PwC transformation geared at bridging the skills gap

Transformation is making significant progress in the accounting profession, but there are still not enough potential chartered accountants to feed the demand from the profession, says Dino Desai, Human Capital Leader at PwC.

“The biggest challenge facing the accounting profession is the equality of the education system,” says Desai. “There are too few learners matriculating with good marks in mathematics, which is one of the causes of the skills shortage in the accounting, financial services sector and other disciplines such as engineering.”

According to Desai, parents and teachers need to motivate and support learners to choose disciplines, such as mathematics and science, in order to pursue careers in chartered accountancy, actuarial science or engineering.

A study carried out by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) in 2008, found there is a shortage of 17 000 accountants in South Africa, in addition to 5 000 chartered accountants.

The Government’s Human Resource Development Strategy 2010 to 2030, has also disclosed the need for more financial managers and engineers.

There are fewer skilled professionals, particularly black people, graduating from the universities. Studies in the accounting profession show that between 1999 and 2009, the total number of university enrolments was 504 068, of which only 60 114 (11.9%) were awarded degrees.

Desai says retention of black accountants is also proving difficult due to more lucrative packages offered in commerce and industry.

However, the good news is that the profession is gradually starting to respond to the skills shortage. SAICA’s 2010 figures show that since 2002, the number of chartered accountants has risen 49% to 31 165, with black chartered accountants up 237% to 5 302, and white accountants up 34% to 25 863.

Furthermore, initiatives by SAICA, such as the Thuthuka programme, aim to increase the number of black chartered accountants. The programme, which starts at grade 8, encourages learners to take mathematics as a discipline.

Desai says PwC is taking a more aggressive approach in a bid to attract and retain talent.

The firm was recently recognised by the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants in Southern Africa (ABASA) for its achievement in producing the highest number of black chartered accountants this year. PwC contributed 129 black chartered accountants to the profession.

Desai says the firm is involved in a number of initiatives to drive transformation in the profession and grow chartered accountants for the broader economy. These include mentoring and bursary schemes, in addition to contributing to SAICA’s Thuthuka programme.

PwC’s number of black staff amounts to 1 850, of which 79 are partners. According to Desai, a significant percentage (63%) of the firm’s newly admitted partners are black. More than half of the firm’s trainee accountants (57%) are black.

Recently, the firm was independently rated AAA for its broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), which equates to a level 2 contributor under the Department of Trade and Industry Codes of Good Practice. The firm’s transformation strategy is largely driven by the recruitment of black professional staff and female professionals. The retention of black staff at senior level is a priority for the firm, he says, with focus on succession planning; mentorship and coaching programmes; and measurable transformation goals.

After several years of negotiation, the CA Charter was recently gazetted and implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry. Large accounting firms with an annual turnover of more than R35 million must be 32,5% owned and managed by blacks. This is more than their equity targets of 25% contained in the Government’s BEE Codes of Good Practice. The Charter’s primary focus is on skills development, with the objective of increasing the number of black chartered accountants.

• |2012-01-23 06:00:23 Thulani  - I see no point of this article
  I've read articles like these ever since I was in high school, what is written about and what we see out there is different, UJ produces a lot of students with accounting degrees, while many of us may not qualify to sturdy chartered accountancy we do study further in fields of finance, internal auditing and tax and after that we struggle to find jobs and some of those who do get accepted into graduate programmes in big banks complain that they sit the whole day not doing any work or receive any training, ofcorse I didn't expect things to be easy after graduation, but industry must not complain about skills shortage while they are not doing anything about it.
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