Is Audit Dead?
2 Min Read
There's no doubt that the options for those on the chartered accountancy route have grown over the last decade or so.
We've got TIPP vs. TOPP (still my favourite abbreviations), advisory, corporate finance, banking, the public sector, and even programmes like VAT IT's CA Entrepreneurship Programme.
And of course, we've got good ol' audit.
But what impact is all this variety having on audit as a career path?
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Fewer Auditors On Paper
In 2020, South Africa had 3 914 registered auditors (RAs). By 2025, that number had dwindled to 3 472, a decrease of 442 people, or roughly 11%.
So over five years, despite a steady stream of new trainees, more RAs left the register than joined it. Some of that is retirement and emigration, but a good chunk of qualified RAs simply decided audit was no longer for them.
The bench isn't deep to begin with either. Only about 6% of CAs(SA) are registered auditors, and around 60% of current RAs are over the age of 45.
It's fair to assume that the growing number of options on the CA(SA) path is adding to this shift. Personally, I think the general sentiment among students and trainees is that they're "serving their time in audit before moving on".
Pros Of Audit
Look, just because the profession is changing its composition doesn't mean audit isn't still a rewarding path. A few of the key pros include:
Easy Access → Because audit was (and to an extent still is) the standard path, the availability of audit trainee roles is plenty among big four, medium and small firms. A great place to start if you’re not quite sure where you want to land up.
Dwindling supply of RAs → Basic economics teaches us the relationship between supply and demand. So, given the decrease in RAs, this could be a lucrative path for quick career progression.
Reading financial statements properly → Auditing forces you to trace numbers back to the evidence and to test management's estimates. That skill is useful everywhere you go afterwards, from CFO roles to deal work.
Multi-industry exposure → In three years of audit articles, you’re likely to see it all, a mine, a bank, a retailer, a service business… the list goes on and on. Very few other routes show a 23-year-old that many different business models, and it's why audit has long been seen as the all-rounder's launchpad.
Established structure and training → Big audit firms run formal training, mentoring and graded responsibility. The Auditor-General (AGSA) and mid-tier firms do too, at different scales.
Board exam alignment → Board exams are inherently skewed toward audit related work, it’s just a by-product of what we’re taught.
Keeping your options → Moving from audit into commerce, advisory or finance is a well-worn path. Moving from commerce back into audit is much harder, because becoming an RA means going through IRBA's route.
Cons Of Audit
Despite it being the "standard" path to becoming a chartered accountant, I personally think a career in audit requires a very specific type of person, one who loves structure and planning, which admittedly aren't my strong suits.
So there are also downsides, because no career path is perfect:
Busy season → Notoriously prone to busy seasons. Year-end deadlines (often February and June in South Africa) mean long days and weekends for weeks at a time.
Reviewing, not building → It can seem like you look back at decisions other people made. People who want to make the calls usually end up in commerce or deal work.
Pay lags other routes early on → Early roles in other fields such as financial services and IT often pay more at early career stages.
Double membership fees → Paying membership fees for both SAICA and IRBA can become quite a significant recurring cost.
Personal liability → You sign your name to the opinion. After VBS and Steinhoff, there's a real chance of penalties, investigations and reputational damage. One example: IRBA reportedly imposed a R10.8 million penalty on a former partner.
Changing for the better
Here's what the headline numbers hide.
Not every registered auditor actually audits. Plenty of people keep the registration while working somewhere else entirely, and they're the a large chunk of the ones disappearing from the register.
The auditors who actually sign audit opinions (assurance RAs) have held steady at roughly 2 600 over the same period. Meaning, the decline has come almost entirely from RAs who weren't signing off audits in the first place, which means the people leaving the register had mostly left audit already.
The people coming in are also choosing it on purpose.
Qualifying as a CA(SA) doesn’t make you an RA automatically. You have to complete IRBA's Audit Development Programme (ADP) after qualifying, which takes at least 18 months and 1 500 hours of audit and assurance work, assessed through a portfolio of evidence rather than an exam.
In other words, nobody ends up as a registered auditor by accident. It's an extra 18 months you have to actively sign up for, after you've already earned the letters that open every other door.
Despite that extra hurdle, new ADP registrations jumped from 123 in 2024 to 205 in 2025, a 67% increase in a single year.
When so few CAs(SA) are registered auditors, and every new one chose an extra hurdle to get there, the profession is being filtered down to the people who actually want to be in it.
I think that matters for quality. Audit is built on professional scepticism and judgement, and those are hard to fake when you're just counting down the months of your contract. IRBA's latest inspection report flagged weak judgement and scepticism as recurring problems, and those are exactly the things that improve when the person doing the work genuinely cares about getting it right.
However, it isn't all rosy. ADP completions dropped from 106 to 80 in 2025, so signing up and finishing are two different things, and a smaller bench means those roughly 2 600 signing auditors carry more of the load. Still, a smaller profession of people who want to be there is a far healthier starting point than a bigger one full of people waiting for their contract to end.
Insights From The Pocket CA
We've partnered with Pocket CA, an AI tool built for accountants, like your friend if they actually listened in lecture.
Here’s the technical detail in this scenario from the number-crunching machine:
Auditing Profession Act 26 of 2005
Only individuals registered with IRBA as registered auditors may perform audits of financial statements in South Africa. That's why the RA register matters more than the CA(SA) headcount when we talk about audit capacity.
ISA 200, Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor
Para 15: the auditor must plan and perform the audit with professional scepticism, recognising that circumstances may exist that cause the financial statements to be materially misstated.
Para 16: the auditor must exercise professional judgement in planning and performing the audit.
ISQM 1, Quality Management for Firms
Firms must design a system of quality management that includes having enough competent, capable people to perform engagements. A shrinking pool of signing RAs is a resources risk that firms have to manage under ISQM 1.
Check out the → 🔗Pocket CA
The Bottom Line
So, is audit dead? Not quite. The register is shrinking, but the core group of auditors who sign opinions has held steady, and more qualified CAs are signing up for the ADP each year.
The more routes the CA(SA) opens up, the more audit becomes a choice rather than a default. A profession made up of people who chose it is worth trusting with a set of financial statements.
If you're weighing up training offices this year, ask yourself one honest question: would you still pick audit if it weren't the default? If the answer is yes, the numbers suggest you'll be walking into less competition and more demand.
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The Journal Entry Team
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