Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said at the report’s launch event on May 10 that young accountants feel that their starting pay lags behind that of their peers, even as they have to work long hours, especially during the peak season.

“At the end of the day, employees should feel appropriately compensated for the work they put in. Otherwise, the profession will not be able to attract enough young talent, despite good long-term salary and career prospects,” said Ms Indranee.

The 2023 Graduate Employment Survey noted that accountancy graduates from Singapore’s autonomous universities earned a median gross monthly starting salary of $3,800, which was lower than that of their peers from these universities ($4,313).

Accountancy graduates specifically in accounting jobs earned even less – $3,600. While accounting firms have undertaken pay revisions over the years, starting salaries remain a notch below those in other sectors.

Currently, polytechnic accountancy graduates must complete the foundation and professional programmes to earn the qualification, while autonomous university accountancy graduates are required only to do the professional programme. All SCAQ candidates must also fulfil three years of practical experience in an accredited training organisation.

Starting from 2024, polytechnic graduates who have completed the relevant subjects in their polytechnic programme will get an exemption for the Singapore taxation module in the foundation programme, in addition to the principles of financial reporting module from which they are already exempted.

With this exemption, an aspiring chartered accountant will have to take fewer foundation programme examinations and can become certified about six months earlier. The entire SCAQ journey previously took up to four to six years for polytechnic accountancy graduates.

Autonomous accountancy university graduates would take between two and three years after graduation to get the SCAQ qualification, assuming that they had completed part of the required practical experience through internships in university.

The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) recently gave greater weight to a graduate’s prior relevant work experience for the three years of practical experience requirement for the SCAQ. This extra consideration could shave up to six months off this requirement….

We should thank the drop in uni enrolment and mass hiring across the causeway, as it has led to recognition/acknowledgement of the problem.