Why should I study the CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration?

The need for knowledge of and competencies in management is growing in importance worldwide. The wide range of skills included in this qualification will provide you with a holistic understanding of the operational environment in which management and administration personnel operate, as well as a variety of clerical skills, and provides the industry and its clients with fundamentally competent professionals.

The Certificate addresses the needs of staff from supervisory to junior managerial level (for example, assistant manager). The qualification remains broadly focused but it introduces elements of management.

It is aimed at providing a relevant qualification at a junior management level. Since there is a shortage of qualified people at this level, there is a definite demand for this qualification from the formal sector of the economy. Despite the unstructured nature of the informal sector of the economy, it is anticipated that a demand will also arise from this sector. It also aims to provide recognition to staff with relevant experience but without a recognised qualification by giving them a registered qualification which can be obtained in a number of ways including through the RPL process.

The qualification offers a planned combination of learning outcomes, which have a defined purpose, which includes reading a balance sheet, completing a tax return and understanding legal and Information and Communication Technology issues.

There is a large demand for qualified staff and the qualification goes some way in addressing this shortfall. Qualified learners will be able to enter the market as entrepreneurs, doing their own tax returns and books of account. In the government, NGO and business world, the successful learner will become more confident, given the acquisition of further theoretical knowledge which will prepare him/her for potential promotion.

CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration - Course Structure

In order to complete this qualification students will have to complete the following Modules:

• Tactics for Winning
• Communication
• Economics
• Financial Accounting I (Including Interpreting Financial Accounts)
• General Principles of Commercial Law (Including Introduction to Governance)

AND

• Managing Information Systems
• Management Principles
• Taxation
• Financial Accounting II
• Advanced Commercial Law

Please Note:

* The subject Foundations of Law has been phased out and no new registrations will be accepted after the October 2010 exams. The subject will be replaced by General Principles of Commercial Law which will include a Governance portion.


You cannot start with the CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration until you have successfully completed the CIS Professional Qualification: Management and Administration. 

Thus, you will see that for this Governance and Administration Programme, we mention that the subjects from the Management and Administration Programme are part of it.

In other words, you must complete these subjects from the Management and Administration Programme:

• Tactics for Winning
• Communication
• Economics
• Financial Accounting I (Including Interpreting Financial Accounts)
• General Principles of Commercial Law (Including Introduction to Governance)

Only once you have completed the Management and Administration Programme, you can begin with the Governance and Administration subjects:          

• Managing Information Systems
• Management Principles
• Taxation
• Financial Accounting II
• Advanced Commercial Law

CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration – Programme Outcomes:

• All the subjects from CIS Professional Qualification: Management and Administration,

AND:

• The subjects from CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration:

Managing Information Systems

• The types of information needed within an organisation, Information, Information Systems, System Development, Performance-based Systems, Careers in Information Systems.
• Computer Hardware and Software, Basic Components of a Computer, Different Types of Computers, Systems Software, Operating Systems, Workgroup Operating Systems, Modern Software Issues and Trends.
• The Concepts of Databases, The Need for Data Management, The Need for Data Modelling, The Relational Database Model, The Role of the Database Management System.
• The role of telecommunications in the modern organisation, The Purpose and Functioning of a simple Local Area Network (LAN), How the application of a LAN is used to address Business Needs, Explanation of a simple Network Diagram, How Information is Transmitted through Business, Structure and Functioning of an Intranet, The Internet, The World Wide Web, Telecommunications, The Extranet.
• Criteria for Consideration prior to the Computerisation of Electronic Business, Infrastructure, Technology, Development of Electronic Business, The Transaction Processing System (TPS), Basic Knowledge of the Management and Control of a TPS, the Enterprise Resource Planning Systems.
• The Role of Decision Support Systems (DSS), The Features of Executive Information Systems, The Components of a DSS, The Merits of Operational Systems.
• Specialised Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Experts Systems.
• The Issues of Computer Security, Goals of Information Security, Risks to Hardware, Software and Online Systems, The Controls needed for Computer Security, Security Measures, The Need for Recovery Procedures.

