Department of Accounting

The Department of Accounting is one of the largest departments at Rhodes University, with sixteen staff members and more than 800 students.

The Department is accredited by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants for purposes of the qualifying examinations for admission as Chartered Accountants. Graduates of the department have consistently achieved outstanding success in parts 1 and 2 of the qualifying examinations. The accredited courses also grant exemption for most of the intermediate-level modules of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

In addition to the Postgraduate Diploma in Accountancy (equivalent of the CTA), the department also offers a Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. This program has become a popular choice among students who do not wish to qualify as chartered accountants.

The department also offers a Masters degree in Taxation. This degree is done by coursework and thesis on a part time basis and increasingly is being recognised by the profession.

The department contributes to research in the field of accountancy through regular conference presentations, contributions to text books and publications in journals.

The lecturing staff are successful academics as well as professional accountants, many of whom have impressive achievements to their names.

Most staff members are involved locally on governing bodies, audit committees and in many advisory capacities.

The department is well represented in the local region of the South African Accounting Association with staff members holding the positions of chairman, secretary and subject heads for financial accounting and taxation. Staff are also active in attending and presenting papers at conferences. The department expects this to grow as its postgraduate opportunities are expanded through the offering of additional postgraduate degrees and diplomas.

The staff in the department have an open door policy, as far as is possible, bearing in mind that we have many other duties. We encourage students to ask questions, challenge their lecturers’ viewpoints and provide constructive criticism of study material, lectures and tutorials. This must obviously take place within the parameters of good manners and acceptable standards of discipline and behaviour. We also believe in transparency and fairness. You are preparing to enter a profession in which ethics plays a cardinal role. We, as a department, abide by our ethical code both in the letter and the spirit, and we expect the same from our students.