Career Levels - South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA)

How do I become a Professional Accountant?

Membership is reserved for persons who have complied with the Academic, Practical and Professional Evaluation (PE) requirements laid down by the Institute.

The Academic Requirement comprises:

A degree with the following core subjects from a SAIPA accredited Tertiary Institution:

Financial Accounting 3;
Taxation 1;
Auditing 1 OR Internal Auditing 2 OR Internal Control and Code of Ethics;
Corporate Law 1 OR Commercial Law 2; and
Management Accounting

Practical Requirement:

Consisting of EITHER:

Three years' supervised training at an Accredited Training Centre (ATC) (as a registered Learnership with FASSET), documented in the Institute's official training logbook, regularly updated by the Trainee Accountant and the Training Centre principal, and monitored on an annual basis by a SAIPA nominated Monitoring Officer.

Six years' relevant, verifiable experience based on Institute's official training logbook and verified by current and previous employers.

Training programme from other accredited professional accountancy bodies - i.e. SAICA, ACCA, CIMA.

Professional Evaluation (PE):

Satisfactory completion of a written Professional Evaluation (PE) to determine the prospective member's ability to integrate academic knowledge with the practical skills required in the workplace. If a prospective member meets the academic and practical requirements he/she must apply to write the Professional Evaluation (PE).

The Professional Evaluation (PE) is a written evaluation based on the core subjects above. SAIPA provides a Professional Evaluation (PE) Candidate Preparation Guidelines to assist candidates in preparing for the evaluation. Candidates who have passed the Professional Evaluation (PE) may be registered as Full Members once the entrance and membership fees have been paid.

The SAIPA Professional Evaluation (PE) is written at various venues around the country twice a year in March and November.