CA ANZ launches new CA Foundations Program

Amid the profession’s critical talent shortage, CA ANZ has launched a new program designed to make the chartered accountant designation more accessible and achievable.

The program was designed as enrolments in accounting degrees have nearly halved since 2018, despite surging demand for accountants, with 58,000 new roles expected by 2033.

CA ANZ urged that it was essential to attract more aspiring professionals to the industry and build a “diverse, future-ready pipeline” as accountants started to take on broader roles in sustainability and digital transformation.

Simon Hann, CA ANZ group executive education and marketing, said the new program reflected the body’s commitment to evolving pathways to the CA program that met the needs of the profession and community.

“We know the profession is changing, and so are the people entering it. CA Foundations is about opening the door wider – making sure that anyone with the drive and capability to become a Chartered Accountant has a clear and supported path to reach the starting line of the CA Program,” he said.

“This is about recognising relevant work experience and prior education, creating opportunities for a diverse range of individuals to become a Chartered Accountant at a time when the profession faces a talent crisis.”

The pathway would focus on critical knowledge needed across core accounting disciplines and was set to be streamlined to ensure aspiring CAs would succeed in the program and their future accounting career.

Hann said the new CA Foundations was a skills-based program that offered a learning path customised to each participant's previous education and work experience.

“Depending on their experience and educational achievement, not everyone will have to undertake each of the CA Foundation’s six subjects. But for those who are just starting out on their journey, all the subjects are designed to help make them job-ready, more quickly.”

“Aspiring future CAs, employers, and members have told us that the program should be more flexible to support individuals from diverse backgrounds, which is why we’ve created a highly supported study program that, for the first time, people can start anytime and undertake their exams on-demand.”

The body added that the launch of the new CA Foundations followed consultation with educators, employers, and students, drew on international experience and was aligned with CA ANZ’s aspiring strategic position.

CA ANZ would also offer an online tool that supplied personalised learning journeys to help people “explore their own unique pathway”.

“While CA ANZ is introducing more flexible and accessible pathways to reach the CA Program’s starting line, every aspirant – regardless of their pathway journey – must meet the same exacting standards to earn the CA designation,” Hann said.