Leading black-owned assurance and advisory services firm Nkonki has confirmed that it achieved a national pass rate of 92% for its candidates writing the second part of the Assessment Professional Competence (APC) exam, with its Sunninghill office achieving a pass rate of 100%. Both are considerably higher than the average national pass rate of 89% supplied by SAICA, according to whom 2,529 aspiring CAs sat for the APC in November 2016, of which 89% (2,247) passed. The firm attributes this success to the robust support it offers its trainees.
Mitesh Patel, Nkonki CEO, explains that the firm has a unique approach to accepting trainees who it believes have the potential to succeed, while not necessarily having all the qualifications. "We then provide the necessary support and coaching to ensure they are well prepared for all their exams through our in-house Academy, where partners, senior managers and managers all share their experience and wisdom with candidates, and help them with their studies," he says.
Mitesh believes that through rigorous on-the-job training and initiatives such as the Academy, which offers specialised support to trainees, milestones such as this demonstrate just how well individuals that often don't meet the trainee profile of other accounting firms, can do, and that there is no real barrier to becoming a qualified CA with the right help. "In this way, we also believe that we are able to achieve true transformation of the profession," he adds.
