By Silvia Nyambura
233 accountants have been certified by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) and can now ably practice their profession in the market. An additional 34 candidates have also been recognized as Accounting Technicians after completing and passing the Accounting Technicians Certificate of Uganda (ATC (U) course. This brings the number of professional accountants produced through ICPAU examinations scheme to 1,923.
5,313 candidates sat for the CPA(U) June 2015 examinations up from 5,259 in November 2014. The average pass rate was 36.2% compared to 42.1% the previous year. So far, 1,924 students have completed the course.
On the other hand, 366 candidates sat for the June 2015 ATC (U) examinations compared to 419 in November 2014. The average pass rate was 49.5% up from 46.5% in the previous year. Cumulatively, 1,589 students have completed the ATC (U) course since it was established in 2001.
Releasing the results in Kampala today, ICPAU CEO Derick Nkajja said, “Uganda is still on a path to economic growth and development. Studies have shown that economies grow faster and stronger with the help of financial management, an area professional accountants specialize in. Thus ICPAU’s effort to increase the number of accountants is complementary to government’s efforts for the realization of economic growth and development.”
For the first time, examinations were this year conducted at 6 regional centers. These include Arua, Fort Portal, Gulu, Kampala, Mbale and Mbarara. This move aims at reducing the burden on students who previously had to travel to Kampala for examinations. This greatly reduces the cost of training.
Nkajja noted some subjects were not well performed.
“Subjects like financial reporting, management decision and control as well as advanced financial accounting done poorly. This was attributed to failure by students to cover the entire syllabus. This results into selective reading as well as the inability to translate the knowledge into applicable case scenarios. This persistent mode of reading must stop because the Public Accountants Examination Board aims at covering the entire syllabus at any examination sitting,” he cautioned.