There are currently just over 25,000 Chartered Accountants in South Africa but this does not come close to the demand for accountants in the country. Universities are not even meeting the demands of the four main accounting and financial services firms in South Africa. Wits’ graduates are readily sought by KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and these companies are eager for more.

Once again this year, Graduates in the Wits School of Accountancy achieved excellent results in the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Qualifying Examination (Part 1).

FNB Commerce Building Renovations Complete
The next time you are on campus, have a look at the beautifully renovated FNB Commerce Building providing world-class facilities.

World class training
The School of Accountancy at Wits University is one of the premier institutions for professional accountancy education on the continent. It offers world class training in four specialisation areas: Financial Accounting; Auditing; Management Accounting and Finance; and Taxation. The School is also renowned for its professional programmes and advanced degrees in Chartered Accountancy, Internal auditing, Computer auditing and its Master of Commerce programmes.

The School enjoys the support of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), government and all the major audit firms. Wits students continuously claim top honours in the annual SAICA Board Examinations.

Increasing the number of professional accountants
With the intention of increasing the number of professionals in the accounting sector and ensuring the continuity of world class training in the sector, the School revamped its current facilities through the upgrading and extension of the FNB Building that houses the School.

This includes the construction of two new lecture theatres, the introduction of additional tutorial rooms and postgraduate facilities, the building of an undergraduate computer resource centre and the renovation of the existing building.

The University was committed to underwriting the entire project and pledged R25 million of infrastructure development funds allocated by the Department of Education towards the project. Significant contributions were also received from the First Rand Foundation, PWC and other leading accounting and auditing firms in South Africa.

The first ground was broken in November 2007 and the project was completed late 2009.

The redevelopment of the FNB Building follows the recent refurbishment of the R12 million state-of-the-art Commerce Library which was generously funded by the University, Deloitte and KPMG.

For more information, please visit Faculty of Commerce Law and Management