Candidates who have passed the ITC are eligible to register for Our Main Programme.
All candidates must have completed 20 month’s traineeship (i.e., second year traineeship) by a day before the APC is written.
CIMA candidates who are graduates and hold the ACMA, CGMA or FCMA, CGMA designations having completed the CIMA education, examination, and practical experience requirements, must successfully complete the following to convert to the CA(SA) designation:
Our Professional Programme specifically addresses your requirements and offers you a top-class opportunity to develop your professional competence and the best possible chance of passing the APC. The primary objective of our Programme is to develop the professional competence of candidates to a level appropriate for new entrants to the Chartered Accountancy profession, thus this prepares candidates for the SAICA APC exam.
Professional competence is developed through a series of 7 Case Study simulations of real-life assignments and tasks. Candidates develop their professional competence through practice by working through these Case Studies. Each of our Case Studies is a simulation of a “real” APC Assessment.
The APC is an Assessment of Professional Competence and focuses on the integration of technical skills within ‘real life’ circumstances, on pervasive skills such as communication, on understanding the ‘big picture’ (the business and the environment in which the business operates) and on strategy, risk management and governance. Whilst aspects of professional competence are developed in the university programmes and in training programmes, our Programme focusses fully on developing your competence to the level required of a CA.
We understand that individuals learn differently and have developed different learning styles, thus we are a fully online programme with optional physical, face-to-face contact sessions related to critical classes. These are held in all major centres. As the acquisition of professional competence is so fundamentally different from the skills most candidates have already developed in their academic programmes, we believe that candidates benefit significantly from the Blended Learning Programme’s direct interaction with presenters.
Our online classes are also supported by interactive live Zoom Question and Answer Sessions after each class and further support is provided by additional interactive Zoom sessions, including Candidate Information Sessions, Guided Self-Assessment Sessions, and Small Group Consultations. Recordings are made available for candidates who are unable to attend these live sessions.
Module 1 is introductory and developmental (formative). Modules 2 and 3 continue development but add formal assessment (introducing summative assessment but still principally formative), Module 4 enables further development at a deeper level. Modules 5 and 6 focus on formal assessment (summative) and Module 7 is board course preparation and revision.
| Interact with the programme online. | Are required to understand the business environment, the business sector, and the business entity, whilst exploring a broad variety of industries. |
| Can download video recordings of all classes. | Apply a wide range of technical knowledge in a fully integrated manner. |
| Are required to complete various Online assignments. | Explore strategy, risk management and governance. |
| Perform assessments on their work. This component of our Programme is of critical importance because Self-Assessment enables Candidates to develop a deep understanding of the Assessment Process. | Acquire the professional competence to deal with any industry rather than only knowledge of certain industries. |
These include:
Our Programme offers Value Added in the form of our CPD Module, which provides technical updates in relevant topics, which enable you to determine your personal development needs and to address those needs.
Academic Programme |
Strong focus on technical competence. The technical knowledge and skills for each of the accounting disciplines and an understanding of strategy, risk management and governance. |
Training Programme |
Focus on professional competence. The ability to use technical competence in the ‘real world of work’. The professional programme is intended to enable candidates to develop professional competence, and we thereby, complement the candidates’ professional training programmes. |
Case studies |
Each of our case studies simulates ‘real life’. Our focus in the case studies includes the ability to conduct research in the context of the entity which is the subject of the case study. This research encompasses the entity, the industry, and the economic, political, technological, regulatory, and social context in which the entity operates. The focus of our Programme is on your ability to conduct research rather than to gain knowledge of a specific industry or environment. For this reason, we do not attempt to include all possible industries in our case studies – it would be impossible to do so – rather we focus on the ability to conduct research so that you are enabled to use this ability in any setting (the APC is likely to be in an unexpected industry!) |
Feedback |
Candidates are provided with regular feedback – just as it happens in the workplace. |
Assessment |
Assessment is a feature throughout the Programme – as it is in the workplace. Assessment is mainly formative in nature (part of the learning process) and includes formal assessments and self-assessment. We regard self-assessment as vitally important as the ability to assess your own progress and performance is very important in the world of work. |
Individual support
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We know that individuals learn differently and at different rates and that personal circumstances are different for everyone. Support for individuals is provided through consultation opportunities and a wide range of other interventions. |
Payment is required on receipt of invoice.
