How do we answer questions? When we start learning at school, we learn how learning and studying works. We develop our understanding of what it means to ‘learn’ something, and what it means to be ‘competent’ with the subject matter. In a lot of cases, here’s what we believe about the learning process: When we…
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Accounting students have strong similarities The personality traits of all students pre-disposes them to certain thought processes, beliefs, strengths and weaknesses. We often find ourselves saying that ‘students generally…’ or ‘most students…’ and a lot of lecturers indicate that students behave in similar ways. This is not intended to box all students into the same…
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You’re more emotional than you think We all need help with overcoming demotivation when we’re in a tough battle. Studying is quite an emotional rollercoaster. As accounting students, perfectionists, and most of us have fixed mindsets, we don’t like to acknowledge that emotions are a large part of our decision-making criteria. We like to believe…
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Why did I chat to SAICA about this? Everyone tells you that your CA(SA) articles / training contract is going to be tough. But what if you feel that you’re in the wrong place, that you’re not getting the experience you should be, or that things are too bad to put up with? SAICA regulations…
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Why did I chat to SAICA about RPL? I had a chat a while back with Gareth Olivier from CA Connect, “Should you start your qualification journey if you’re older”. For a lot of people, the information around how their articles / training contracts will work, is the dealbreaker for this decision. Once you’re working,…
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Why did I chat to Nicolaas? Nicolaas van Wyk is the CEO of SAIBA (South African Institute of Business Accountants). I wanted to chat to him to provide more insight for students about professional accounting qualification options in South Africa. (If you enjoyed this, want us to chat about something else, or want more of…
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Why did I chat to Mandi? Mandi Olivier CA(SA) is a Senior Executive at SAICA, involved in the pre-qualification process. Everything from university studies to the Board exams. I felt that students need to hear directly from the source what SAICA expects from them as they’re studying. (If you enjoyed this, want us to chat…
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Why did I chat to Pat? Pat is another example of the fact that we are NOT boring, grey accountants! He is in Business Development at BDO, he mentors students and so he understands the journeys of many students. We chatted about his journey, the idea of ‘boxing’ yourself, the breadth of your potential career,…
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And now for something completely different! Most of my chats have been a little more serious. Career and study advice. So, I thought we needed to lighten the mood a little! I came across a video from these gents and contacted them, they were good enough to do a chat with me (apparently because it…
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“Am I too old to start?” I get emails from students all the time asking me “Am I too old to start my CA(SA) qualification journey?”. I answer this question all the time, I wrote a short article on it before as well, and I thought I’d chat to someone else for their perspective, on…
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When you’re IN the moment, it’s tough to see past it I’m sharing some of my story because when you see people who are qualified and ‘doing stuff’ that you want to get to, it’s really easy to feel that they didn’t struggle the way you did, that you’ll never get there, because your situation,…
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Why did I chat to Cindy? Cindy Mati is the Senior People and Culture Manager at BDO. (Most people refer to this department as HR!) I chatted to Cindy on behalf of all those students who need to put CV’s together, attend interviews and are planning to start articles and want more information on what…
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Why did I chat to Milpark, CA Connect? Milpark, CA Connect offers an online, SAICA-accredited PGDA (CTA) and Bridging programme. They’re currently taking applications for their July 2020 programmes, so I chatted to them about their programme, and some advice on how any student can put themselves in the best position to pass. PGDA /…
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Why did I chat to Matt? Matthew Tilling is an Australian CPA who is somewhat of a self-confessed IFRS Geek. Matt was the Director of Education at the IFRS Foundation for a few years, so I wanted to chat to him to get some behind-the-scenes information on how IFRS Standards are written, and how the…
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Why did I chat to Vincent? Vincent Motholo CA(SA), RA was a UNISA Auditing lecturer, and is now at SNG-Grant Thornton. His experience as an academic and in practice is really valuable for students. I wanted him to share his qualification journey with us and take us through some of his post-qualification career decisions. We…
