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I know a lot of CAs (as well as people who failed at Honours and/or board exams), and they are very bright, and for the most part fairly interesting personally

by buyx 12y ago

I know a lot of CAs (as well as people who failed at Honours and/or board exams), and they are very bright, and for the most part fairly interesting personally (and always sure to split the bill accurately). But for a bad matric accounting teacher, who put me off the field, I would probably have opted to study financial accounting as well, with a view to becoming a CA. Also there is no denying that South African corporate governance is very good, in large part due to CAs. However, you may be confusing correlation with causation.[^] South African CAs are good at business because they are intelligent -as you point out they need to complete 7 years of grueling accounting theory and practice-not necessarily because they have the CA(SA) credential. They'd probably do just as well academically if they studied mathematics, computer science, biology, statistics or engineering. It's no coincidence that kids who are good at school mathematics are told to become chartered accountants in SA, since maths ability is a marker for intelligence. My main worry about accountants having a strong lobby, and accounting becoming the main route to megabucks in SA is that it devalues other professions and draws the brightest minds away from other fields - as you yourself point out ,a person with an undergraduate degree and an MBA is likely to make less money than a CA. Incidentally, I Googled this article that makes a similar argument: http://johanfourie.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/why-and-what-to-study-in-south-africa/ http://johanfourie.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/why-and-what-to-... [^] Anecdotally, BCom statistics is viewed as one of the tougher courses at university by those who take it, but easy compared to the statistics done by science and engineering students (just yanking your chain here).

Jack77 12y ago
There's a gem of a quote in that article: "If Einstein was born in South Africa, he would probably have studied accounting. I’m not sure that he – or South Africa and the world at large – would have benefited much from such an arrangement." I agree with your sentiment. As a profession it does attract the brightest in this country and not necessarily for the better. I was merely trying to point out that the trust placed in CA's in South Africa is not entirely misplaced. Some would argue that the rigorous education a CA receives in South Africa is at least on par with that of an MBA though possibly more narrow before the more recent changes. In my opinion, arguing that the standing of CA's in South Africa devalues other professions is very much the same as the age old argument of business in general drawing the brightest minds away from academic subjects. People motivated by money will often choose the route more likely to result in more money. At this point it very quickly devolves into an argument about the current form of capitalism in this country (and the world) and how it incentivises the wrong things - an argument I'm definitely not qualified to have. Thankfully not everyone is motivated by money and there are still people out there willing to do what they love or are good at.

by buyx 12y ago

Jack77 12y ago

There's a gem of a quote in that article: "If Einstein was born in South Africa, he would probably have studied accounting. I’m not sure that he – or South Africa and the world at large – would have benefited much from such an arrangement." I agree with your sentiment. As a profession it does attract the brightest in this country and not necessarily for the better. I was merely trying to point out that the trust placed in CA's in South Africa is not entirely misplaced. Some would argue that the rigorous education a CA receives in South Africa is at least on par with that of an MBA though possibly more narrow before the more recent changes. In my opinion, arguing that the standing of CA's in South Africa devalues other professions is very much the same as the age old argument of business in general drawing the brightest minds away from academic subjects. People motivated by money will often choose the route more likely to result in more money. At this point it very quickly devolves into an argument about the current form of capitalism in this country (and the world) and how it incentivises the wrong things - an argument I'm definitely not qualified to have. Thankfully not everyone is motivated by money and there are still people out there willing to do what they love or are good at.