In these Regulations words importing the masculine gender include all genders. Unless expressly stated
otherwise or inconsistent with the context in which they appear, the terms used in these Regulations mean the
following:
Academic progress means the satisfactory completion of all or sufficient subjects to enable a trainee
accountant to make one further year of progress towards the completion of an accredited degree or accredited
bridging programme. The trainee accountant must achieve at least one year of academic progress during any
two calendar years.
Academic recess means the period of time that a trainee has been permitted to temporarily stop studying while
still employed and continuing with training under the training contract (refer to Regulation 22);
Training Regulations – 1 January 2024 5
Academic trainee accountant means a trainee accountant who participates in SAICA’s academic trainee
accountantship programme and spends the first year of his training contract at an education institution that
offers an academic training programme accredited by SAICA for this purpose (refer to Annexure 6);
Accreditation criteria mean a set of requirements with which an organisation has to comply to be accredited
or re-accredited as a training office (refer to Annexure 2);
Accredited bridging programme means a bridging programme accredited by SAICA (refer to Annexure 1);
Accredited degree means an undergraduate qualification accredited by SAICA (refer to Annexure 1);
Accredited post-graduate qualification refers to a post-graduate programme recognised by SAICA as a
prerequisite for admission to the ITC (refer to Annexure 1);
AGA(SA) means an Associate General Accountant (South Africa) who is registered as such with SAICA;
AGA PD refers to the Associate General Accountant Professional Development Committee as nominated by
IPD;
ANA means an Assessment Needs Analysis and refers to the assessment instrument used as part of the
assessment process to record a trainee accountant’s cumulative competence to date; analyse his developmental
needs; and provide developmental and support plans on how these developmental needs will be addressed
during the next evaluation period for the 2016 training programme;
APC means the Assessment of Professional Competence, and is set by the Examinations Committee of SAICA
as one of the prerequisites for registration as a CA(SA);
Audit and Assurance training office means a training office that meets the additional requirements to be
recognised by IRBA to offer auditing and assurance experience for trainee accountants. The training contracts
of trainee accountants at these offices are also registered with IRBA;
CA(SA) means a Chartered Accountant (South Africa) who is registered as such with SAICA;
CA PD refers to the Chartered Accountant Professional Development Committee as nominated by IPD;
Competence means the level of competence or proficiency required in the tasks or learning outcomes of the
training programme;
Complaint means any information which is provided to SAICA in terms of the complaints procedure set out in
Annexure 4 or any information which comes to SAICA’s attention through any other means, which may
contravene the SAICA Constitution, By-laws, Code of Professional Conduct or these Regulations;
Core experience hours refers to all time spent by a trainee accountant on practical experience or activities
related to the training programme and excludes academic studies;
EAT refers to SAICA’s Electronic Assessment Tool for CA2025 trainee accountant assessments;
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Effective start date of a training contract means the date on which the SAICA training contract started, as
indicated on the employment contract and agreed to by the trainee and the training officer and as reflected on
TCMS;
Employment contract means a contract or letter signed by the training office and the trainee accountant, which
deals with the conditions of employment of the trainee accountant as provided for in the Basic Conditions of
Employment Act, 1997, as amended, the Labour Relations Act, 1996, as amended, these training regulations
and any other applicable legislation;
IPD means SAICA’s Initial Professional Development Committee;
IRBA means the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors established in terms of the Auditing Profession Act,
2005, as amended;
ITC means the Initial Test of Competence, a qualifying examination set by the Examinations Committee of
SAICA as one of the prerequisites for registration as a CA(SA);
LOR means a Learning Outcome Review and refers to the assessment instrument used as part of the
assessment process to document and review the competence demonstrated by the trainee accountant in the
relevant learning outcomes prescribed by SAICA for the CA2025 training programme;
Moderation visit means a remote or site visit conducted of a training office as part of the de-accreditation
process or in other instances where a full monitoring visit is not deemed necessary by SAICA;
Monitoring visit means a remote or site visit to a training office, or any other intervention, to establish the extent
to which the training office meets the SAICA accreditation criteria, as set out in Annexure 2 of these Regulations;
Notify means to communicate in writing using the method or procedure prescribed by the relevant Regulation;
PDS means a Professional Development Summary and refers to the assessment instrument used as part of the
assessment process to record a trainee accountant’s cumulative competence to date; reflect on range and depth
of technical exposure, determine development required; and provide developmental and support plans on how
these developmental areas will be addressed during the next evaluation period for the CA2025 training
programme;
Pre-accreditation visit means a remote or site visit conducted of a prospective training office, or any other
intervention, to establish the extent to which the prospective training office meets the SAICA accreditation criteria
as set out in Annexure 2 of these Regulations;
Prescribed competencies mean the competencies or learning outcomes prescribed by SAICA in terms of the
SAICA Training Programme;
Professional Programme means a programme accredited and prescribed by the IPD for admission to the APC;
Training Regulations – 1 January 2024 7
PSR means a Professional Skills Review and refers to the assessment instrument used as part of the
assessment process to document and review the competence demonstrated by the trainee accountant in the
prescribed professional competencies for the 2016 training programme;
Punishable Conduct means conduct referred to in the SAICA By-laws Appendix 4 (Disciplinary Code and
Procedures)
RA means a registered auditor and refers to an individual or firm registered as an auditor with the IRBA;
Registered assessor means a CA(SA) or AGA(SA) who has met the requirements as determined by SAICA for
registration as an assessor;
Risk rating means the probability (low, medium, high or very high) that a training office will not deliver the
workplace training and experience programme at the standards and levels of quality as prescribed by SAICA
from time to time (refer to Regulation 4.7);
RPL means recognition of prior learning which is the process through which the trainee accountant’s prior work
experience is recognised by reducing the remaining term of the training contract after assessment of the trainee
accountant against the prescribed competencies (refer to Regulation 18);
SAICA means The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, and includes its Committees, Subcommittees and Working Groups;
TCMS means the Training Contract Management System and refers to the online system for the registration
and management of training contracts;
TPSC means the Training Programme Sub-Committee of the IPD and includes its Working Groups;
Trainee accountant means an individual who is employed by an accredited training office and who is serving
under a SAICA training contract;
Training contract means a contract, entered into and registered by SAICA, on TCMS, whereby a trainee
accountant is duly bound to serve a training office for a specified period and is entitled to receive experience in
the prescribed competencies and which meets the requirements for a learnership agreement in terms of the
Skills Development Act, 1998;
Training office means an organisation, accredited by SAICA in terms of the accreditation criteria set out in
Annexure 2 of these Regulations, whether within or outside the borders of South Africa, where prospective
CAs(SA) and AGAs(SA) may be trained;
Training officer means an individual who is a CA(SA) and who is responsible for performing the functions and
duties ascribed to a training officer in terms of these Regulations;
Training Regulations – 1 January 2024 8
Training programme means the SAICA training programme which is clarified within these Regulations as
referring to the training programme based on the 2016 competency framework (the 2016 training programme)
or the training programme based on the CA2025 competency framework (the CA2025 training programme); and
TSR means a Technical Skills Review and refers to the assessment instrument used as part of the
assessment process to document and review the competence demonstrated by the trainee accountant in the
relevant technical competencies prescribed by SAICA for the 2016 training programme.
