South Africa is heavily reliant on both foreign and local investment to grow its diverse and dynamic economy – making a strong audit profession vital to its prosperity.
‘It is critically important that our auditors deliver high-quality audits on a sustained basis, so that any investor can trust the financial reports issued by our companies,’ says Imre Nagy, CEO of South Africa’s Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA). ‘We need economic growth in South Africa, and the audit profession plays a major role in driving that.’
‘The fees for maintaining professional designations can be quite a significant cost’
Yet while auditors are indispensable to the nation, they are in increasingly short supply. By 2025, the number of registered auditors in the country had dropped to 3,472 – down from 3,914 in 2020. A fall of more than 11% in just five years may seem alarming, but there are some nuances around the headline numbers.
Non-assurance drop
IRBA has two categories of registered auditor: assurance and non-assurance. Over the past five years, the number of assurance auditors – those who can sign an audit opinion – has stayed stable, at around 2,600. But there has been a noticeable drop-off in the number of non-assurance auditors – professionals who may just want to keep up with their CPD or be able to sign an audit opinion at a later date.
Fees may partly explain the decline, Nagy suggests. The Auditing Profession Act 26 of 2005 requires a registered auditor to be an up-to-date member of their professional body – either ACCA or the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants – as well as a registered auditor. ‘The fees for maintaining both those professional designations can be quite a significant cost,’ he says. ‘We have recently seen some firms restructuring and de-registering all their non-assurance professionals.’
Not a crisis – yet
Nagy says the decline in registered auditors should not be viewed as an immediate crisis for the profession. Nevertheless, he believes that maintaining a healthy pipeline of talent is critical to its future health.
A range of challenges are specifically impacting on the audit profession’s attractiveness to new entrants in South Africa, he says. These include the length of time it takes to qualify – around nine years – as well as the cost involved and the intellectually challenging nature of the study.
‘We need to highlight the societal role of the profession’
He also highlights low levels of maths attainment in schools – ‘which basically close the door to studying BCom accounting’ – and negative perceptions of the profession due to high-profile audit failures.
Pipeline strategy
To help attract talent into the future, IRBA has launched a pipeline strategy, working with universities, the professional bodies and audit firms to identify the barriers to entry as well as why people leave.
As part of this strategy, the organisation is supporting a research project with the University of Johannesburg that will focus on the role of the audit profession in serving society. IRBA has also waived the fees for its Audit Development Programme (ADP) – the pathway to becoming a registered auditor – and built awareness by redesigning its brand logo and hosting stands at university careers fairs.
Nagy strongly encourages firms to plan for succession and register eligible candidates who have completed the ADP, even if they are not immediately promoted to associate or partner level. ‘This would allow those individuals to retain a professional designation while bringing greater technical depth and professionalism to audit engagement teams,’ he says.
Addressing the challenges
Awareness is key to enhancing the attractiveness of the audit profession in South Africa. ‘We mustn’t take it for granted that young, talented people understand the opportunities and job satisfaction that one can get by becoming an auditor,’ says Professor Wiseman Lumkile Nkuhlu, the country’s first Black chartered accountant and a former chairman of KPMG South Africa. ‘We need to highlight the societal role of the profession and the positive role it plays in enhancing trust in organisations.’
The attractions of audit
Audit offers a highly rewarding career for many reasons:
- Prestige: through their work, auditors help to drive economic growth, build trust and serve the public interest.
- Legacy: by supporting sustainability reporting and assurance, auditors are helping to make the world a better place for future generations.
- Varied experience: auditors get exposure to a range of different industries. They learn how a business operates behind the scenes and how business strategies translate into profit and other forms of value creation. Audit also offers potential pathways to executive leadership and entrepreneurship.
- Cutting edge: auditors often work with the latest technology, including AI.
- Global mobility: as auditing is a transferable skill, qualified auditors are in demand all around the world.
Nkuhlu also believes that the profession should be more proactive about preventing the audit failures that harm its reputation. ‘Let’s make sure that we do better in terms of training – ethical training in particular – and take advantage of new technologies to reduce the probability of fraudulent financial statements,’ he says. ‘We need to give young people a higher level of confidence that they won’t have to defend scandals every three to five years.’
Remuneration is a further challenge, as auditors’ salaries are not necessarily competitive with those on offer in sectors such as financial services and IT.
Showcasing successes
A career in audit can be a transformational life opportunity for young people – and firms can play an important role in making this argument. For example, BDO South Africa supports initiatives that aim to educate school students. These include MarketPlace Academy, a non-profit chaired by Nkhulu, focused on youth employability, with maths skills being a core priority.
‘We talk to young people about our profession and give career guidance,’ explains Bonga Mokoena, CEO of BDO South Africa. ‘We also showcase the success stories of people who have made a big impact, both on our profession itself and society at large.’
The firm is intentional about creating the kind of environment that will attract skilled people into the audit profession. It provides its interns and trainee accountants with exposure to different sectors, and offers flexibility, mentorship and a well-defined developmental pathway, including postgraduate study in areas such as cyber, digital and AI.
With programmes like these leading the way in increasing the number of the registered auditors in South Africa, the country’s profession could be heading for a brighter future.
More information
Find out about ACCA’s pathway to registered auditor status in South Africa
