying. However there are also some negatives. You need to work a full day and then go home to study. You also need to study most weekends and you don’t get to live life as a full time student. One other factor to consider is the costs involved in studying, either part time or full time. In studying full time the costs are generally higher as you are attending full time university. If finances are a concern, part time studying gives you the opportunity to work and earn a salary as well as lower university costs. From my point of view the advantages of studying on a part time basis far outweigh the disadvantages.
So there it is in a nutshell! The decision is yours to make and needs to be made with your goals in mind. Either way you will become a CA(SA) and the opportunities will be endless.
Michael Steenkamp
Audit Director, Johannesburg
