Registered Government Auditor (RGA) is a professional who is specifically equipped to audit in the public sector. The RGA’s competencies are described in a document titled: Common Body of Knowledge and Skills for Registered Government Auditors (COBOKS for RGAs).
Auditing (in the private and public sectors) is not generic as the environment in the public sector differs substantially from the private sector. Not only does the entire approach (profit driven as opposed to service delivery driven) differ, but the culture of the public sector, and the specific Acts and Regulations are completely different. In addition to this, the public sector accounting standards are different, ethical codes differ, to mention but a few. The RGA designation was designed and developed to address these differences.
Entry Requirements
- First complete a Commerce qualification at NQF Level 7 from an accredited tertiary institution. Minimum required subjects which must be passed successfully are:
- Financial Accounting (at third year)
- Auditing (at third year)
- Management Accounting/ financial management
- Taxation
- Commercial/corporate Law
- Internal auditing (at third year level)
- Become a member of SAIGA
- Complete 18 months public sector auditing practical experience of SAIGA articles.
- Enroll for the Government Auditing Specialism Programme (GASP) training programme. The programme registration for first semester starts from 1 November of each year and closes at the end of January; while the second semester registration starts from 1 February of each year to end of May.
- Write the GASP assessment. The first semester assessments are schedule each year during May/June and second semester in Oct/Nov. The GASP assessments comprise of 3 Papers and for a candidate to be successful, a minimum of 50% is required on each Paper.
- After successfully completing the GASP programme, the candidate will automatically qualify to write the Qualifying Examination for Registered Government Auditor (RGA-QE).
- The RGA-QE assessment comprises of three Papers:
- Paper 1: The first paper focuses on the regulatory framework for government auditors. The PFMA, MFMA, Treasury Regulations, Public Audit Act, the Constitution, INTOSAI Code of Ethics, current developments in auditing, the King Code of Corporate Governance as applicable to public entities.
- Paper 2: The second paper focuses on public sector accounting topics. GRAP for departments and local authorities, preparing annual financial statements for government departments, basic accounting principles.
- Paper 3: The third paper focuses on government auditing and related topics. International Accounting Standards (IAS), IAS applied to the AGSA’s audit manuals, performance auditing, auditing of performance information, forensic auditing and information technology- auditing perspectives.
- After successfully completing the RGA-QE and 3-year articles signed off, the candidate will be awarded the RGA professional designation.
