Global Accounting Body endorses UFH Accounting qualifications

The Nkuhlu Department of Accounting has done us proud again!

Our Accounting programmes have received accreditation from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) – a globally recognised accounting body. 

The endorsement of the below-mentioned programmes commenced this year (2020), and the ACCA accreditation will hold  for five years:

• Bachelor of Commerce Accounting (3 and 4-year programmes)
• Bachelor of Commerce General Accounting

The application process for the ACCA endorsement commenced in August 2019 and was led by Masibulele Phesa, Taxation Lecturer in the Nkuhlu Department of Accounting. After a thorough review by the ACCA team in the UK, the Bachelor of Commerce Accounting programme received its endorsement in January 2020 followed by the Bachelor of Commerce General Accounting  last week.

According to the ACCA website, the Association was founded in 1904, with its headquarters based in London and a principal administrative office based in Glasgow. Their network stretches over 100 offices and has centres located in over 50 countries - with more than 320 Approved Learning Partners.

In 2017, the association reached over 700 000 members and students worldwide, with 208 000 fully qualified members and 503,000 students in 178 countries.

 Ms Wendy Terblanche, Senior Accounting Lecturer and Head of Department,  explained the ACCA qualification and the endorsement implications.

 The ACCA qualification is arranged in 3 parts:

• Applied Knowledge level (3 modules)
• Applied Skills (6 modules)
• Strategic Professional (2 compulsory modules and 2 elective modules)

Based on the accreditation of the undergraduate programmes, the implications of this endorsement is that UFH students will receive exemption from the Applied Knowledge modules as well as 5 of the 6 Applied Skills modules. The student would then need to complete the remaining Applied Skills module (Performance Management), as well as a module on Ethics and Professional skills and the Strategic professional modules before qualifying as a Qualified Professional Accountant.

“The Department is passionate about preparing our students for a successful career in accounting – hence we have chosen to have our programmes accredited by various professional accounting bodies”, said  a visibly proud Terblanche.

The Bachelor of Commerce Accounting qualification,  as well as the Advanced Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting  -  both offered by the department  - are also accredited by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).  The South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) has also accredited the Bachelor of Commerce Accounting and General Accounting qualifications.

Opening doors for UFH graduates

Terblanche says the recent endorsement will open even more doors for UFH Accounting graduates, nationally and worldwide.   These accreditations allow our students to find an appropriate professional body to register with after completing their studies at UFH.  Furthermore, the ACCA relationship will also benefit the department and the university as it will create opportunities for academics to engage with the association’s education team.

Mr Mareka Chabedi, ACCA Education Manager, said the association will assist UFH graduates of the  to pursue ACCA membership through the Accelerate programmes. This will subsidise various fees payable by aspirant members of ACCA.  He added that ACCA also intends to work with the UFH to recognise their top achieving students.

Mr Chabedi acknowledged the hard work by the Nkuhlu team in developing all the required documents needed to obtain the accreditation “This is a testament to the work that you and your colleagues have put into this. It has been brilliant”, he said.

The next milestone for  Department is to align its postgraduate qualifications to Strategic Professional Modules to further assist students in pursuing the ACCA qualification.