Thesis (M.Accy.-Res.)--University of Wollongong, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 97-102.

The problem of the study was to determine the relationship of college preparation and college grades to success on the CPA examination. The solution to the problem was approached through five objectives: To compare the success on the examination of 1. College graduates and non-college graduates. 2. College graduates who were accounting majors and those who were not accounting majors. 3. College graduates with overall averages of B or higher and those with overall averages below B. 4. College graduates who attended member schools of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business and those who attended schools which were not members of the Association. 5. College graduates and technical school graduates. Data were gathered from the records of the State Board of Accountancy and presented in tabular and graphic form. The data were then interpreted with the aid of tables of comparison. The conclusions reached as the result of the interpretations were stated. The results of the study showed that some groups are better prepared to pass the CPA examination than other groups. The candidate with the best preparation for passing the CPA examination is one who has graduated from a degree granting college or university with an overall average of B or higher and a major in Accounting. College grade averages are an indication of expected success on the CPA examination to the extent that of candidates whose average was B or higher, 47 percent will pass while of those whose average was below B, 28 percent will pass. / Master of Science

Thesis (PhD (Accountancy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The accountancy profession operates within an environment that is changing at a rapid pace. It is the responsibility of the profession to ensure that all its members (including future members) meet the expectations placed on them by the users of their services. Professional accountants need to stay relevant in this changing environment that may require them to change or adapt the services they offer to their clients. It is the responsibility of professional accountancy bodies to strategically plan for these changes to ensure that members that join the profession posses the required knowledge and skills to be relevant and to stay relevant within the environment they operate in. One of the key drivers of change in the environment has been identified as the advances in information and communication technologies. Information and communication technologies have an impact on the role that accountants play in the environment (i.e. what they do) as well as on how they perform their role (i.e. how they do it). The main aim of this research was to determine if, and to what extent, students, that have completed their formal education and enter the profession as trainee accountants, possess the knowledge and skills to enable them to interact with and use information technology to be regarded as competent accountants within the South African business environment. Accountants are educated in South Africa at universities that offer programmes that have been accredited by a professional accountancy body as well as through practical training offered by training organisations. During this education process, accountants are imparted with the knowledge and skills as prescribed by the professional accountancy body so that they can join the profession as competent accountants. This research showed that there are serious shortcomings in the formal education of students regarding information technology that results in students entering the profession as trainee accountants not being competent in using information technology. The reasons for students not being competent in information technology are: • the lack of clear guidance on the IT skills required of students completing their formal education because of professional accountancy bodies setting IT syllabi that are too vague and/or concise; • ignorance of the demands on trainee accountants as to the IT skills they require to be competent in the South African business environment; and • the lack of proper IT training offered by South African universities that deliver trainee accountants that possess a limited range of IT skills that may not be relevant to the environment students will function in. Through a survey the perceptions of role-players at South African universities on the strategies that universities would have to employ to ensure that the students they deliver to profession, acquire the relevant IT skills to be competent in the use of information technology, were determined.