TRAINING OFFICERS' FAQs

Each office registers one training officer, who must be an employee or partner of the office, a CA(SA), and a registered SAICA assessor. For an Audit and Assurance office, the training officer must also be a Registered Auditor (RA).

One person can be training officer at several offices in the same company or partnership (a national training officer), or at separate unrelated offices only if they're a partner or director in all of them. A newly appointed training officer who isn't yet a registered assessor has six months to register as one.

An office must meet, or largely meet, SAICA's accreditation criteria across four categories: A (Compliance), B (Training environment and support), C (Practical work experience), and D (Assessment). You need to show you're economically sustainable, that you can genuinely provide the range and depth of experience, that you have proper supervision structures, and that you comply with the regulations.

No organisation is excluded from accreditation just because of its size or sector.

SAICA weighs up your latest monitoring visit, cancellations and extensions in the last 12 months, complaints, questionnaire and exit-survey responses (and response rates), your trainees' APC performance, and any other relevant information. No fixed weighting applies to any factor - the call rests with SAICA.

A "Very High" rating drops your quota to your current number of active trainees, and where the concern relates to assessment, triggers mandatory refresher training for the training officer, assessors and trainees.

SAICA may de-accredit an office that fails to comply with the regulations, or one that receives "Very High" risk ratings on two successive monitoring visits. A moderation visit forms part of the process, and a de-accredited office can't reapply for 12 months.

Separately, accreditation goes inactive automatically after 12 continuous months with no active trainees. SAICA may also offer a Training Office Mentorship Programme (up to nine months, at the office's own cost) either as an alternative to de-accreditation or as a condition of accreditation.

The trainee applies and the office approves the contract on TCMS within seven months of the trainee's employment start date, with all the supporting documents. The training officer pays the applicable fees.

You must cancel immediately if the trainee stops studying toward an endorsed degree or bridging programme, doesn't provide proof of enrolment in time, fails to return after a suspension, is absent despite a refused suspension, resigns, absconds, is dismissed, or commits an act SAICA decides requires cancellation.

You may cancel if the trainee fails to complete two successive assessment forms in time, won't achieve all competencies by the end of the contract, or on disciplinary grounds. Apply on TCMS within 30 days of the cancellation.

You must bring any potential punishable conduct to SAICA's attention through the complaints procedure - a sworn affidavit with supporting documents.

But unless there's an element of dishonesty, you don't have to report things like: lack of academic progress, non-completion of assessment documents, failure to achieve proficiency, failure to enrol, no longer studying toward the qualification, failing to return after a condoned suspension, resigning without notice where you waived the notice period, or late or missing timesheets. Keep supporting documents in case SAICA asks you to confirm the category.

If a trainee is unlikely to reach proficiency or their core hours by the end of the contract, you must give written notice no later than five months before the end date. It must list the outstanding competencies and/or hours, set out a development plan, explain the extension or cancellation consequences, and be signed by both of you. If the trainee refuses to sign, record it (a witness can attest that it was served).

If a trainee is short on core hours, then after giving the Regulation 26 notice you must apply to extend the contract by between 3 and 12 months. If they're short on proficiency, you may either extend or cancel. Apply via TCMS 30 days before the original end date. SAICA can investigate an extension and reverse it if the reasons don't justify it.

Once the trainee has completed the minimum core hours, the full term (including remissions, extensions and penalties), and achieved final proficiency in all the prescribed competencies, you must discharge the contract on TCMS no later than 60 days after the end date. You can't delegate this responsibility.

Trainees are assessed on the EAT: at least one LOR every two months, and at least one PDS every three, four or six months (your choice). Assessors should only carry a caseload they can handle with due care.

Keep each trainee's practical experience records, time records and completed assessments for three years after discharge, or after the trainee leaves the office.

The office, through its training officer, pays all SAICA fees, including late-lodgement fees for each month (or part of a month) a document is overdue.

On cancellation, you may require a trainee to reimburse - on a pro-rata basis - only specific disbursements actually made and not credited: TCMS, the SAICA Education Fund levy, and IRBA disbursements. Requiring reimbursement of anything beyond that can be treated as punishable conduct.

Up to a maximum of six months, running from the date of employment as a trainee accountant, and stipulated in the employment contract. You can't set a longer one. If the trainee then enters a training contract with the same office, that probationary period forms part of the training contract term.

Yes - any technical competency or PVAA learning outcome can be simulated, and there are no prohibited outcomes. But on-the-job experience must remain the most significant part of learning; simulations are there to supplement it, and should only replace on-the-job work where that experience isn't available at all.

A good simulation mirrors real workplace conditions, doesn't lead the trainee to a "correct" answer, and is captured in LORs. A test with right and wrong answers producing a mark isn't a simulation. You stay responsible for quality even if you outsource it.

Training isn't the training officer's job alone - it's the joint responsibility of the whole management team. Senior managers, partners or directors must notify SAICA immediately of changes affecting training, retain disciplinary records for three years, ensure a proper handover of records when the training officer changes, and appoint and register a replacement training officer as soon as possible.

Yes. If you feel the Lead: Training Management applied or interpreted the regulations unfairly, you can appeal to the TPSC, and then to the CAPD committee, whose decision is final. Appeals must be lodged within 30 days of receiving the decision.