South African Career Guidance Counsellors' and Mathematics Teachers' Perception of the Accounting Profession

The shortage of accounting professionals is well-documented. To address this shortage, greater numbers of school students should be attracted and enrolled in undergraduate accounting programmes. Unfortunately, school students may have misperceptions of the accounting profession. These misperceptions may result in potential entrants to the profession being lost to other professions. Secondary school teachers play an influential role in students' perceptions of future careers. This survey assessed the perceptions of the secondary school career guidance counsellors and mathematics teachers' perceptions of the accounting profession in South Africa in comparison to the medical, engineering and legal professions. The findings suggest that the accounting profession is held in lower esteem than the engineering and medical professions, but in higher esteem than the legal profession. The findings confirm previous research conducted in the USA, Australasia and Japan. Marketing and recruitment programmes should educate secondary school teachers as to the true nature of the accounting profession.     

The Tax Knowledge of South African Trainee Accountants: A Survey of the Perceptions of Training Officers in Public Practice

This empirically-based, exploratory study outlines the framework of chartered accountants' tax education and training in South Africa and focuses on training officers' perceptions of the existing tax knowledge of trainee accountants when entering into a training contract after completing their university qualification. The study identified the respondents' satisfaction with the performance by ‘entry-level’ trainee accountants of their duties. The results indicated that, although the educational background of trainee accountants was for the most part adequate, these trainee accountants were not sufficiently able to perform their duties when entering into training. The implication of this study is that the syllabus setters and educators should review the practicality of the current tax syllabi's content for the education and training of aspirant chartered accountants in South Africa.