The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and the South African regulator, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), have commissioned a research project into the expected competencies of professional accountants in the future.

The research is conducted by the University of Pretoria in two phases, with the first phase having recently being completed and consisting of six focus groups.

The second phase will run until 2019 and consists of 85 personal interviews with key stakeholders including the auditor general of South Africa, all accounting firms, regulators, professional bodies, CFOs, portfolio asset managers.