Anele Mthiyane now has a viable career in accounting
Anele Samantha Mthiyane, 25, credits her ability to pursue her dreams of a career in accounting to SAICA. She took part in the SAICA Enterprise Development (ED) Khulisa iBiznis programme as an unemployed accounting graduate, and today Mthiyane is a proud holder of SAICA’s Accounting Technician [AT(SA)] designation. This is her story of success…
“My plans are to grow in my career, especially in my current workplace, as there is room for growth. As part of this growth, I am planning on studying my Postgraduate Diploma in Management Accounting next.”
Mthiyane works for a small accounting firm, Rossal98, in Centurion, Gauteng. The firm provides accounting, auditing and consulting services and as a trainee accountant, Mthiyane does accounting and bookkeeping work for clients, submits their tax returns, and captures all the clients’ transactions to compile their monthly management accounts. “I also undertake audit projects, which requires me to verify information sent by the clients using audit procedures to provide audit reports after every project,” she adds.
Her current job is her first as an AT(SA), but after participating in the SAICA Enterprise Development (ED) Khulisa iBiznis programme supported by J.P. Morgan, she is already able to tell that the most important technical skill for her role is “being able to do the basics for a client, namely the bookkeeping duties. You should also understand everything about running a business and know about all the statutory requirements”. In short, she says, while gaining experience during the programme and in her current job, she has learnt that accounting technicians deal with and understand all the foundation work of a business. “They keep the company compliant with the law and assist in allowing the business to function on a day-to-day basis.”
In addition, Anele maintains it is very important “to be able to work well under pressure. Sometimes the workload is very heavy, yet you must deliver quality work at the same time”.
Family influences
To get to the point where her career is beginning to flourish, she had to move past tragedy during her student years. This is how she tells her story: “I grew up in a rural area called Amahlongwa in KwaZulu-Natal and went to the University of Johannesburg (UJ), where I studied for my Diploma in Accountancy, followed by the Advanced Diploma in Financial Management. Discovering that my mother had cancer during my second year of studies in 2016 was a major blow. We fought throughout the year of 2017 to help her get better. There was even a period during June when we were told her cancer was gone. But unfortunately, in July and August her condition got worse. The cancer went straight to Stage 4. My mother lost her struggle against the disease and passed away in April 2018 — a month before my first graduation.”
The year 2018 was therefore difficult and stressful for Mthiyane, “especially since I was studying for my Advanced Diploma. At one stage I felt I had lost motivation for anything in life — but I kept studying, as I did not want to disappoint the people who were supporting me by paying my fees, food and accommodation. My fees were all paid in cash by my mom and stepdad, even when my mom was sick. While my dad would focus on her hospital fees, my aunt (who is a CA(SA) and inspired my dreams of becoming an accountant) assisted in paying my fees in 2018.”
From her own experience, Anele says that young people “should make sure they do research about the possible directions in which they may want to study and be sure they are ready to commit themselves in finishing what they start, as the journey is not always smooth for everybody”.
The SAICA ED experience
Mthiyane decided to work towards the AT(SA) status when, in 2019, she joined the SAICA ED Khulisa iBiznis programme supported by J.P. Morgan. She stumbled upon the work-readiness project while looking for a job at the time. Indeed, “it was also the first time I heard about the AT(SA) designation and qualification”. She was excited about joining the SAICA ED programme, because it meant gaining some of the experience that companies demand of employees: “It helps to bridge the gap between completing one’s studies and finding a job.”
She says because the Khulisa iBiznis programme (which literally means “grow your business” in isiZulu) is designed to assist small businesses to become funder and investment ready, it has had many advantages: “The programme is important for those small business benefiting from the services of individual trainees working on the programme, because it helps SMMEs that are starting their businesses with training and mentoring. At the same time, someone who has completed his or her studies but is still looking for a job can benefit from the programme greatly as they supply back-office support to the businesses on the programme. I was drawn into the programme when I was job hunting, and could hone my bookkeeping and accounting skills while working towards the AT(SA) designation and SAICA associate membership.”
She adds: “Working with small businesses helped me gain experience in almost all of the different parts of running a business and its challenges. I was exposed to real-life business problems in a more practical way, since I had had no business experience at all at that point. I am grateful to Rossal98 and to Sibusiso Mavuso, who was in charge of helping us to execute the activities and work we had to complete.”
Mthiyane maintains that SAICA ED has “helped me with building my career from the foundation phase. In the course of participating in the Khulisa iBiznis programme, I also learnt some very valuable life skills, including how to approach an interview with a prospective employer. I am much more confident now”.