Certificate: Accounting Public Sector
Course overview:
The Public Sector Accounting Qualifications are customised qualifications, offering accounting officials formal qualifications that ensure immediate demonstration of the acquired skills through their practical and competence-based assessment structures.
These qualifications support the development of learners who are employed in the public sector and who want to progress with a career in public sector accounting. The NQF5 qualification further develops the learner’s accounting skills in the spheres of provincial and national government.
The advanced level Certificate: Accounting Public Sector Qualification consists of seven units. The qualification covers higher-level communication and management, ethical duties and responsibilities, reporting formats, budget management, assets and inventory, financial reporting and principles of internal and external auditing.
Course details:
Accredited by SAICA for Accounting Technician qualifications:
- SAQA ID: 80189
- NQF level: 5
- Credits: 120
The duration is variable, depending on the learners’ progress and previous experience, but it is likely to take between 18 and 24 months.
Successful completion of AT SA FET Certificate: Accounting Technician or equivalent studies in Accounting to be assessed by AT SA.
A learner with similar qualification and/or experience can apply for recognition of prior learning (RPL). In this case, proof of qualifications and work experience will be required.
The level 5 qualification is the third level of the AT SA Accounting Qualification and covers higher level accounting tasks, including drafting financial statements, managing budgets, and evaluating financial performance. You’ll also have the opportunity to specialise in areas from tax to auditing and credit control. The advanced level Certificate: Accounting Qualification consists of seven modules.
Course Structure
- Communication and Managing a Team
- Communicate effectively with others
- Manage work and performance
- Professional Ethics
- Apply general principles and procedures for ethical compliance expected within the public sector
- Develop, maintain and apply ethics in work situations
- Economic Reporting format and Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA) Classification
- Discuss the Economic reporting format
- Use SCOA to allocate transactions
- Budget Management
- Understand the skills needed in budget preparation
- Monitoring of actual against budget
- Management of expenditure/employee costs
- Management of transfer payments
- Cash flow management
- Accounting for Assets and Inventory
- Classification, recording and disclosure of assets
- Classification, recording and disclosure of inventory
- Financial Reporting
- Preparation of financial statements in accordance with the Modified Cash Standard
- Analysis of financial statements
- Unauthorised, irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure
- Internal Control, Internal Audit and External Audit
- Evaluate accounting systems
- Discuss the principles of internal controls
- Discuss the principles of Internal Audit
- Discuss the principles of External Audit
Upon completion of the qualification, learners will be awarded a Certificate: Accounting NQF Level 5 from SAICA/AT(SA).
Once you’ve achieved this level, you’ll be the proud owner of the AT SA Accounting Qualification. With evidence of one year’s past relevant work experience – attained while you were training maybe – you’ll be able to apply to become a Platinum member of AT SA and use the letters MAT SA after your name.
AT (SA) qualified students can work in any of the following positions:
- Assistant Finance Manager
- Finance Team Leader
- Accounts Manager
- Financial Controller
- Qualified Accounting Technician