461 graduate at ICPAU

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) held their 11th graduation ceremony, in which a total of 461 graduands successfully complete their courses.

The graduation ceremony, which took place at Kampala Imperial Royale Hotel saw 397 graduands qualify for Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPA U) course, 23 for the Certified Tax Advisor (CTA) and 41 for the Accounting Technicians Diploma (ATD) courses respectively.

ICPAU Manager Examinations, Charles Bahakwonka Byaruhanga said female candidates performed better than their male counterparts.

He noted that the highest pass rates are among students in the 18-29 years of age bracket. “The pass rate is higher among the younger students, senior six leavers and fresh University graduates, who appear to be putting in more time to concentrate on the course”, he added. He advised aspiring accountants to undertake CPA while they still have more time at their disposal. This, he says, increases their chances of getting good opportunities for demonstrating one’s professional competences.

Frederick Kibedi, ICPAU President, said CPA is designed to equip students with relevant technical and professional skills, as well as the right professional values and attitudes that will enable them to provide quality services, in an environment of increasing complexity and advancing technology.

“The CPA training further emphasises initial and continuing professional development and practical experience training. Today, we are qualifying 397 CPA graduates, thus a cumulative total of 3516 graduates who have qualified through our examination scheme”, he said.

Joan Tebesigwa, the top student in CPA Paper 18-Integration of Knowledge (November 2018 examinations diet), said she believes CPA will open more doors for her, since employers prefer to employ qualified accountants.

“Before I enrolled for CPA, I thought accounting was merely about debit and Credit. CPA has taught me that accountants do more than just debit and credit, like strategic advisory and decision making. Accountants are creators, enablers, preservers and reporters”, she said.