Title: Who is responsible for developing the non-core skills of entry-level public sector trainee auditors: the case of the Auditor-General South Africa

Authors: Fortunate Mashabela; Barry Ackers

Addresses: College of Accounting Sciences, University of South Africa, P.O. Box 392, Unisa, 0003, Pretoria, South Africa ' College of Accounting Sciences, University of South Africa, P.O. Box 392, Unisa, 0003, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract: Within the context of rising levels of corruption, financial mismanagement, fraud, and irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the South African public sector, as well as high profile audit failures, this paper investigates the employment readiness of recent auditing graduates, with particular emphasis on their non-core skills proficiency. The observations are based on a survey of respondents involved in appointing and training aspiring chartered accountants at the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA). Aspirant auditors graduating from South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) accredited universities lacked the necessary non-core skills entry-level trainee auditors at expected levels of proficiency, necessitating additional training interventions. However, universities should not be solely responsible for developing all the skills of competent public sector auditors. Instead, an integrated and collaborative effort by the key stakeholders in the auditing profession is required. These parties include universities, audit firms and professional bodies, the students themselves, as well as other parties such as regulators. Despite extant studies examining the employment readiness of auditing graduates, this is one of the first that specifically focuses on the phenomenon within the public sector.

Keywords: AGSA; Auditor-General South Africa; chartered accountant; entry-level trainee auditor; non-core skills; pervasive skills; public sector.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2022.126876

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2022 Vol.18 No.2, pp.107 - 136

Received: 02 Apr 2020
Accepted: 09 Oct 2020
Published online: 11 Nov 2022 *

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