Thursday, 23 October 2008 
 
Demand for accountants is outstripping supply on a local and global level. Small to Medium Enterprises as well as large accounting firms within South Australia have been grappling with a host of issues relating to skills shortage for the past eight years.  
 
Following a strong increase in the number of businesses operating in the industry, demand for accountants has grown substantially. Changes in financial-related legislation and standards have also increased scrutiny of company finances and the demand for accounting services. 
 
With the shortage of accountants in Australia becoming so critical, the Institute of Chartered Accountants has introduced the Chartered Accountant Work Experience program, which aims to provide commerce, government and accounting practice firms with direct access to South Australia’s top tier accounting students. 
 
The Institute’s South Australian and Northern Territory General Manager, Mr Mark Jones said: “Currently demand is clearly outweighing supply in the accounting industry. Many organisations are reporting that a lack of quality staff is prohibiting growth so we have introduced a program whereby employers are given direct access to the next generation of accounting talent.  
 
“For domestic and international accounting, business and commerce undergraduates, the program offers practical skills development and opens up further opportunities to secure a permanent position, in fact over 90 per cent of the students have an ongoing relationship with their work placement firm,” he continued. 
 
This week, the Institute’s South Australian and Northern Territory office celebrated the placement of 53 undergraduate students who will participate in the Chartered Accountant Achiever Work Experience program. This is made up of 42 domestic student places and 11 international student achiever places. 
 
Ms Casey Layborne, an accounting undergraduate at the University of South Australia, was one of the candidates celebrated on Tuesday night, following her placement with accounting firm McGrath+Nicol. Ms Layborne said she opted to be apart of the program due to the many opportunities it offered undergraduates looking to pursue a career in accounting. 
 
“I thought it would be good experience to acquire practical onsite training which would give me a better understanding of the accounting profession. The program will also help me to determine whether this is the career that I want to pursue,” said Ms Layborne. 
 
The work experience placements are being offered from two to 12 weeks with Institute accredited firms and will take place during the 2008 summer break.