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What’s in this article and videos? Introduction I spoke to Bruce about career opportunities in the Public Sector a while back. I found that quite a few people were interested in exploring the topic of the Public Sector a little more, so I decided to chat to him again. This time, we chatted about the…
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What’s in this article and videos? The future of the Accounting Profession Will Accountants be obsolete in the near future? Is there a future for someone who wants to pursue an Accounting profession? This is a huge topic with a lot of viewpoints, concepts and ideas to discuss. As a starting point for this discussion,…
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What’s in the article and videos? An accounting career in The Public Sector The Public Sector (ie: Government) is a HUGE part of our economic environment and GDP. I thought it was time to explore career opportunities for Accounting and Auditing a little more. Loads of students look into doing their articles at the Auditor…
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Is your work schedule out of control? It’s tricky to balance life and work at the best of times. If you’re studying at the same time, this becomes even more challenging. I often get queries from students on how to get their work schedules under control so that they have time to study. This is…
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I’m taking Tabaldi’s FAC1502 and FAC1601 class this semester, you can register here: Register for Tabaldi’s FAC1502 online course here Email Tabaldi: queries@tabaldi.com DISCOUNT CODE: YVONNE10 Register before end-February 2020, and a get 10% discount. Use the above code Are you struggling with FAC1502 or FAC1601? I developed the online course for Tabaldi Education’s FAC1502…
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Table of Contents SAICA-accredited CTA / PGDA We all love choice, and students are always asking me what options are better for them, so I thought I’d find out more about CA Connect, to give you as a student more info. CA Connect has been assisting students with their CTA studies since 2010. In 2019,…
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Are you too old to pursue that goal? I get this question all the time. “Am I too old to study?”; “Am I too old to get this qualification?” Here’s what I want to say to you: I chatted to Gareth from CA Connect about this I thought I’d get someone else’s input for you…
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What’s in this article? Are you studying properly? MOST of my Study Coaching students struggle with this. I’ve lectured for over a decade, THOUSANDS of students. You WANT to pay attention to this. What are your expectations with your study process? Is it really how it works? 90% of my students avoid Step 1 I…
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i chatted to tim about his book We don’t always realise that our actions and what we do are governed by our beliefs about ourselves and how we feel about ourselves. When I coach students and younger professionals, they often identify their challenges as “I’m not DOING something”. (Studying, working etc). They want me to…
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“make enough mistakes…” Most of my students are not ok with failure and making mistakes. I get that. I’m there too! Trying to really comprehend and value the benefits of the mistakes we make, is tough. But I really want you to think about why someone like this advises you to make LOTS of mistakes!…
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Study Coaching assessment I use the questions in this quiz to help assess my Study Coaching students and their study habits. The answers help me understand where they need to focus, and the types of things they’re struggling with. Each of these questions have an impact on your exam performance, directly or indirectly. what do…
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Do you need motivation to study? I get messages from students every single day, saying that they’re not motivated, or they’ve lost motivation. They’re worried because without motivation, they’re not studying. What they’re hoping I can do is ‘motivate’ them so that they feel like studying again. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but…
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books for your career and personal growth Your successful career is going to involve way more skills and knowledge than your exam syllabii. Thankfully, not all of this knowledge requires exams. That’s good news, right? There’s SO much information out there, so I’ll start you off with a few topics and fields of interest that…
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Get marks for format questions One of the topics I spend time on with my study coaching students, is how to get marks in exams, with limited knowledge. In this case, I’m referring to your ability to get marks in format questions. Format questions are popular. Financial Statements; Notes to the AFS; Deferred Tax tables;…
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Does highlighting information in your exams help you get marks? Students LOVE highlighters! (I do too, I love stationery!) We have developed the habit of highlighting (or underlining) information thinking that it’s going to help us learn and get more marks. We feel that it’s ‘active reading’. Take a look at this video and think…
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