Management Principles

• A Business Structure and its Organising Features are Identified and Quantified for its intended Market, The Nature of Management, Introduction to Management, Evolution of Management Theory, Management and the Environment.
• Basic Management Functions and Techniques, Performance Assessment, Leadership Styles, The Nature of Management, Planning, Organising, Leading, Controlling, Managing Diversity, Constraints or Bottlenecks within the Business Flow.
• Application of Alternative Management, Marketing Structures and Strategies, Total Quality Management, Quality Circles, World Class Manufacturing, Employment Equity, Team Concepts.
• Leadership, Leading, Groups and Teams within the Organisation, Motivation, Communication, Interpersonal Relationships.
• The Role and Importance of Human Resource Management and Labour Relations in the Organisation, Relevant Legislation, HR Provisioning, Placement, Probation, Transfers, Promotion, Retrenchments, the Unions, Employer-Employee Relationships, Job Description, Performance Management, Skills Development, Job Grading, Unionisation, Salaries, Staff Benefits, Grievances, Discipline, Disputes.

Taxation

• Tax Law, Normal Tax, Tax Law for Companies, Close Corporations, Partnerships, Individuals, Value Added Tax, Secondary Tax on Companies, Capital Gains Tax.
• Tax Payable, Determining the Normal Tax Payable by a Taxpayer, Gross Income, Capital Vs Income, Exemptions to which a Taxpayer may be Entitled, Deductions to which a Taxpayer may be Entitled, The General Deduction Formula, Special Deductions, Recoupment of Allowances, Trading Stock.
• Categories of Taxpayers. Companies, Public and Private Companies, Groups of Companies, Connected Persons, Normal Company Tax, Secondary Tax.
• Close Corporations, Taxation, Distribution to Members, Conversion from a Company, Connected Persons, C.G.T.
• Individuals, Taxable Income, Deductions and Allowances, Rebates, Disallowable Expenditure and Claims, Connected Persons, C.G.T.
• Partnerships, Legal Principles, Types of Partnerships, Taxation of Partnerships, Connected Persons.
• Special Categories of Taxpayers, Small Business Corporations, Personal Service Companies, Labour Brokers.
• Residents and Non-Residents, Gross Income, Residence Qualification, Taxation of Non-Residents.
• Specific Applications of the Income Tax Act, Employees Tax and Provisional Tax, PAYE, SITE, Taxation of Benefits on Retirement, Death and Resignation, Fringe Benefits Tax, Capital Gains Tax.
• VAT, The VAT Act, Registration as a Vendor, Supplies and Deemed Supplies, Goods and Services, Output Tax, Input Tax, Exempt Supplies, Zero Rated Supplies, Special VAT Categories, VAT vendors, Payment Bases, Refunds, Documentation and Record Keeping, Objections and Appeals.
• The Tax Return, Procedure for Preparing  Tax Computations, Lodging Tax Returns, Companies and Individuals, Tax Assessments, Objections and Appeals, ADR Procedures, Tax Courts and the High Court, Payment and Recovery of Tax, Penalties and Additional Tax Assessments, Appointment and Duties of Representative Taxpayers and Agents, Registration of Tax Practitioners, Tax Avoidance.

Financial Accounting II

• General Revision of Financial Accounting I.
• Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements, Users and their Information Needs, Objectives of Financial Statements, Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Statements.
• Partnership Accounting, Changes in Profit-Sharing Ratio, Admission and Retirement of a Partner, Dissolution of a Partnership, Conversion to a Close Corporation or a Company.
• Corporate Accounting, Steps in the Formation of a CC, Limited Liability Companies, Issue of Shares and Debentures, Preparation of Financial Statements for Management and Publication in Compliance with Statutory Requirements, Disclosure of Directors’ Emoluments, Accounting Standards, Accounting Policies, Earnings Per Share, Events after the Balance Sheet Date, Provisions and Contingencies, Inventories, Revenue, Property, Plant and Equipment, Redemption of Preference Shares, Redemption of Debentures.
• Accounting for Branches, Recording Transactions, Centralised and Decentralised Branches, Multiple (retail) Shop System, Theft of Inventory and Cash, Accounting Treatment of Changes in Mark-Up, Inventory in Transit, Inventory Transferred at Cost Plus a Percentage, Preparation of Financial Statements.
• Group Financial Statements, Consolidated Financial Statements, Subsidiaries, Wholly-Owned and Partly-Owned Subsidiary Companies, Purchase of Share in Subsidiary at Financial Year End and during Financial Year, Revaluation of Non-Current-Assets at Acquisition, Inter-Company Transactions.
• Elementary Treatment of Taxation in Financial Statements.
• Cash Flow Statements – Preparation and Interpretation.
• Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Statements and Financial Information as an Assistance to Management and Stakeholders, Use of Rations, Calculation of Liquidity, Profitability, Activity, Investment, Earnings and Dividends per Share, Interpretation of Ratios, Preparation of Cash Budgets and Forecasts, Short and Long-Term Decision Making and Planning.