1 payment
Enrolment closes on
16 April 2024.
Your first instalment is due on receipt of invoice. 2 consecutive payments to be made thereafter.
3 equal payments
Enrolment closes on
16 April 2024.
Account Name: Accounting Professional Training
Bank: Standard Bank Rondebosch
Inter Bank Transfer Number: 025 009
Current Account Number: 071 464 824
SWIFT Code: SBZAZAJJ (Standard Bank does not use an IBAN Code.)
Please Reference your Payment as:
Name/Invoice Number e.g. S.Sample/APT00028
If you have not received your invoice, but want to make your payment please reference your payment as follows:
Name Surname/Programme Area
e.g. Sandra Sample/CT
If your firm is responsible for payment, we will send an invoice directly to the firm contact provided once all candidates from the firm have registered. If you are paying for yourself, you will be invoiced directly. It is not necessary to contact our offices requesting invoices as they will be sent once registration has been processed.
ICAN and ICAZ fees are negotiated with these Institutions and APT.
The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is the second of SAICA, ICAN and ICAZ’s two Qualifying Examinations. The APC is currently written in December of each year and is the final Examination required for candidates to qualify as a CA.
In order to write the APC Assessment in December, candidates are required to
The SAICA APC exam is structured as follows:
Candidates will:
On the day of the Assessment, candidates will:
| What is the ITC exam? | What is the APC exam? |
|---|---|
| The ITC is an academic and technical examination. | The APC is an Assessment of Professional Competence in which you are required to carry out specific simulated tasks typical of those performed by an entry level Chartered Accountant. |
| You can “swot” for the ITC. | The APC requires you to analyse Case Study information prior to the Assessment. You would then identify specific issues apparent from the Case Study and prepare for those issues. |
| In the ITC, you could bring only your handbooks. | For the APC you may bring your handbooks but you may also summarise your preparation material and bring this material to the Assessment as long as it fits into a single standard Lever Arch file. Except for an 8cm paper thickness limit. There are no restrictions on what you may include in your file. |
| You received the ITC Scenario on the day of the examination. | You receive Pre Released Information (The initial Scenario) five days before the APC and thus get the opportunity to identify issues and prepare for them. You can work in teams with other candidates during this period. |
| ITC questions focus on Individual Subjects or Disciplines. | The APC is lateral and multi-disciplinary. In preparing for an issue, you would have to consider all competencies and all aspects that might be considered by a Chartered Accountant. |
| In the ITC, you could, to a degree, prepare “standard solutions” and “memory dump” these. | In the APC, you will have to analyse the requirement on the day and consider the context and to whom you are responding. You will then prepare a response (not a solution) that is appropriate in the context and for the specific audience. |
| You could “cram” for the ITC just before the examination. | You develop professional skills over a period. And there is nothing to “cram” although you will have opportunity during the pre-release period of five days to revise technical issues which are ‘triggered’ in the Pre Release information. |
| Technical is “everything” in the ITC. | Technical provides the foundation for your responses in the APC but many candidates display sound technical competence but still fail the Assessment because of a lack of attention to the context and the audience. |
| Any topic in the syllabus can be examined in the ITC. | SAICA uses the term “trigger”, in the sense that a topic cannot be examined in the Assessment unless it is “triggered” in the Pre-Release information. |
| The ITC is graded according to a table of marks. | There is often no “correct” or “incorrect” “solution to an APC task. The nature of professional competence is that two competent professionals may approach a task differently. Candidates are graded according to whether or not they provided an appropriate professional response. |
Developing the professional skill of preparing an appropriate response is critical. This involves judgement, professional scepticism, an understanding of the technical issues and an understanding of context and audience.
Development of these skills requires you to gain experience and have regular communication with your peers and with course presenters. It is vitally important that you understand that these competencies must be developed in an environment which provides for healthy debate and different views. The APT Professional Development Programme provides these opportunities through a wide variety of activities including face-to-face classes, videos, online chatrooms, individual consultations and many more.