Dear student, Do you know what the accounting profession is about?

This article is in memory of Nelson Mandela who stated “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

We recently held interviews for new recruits for the 2026 year. What was disappointing is that students and graduates, even after completing their tertiary education, have very little understanding of what the accounting and tax profession entails. Perhaps to blame is the individual themselves or even the institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Perhaps the government, or The Department of Education in SA is to blame.
In retrospect, whichever institution you choose to blame, the fact remains that more effort needs to be made in informing the youth what each profession is all about. I will attempt to give information here with regards to this issue.
Note that since we offer financial accounting services, and personal tax services to our clients, this profession is what we seek to provide information on. We have not covered the profession of an auditor below.The information below is mainly for the SAIPA professional accountant/ financial accountant. See this article for information on the differences between the SAIPA, SAICA, and CIMA accounting professions.

Business services

The accountant has evolved from being simply a number-cruncher to being a business consultant who is actively involved in the growth of the client’s business interests. Clients are more and more looking up to accounting profession to assist them in fulfilling the role of financial manager in their businesses. The typical small to medium business in SA will need an accountant for the following:
  • Register a company in which the business will trade.
  • Register the company for income tax at SARS.
  • Register the company for PAYE.
  • Register the company for VAT.
  • Register this company for UIF.
  • Register the company for Workman’s compensation.
  • Assist the management of the business with business plans.
  • Obtain a BEE certificate for the company.

These are about the initial services required.

Once the business is off the ground, the accountant will provide the following services to the company:

  • Drawing up monthly payslips for the employees of the company, and submit monthly PAYE and UIF declarations to SARS, as well as to pay over monies for this to SARS. And yearly to draw up IRP5s for client’s employees.
  • Every second month, submit to SARS VAT declarations for the company. Sometimes client’s require the accountant to also summarise the books of the business from bank statements and invoices for this purpose.
  • Submit yearly declarations to the Compensation Fund.
  • Draw up financial statements for the business on a yearly basis.
  • Draw up management statements for the business as and when required.
  • Get tax clearance certificates for the company as and when needed.
  • Provide tax planning services to clients about how to structure their financial affairs.
  • Liaising with SARS about anything and everything to do with a client’s tax affairs.

These are a few of the main services that an accountant will need to provide to their business clients. But practically, client’s call their accountant for anything to do with money. They see an accountant as a beacon of knowledge when it comes to their financial affairs.

Personal tax services

When it comes to individual tax, client’s require assistance to obtain the most tax benefit when submitting their tax returns. Accountants have to be very knowledgeable about SA tax legislation.

Once a year, client’s get an IRP5 and need to have it submitted to SARS, and they seek your expertise in doing so. What seems from the onset to be a very simple task, can become quite complex. Audits, appeals, and objections on these returns can drag on for months and liaisons with SARS are very important right up until the time the return has been finalised with SARS.

We hope that this article has been informative to the prospective student/ job-seeker. What is the most important aspect when choosing a career is that you are informed of what career choices are available. Get as much information as possible about a specific study field and make an informed decision. Whether it’s finance, law, engineering, or the sciences that interests you, the options available to the student are endless.