Advanced Commercial Law

• Intellectual property: Basic intellectual property rules - trade secrets, patent law, copyright, trademarks, plus quasi-IP;
• Alternative dispute resolution: Understanding conflicts and disputes, understanding dispute resolution, dispute systems design, negotiation, mediation, chairing, facilitation, the Aribitration Act, arbitration agreements;
• Law of agency: Commencement of agreement (written or oral), operation of law, estoppel, ratification, the relationship of negotiorum gestor - unauthorised management, termination of relationship, the personal liability of the agent and the agent's implied warranty of authority;
• Law of competition: The maintenance and promotion of competition in the national economy, the elimination of harmful restrictive trade practices, overview of the Competitions Act;

• Secured transactions: Personal and real security, the contract of suretyship and principles peculiar to it, forms of security - pledge, mortgage, liens (the right to retain an object on which money or labour has been expended);

• Negotiable instruments and other methods of payment: Cheques, writing out cheques in the manner creating the least risk for the business, lost or stolen cheques, crossing cheques, bills of exchange;
• Law of trusts: Principles of SA laws of trust, trust and taxation (income tax, CGT, estate duty etc), administration of trusts, practical drafting of a trust document, special trusts, duties and obligations of trustees, insolvency of a party to a trust;

• Law of insolvency: Sequestration (voluntary surrender or compulsory sequestration), acts of insolvency set out in section 8 of the Insolvency Act (which create a presumption of insolvency, voidable transactions and the position of the solvent spouse;

• Administration of estates: Intestate succession, testate succession - formalities, interpretation of wills, problems with bad drafting, Administration process - reporting to the Master, collecting assets, paying liabilities, advertising requirements, drafting Liquidation and Distribution Accounts, calculating Estate Duty, transfer of assets and payment to heirs, minor beneficiaries.

Course Duration:

This course should take you between 28 and 34 months to complete

Entrance Requirements:

You can register for this Programme if:

• You have passed the National Senior Certificate Examinations with a Level 4 pass in both English and Mathematics/Science or a Level 5 pass in Mathematical Literacy;

OR

• If you have achieved the IBS National Certificate: Management and Administration (NQF4);

OR

• If you are older than 23 years of age and if you have been working in a related field for at least two years;

OR

• If you are a foreign learner who has the equivalent qualifications

Assessment and Award:

Once you have successfully completed the necessary assignments prescribed by College SA, you may apply to complete the examinations with the CSSA. Upon successful completion of your five exams, CSSA will grant your CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration Certificate.

PLEASE NOTE:

The Chartered Secretaries of South Africa (CSSA) will award you with the CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration.

FASSET will issue the following:

• Unit Standard Certification
• Certification of Qualification.

College SA has received accreditation from FASSET SETA to offer the following Chartered Secretaries of South Africa (CSSA) Programmes:
 

• CIS Professional Qualification: Management and Administration
• CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration
• Professional Advanced Qualification: Governance and Administration.

Interested? Want to find out more?

If you would like to find out more about the CIS Professional Qualification: Governance and Administration, please click this link that will take you to a form page. Fill in this short form and one of our friendly Student Registrars will respond to your questions and provide you with all the information you need.

Frequently Asked Questions