PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS’ PERSPECTIVE OF SKILLS REQUIRED TO PROGRESS TO MANAGEMENT POSITIONS

Abstract

In South Africa, not only is the shortage in skills a general predicament, but so also is the shortage of professional accountants. The markets and business environments are changing almost every day and so do the skills sets required by professional accountants. The purpose of the study is to assist professional accountants in defining the skills required for management positions and to enable them to plan their careers better. A cross-sectional survey was used. The majority of participants were registered with SAICA and/or CIMA. From the study the following were identified as the biggest needs: Intellectual skills (decision-making and problem-solving); Technical and functional skills (strategy skills); Personal skills (anticipating and adapting to change, ethical considerations, prioritising, seeing the bigger picture, self-management, striving to add value, taking initiative and time management); Interpersonal and communication skills (interacting with diverse people, leading effective meetings, listening and reading effectively, managing and supervising others, negotiation, verbal communication and presentation, written communication) and Business management skills (aligning own and entity goals, being decisive, collaboration and partnering, delegating, leadership, organising, professional judgement and strategy and project planning/management). The findings of this study will benefit professional accountants in planning their careers and assist them to be better prepared to take on management positions. It can also assist professional bodies to better plan CPD training.

Keywords

• Professional accountant, Management skills, CPD

Kaynakça

1. Andrews, J. & Higson, H. (2008) Graduate employability, ‘soft skills’ versus
2. ‘hard’ business knowledge: A higher European study. Higher education in Europe, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp.411-422. Berg, M.C. (2007), Continuous Professional development – The IFAC position,
3. Accounting Education: an international journal, Vol. 16, Bo. 4, pp. 319-327. CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountant). 2014. CGMA competency framework.
4. CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) (2012), CIMA professional development resource guide, http://www.cimaglobal/cpd [Accessed 05.2015]
5. CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) (2014), Ready for business. Bridging the employability gap, The CIMA story, http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/Change s%20in%20the%20accounting%20profession/Ready-for-business-paper.pdf Accessed 4.05.2015]
6. De Lange, P., Jackling, B., Basioudis, I.G. (2013), A framework of Best Practice of Continuous Professional Development for the Accounting Profession,
7. Accounting Education: an international journal, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 494-497. Fouché, J.P. (2006), Programme development for First Year Accounting in South
8. African Higher Education, Potchefstroom: North-West University. (Ph. D. Thesis) Ghillyer, A.W. (2009), Management: A real world approach. 1st Ed. New York:

9. McGraw-Hill. https://www.cgma.org/Resources/Tools/DownloadableDocuments/ competency-framework-complete.pdf [Accessed 18.05.2015]
10. IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) (2010), Framework for
11. International Education Standards for Professional Accountants, http://www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/framework- for-inter national-1.pdf [Accessed 10.02.2015]
12. Jackling, B. and De Lange, P. (2009), Do Accounting graduates’ skills Meet the Expectations of Employers? A Matter of Convergence or Divergence, Accounting
13. Education: an international journal, Vol. 18, No.4-5, pp.:369-385. Katz, R.L. (1974), Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business
14. Review, https://hbr.org/1974/09/skills-of-an-effective-administrator [Accessed 05.2015]
15. Kavanagh, M.H. & Drennan, L. (2008), What skills and attributes do an accounting graduate need? Evidence from student perceptions and employer expectations, Accounting and Finance,Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 279-300.
16. Mason, G., Williams, G., & Cranmer, S. (2009), Employability skills initiatives in higher education: what effects do they have on graduate labour market outcomes?
17. Education Economics, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1-30. McDonald, P. (2007), Preparing tomorrow’s workforce. Financial executive, Vol. , No. 8, pp. 52-55.
18. Montano, J. L. A., Donoso, J. A., Hassall, T., and Joyce, J. (2001), Vocational skills in the accounting professional profile: the Chartered Institute of
19. Management Accountants (CIMA) employers’ opinion, Accounting Education: An International Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 299-313. Munjuri, M.G. (2001), Factors Affecting Career Advancement, DBA Africa management review, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.93-117.
20. National Planning Commission (2015), Our Future – make it work, 2030.
21. National development plan 2030. Executive Summary, http://www.gov. za/sites/www.gov.za/files/Executive%20Summary-NDP%202030%20%20Our
22. %20future%20-%20make%20it%20work.pdf [Accessed 25.02.2015]
23. Paisey, C., Paisey, N.J., & Tarbert, H.(2007), Continuing Professional development Activities of UK Accountants in Public Practice. Accounting education: an international journal, Vol. 16, No 4, pp379-403.
24. Pettinger, R. (2001), Mastering management skills. 1st Ed. New York: Palgrave.
25. Robles, M.M. (2012), Executive Perceptions ofthe Top 10 Soft Skills Neededin
26. Today’s Workplace, Business Communication Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 4, pp. 453- SAICA (South African Institute of Chartered Accountancy) (2014), Survey reveals that transformation in the CA (SA) profession contributes positively to the transformation of listed company directors under the age of , https://www.saica.co.za/News/NewsArticlesandPressmediareleases/tabid/695/ itemid/4729/language/en-ZA/Default.aspx [Accessed 26.02.2015]
27. SAICA (South African Institute of Chartered Accountancy) (2014), Competency
28. Framework Detailed Guidance for the Academic Programme, Version , https://www.saica.co.za/Portals/0/LearnersStudents/documents/Detailed_Guida nce_to_the_competency_framework_for_the_academic_programme_Updated_an d_approved_July_2014.pdf [Accessed 10.02.2015]
29. Schoemaker, J.H.,Krupp, S. and Howland, S. (2013), Strategic leadership: The essential skills, Harvard business review, Vol. 91, No. (1), pp. 131-134.
30. South Africa (2015), Draft National Youth Policy 2014-2019. (Notice 15 of ).Government gazette, 38393:41, 12
31. Jan. http://www.gov.za/sites/www. gov.za/files/38393_gen15.pdf. [Accessed 02.2015]
32. Whetten, D.A. & Cameron, K.S. (2010), Developing management skills, 8th ed.
33. Upper Saddle River: Prentice hall, http://www.wnycollegeconnection.com/ documents/Skills%20Gap/Developing%20Management %20Skills.pdf [Accessed 05.2015]