The Accountancy SA (ASA) is the premier stakeholder communication vehicle of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) to our members, namely; Chartered Accountants [CAs(SA)], Associate Accounting Technicians [AATs(SA)], and Associate General Accountants [AGAs(SA)], as well as all prospective CAs(SA) who are trainees registered for a three year training contract.
The ASA serves to provide broad accounting, auditing and taxation information as well as business trends to our stakeholders. Although much of the information is technical in nature, its content is intended to be less technical than the information found in other electronic SAICA communication.
ABC Circulation – October to December 2009
Total free circulation 35266
Total circulation 36593
Demographics:
With a captive audience in excess of 35 000, Accountancy SA caters for readers with the highest professional and personal buying power appeal in the country. The target audiences of ASA are our key stakeholder constituencies (local and internationally based) which are constituted as:
CAs(SA)
Trainees
Subscribers
Associates
Thuthuka
The mission of SAICA is to serve the interests of the CA(SA) profession and society. The ASA is the most tangible evidence of our stakeholder's membership of SAICA and is intended to promote the following cornerstones of the SAICA mission:
The ASA is able to do this by working in consultation with representatives of the various SAICA constituencies and other stakeholders to identify topics of interest and/or concern to its readers. Recognised specialists in these fields are then commissioned to write articles on the topics. All articles are subject to a double blind review by another specialist to ensure that is it relevant and factually correct.
As the CA(SA) professionis a niche target audience of accountants, the ASA penetration of the CA(SA) profession is total. Our only restriction being the limitation of readership by SAICA stakeholders as a result of the "Share of Mind" that ASA has to compete with in terms of the attention of our over communicated, attractive business audience.
Member satisfaction is of paramount importance to SAICA and all initiatives, including the ASA, are measured through surveys to ensure that members' needs and requirements are met. ASA's success is measured by feedback obtained from an annual reader satisfaction survey conducted by an independent research company and internal readers survey's.
Our research shows that the CA(SA) designation remains the premier business designation amongst top professionals, and our members satisfaction rating of the ASA is high. :
There is a 60% unpropmpted awareness, and a80% awareness of the CA(SA) being 1st Choice Business Designation (ASK AFRICA MARKET SURVEY)
It is also the No 1 career choice of 35% of students studying at University (AUSTRALIS STUDENT SURVEY)
ASA Member Satisfaction Rating – 93%, Delight Rating – 40% (ASK AFRICA)
The ASA has a Balanced Scorecard developed in consultation with senior management and board members within SAICA. This scorecard allows us to set targets and then measure these against feedback obtained through annual stakeholder surveys. We use the findings of the survey to guide editorial and design changes where necessary.
Because we are a member service publication, our daily contact with our target audience allows us constant insight into what our readers and the CA(SA) profession's needs are, and how best to serve this. And because our advertising clients are niched within the profession as well, the relationship between the advertiser's services/products and our target audience (readers) is closely matched. In fact, our advertisers support our brand because of the cornerstone values we promote in the publication.
A recent salary survey done by antonapps International Recruitment (2009) shows us that:
Another key distinguishing factor amongst our readers and members of SAICA, is that in excess of 80% of all CFOs, 18% of all chairpersons, and 22% of all CEOs of the top 50 JSE listed companies, are CAs(SA).
Accountancy SA can therefore boasts that it talks directly to the real decision makers of companies in industries varying from the retail and leisure sectors, to mining, petroleum, banking, and the academic and government sectors.
In a readers survey conducted in mid 2009, and in a Member Satisfaction Index survey conducted by ASK AFRICA in the 1st half of 2009, our magazine received a resounding 90% satisfaction rating and a combined average of 35% for those readers who were 'delighted' with our product. Another significant fact that arose out of the various survey's conducted, is that the CAs(SA) work-life balance was highly important, and as such, our readers have asked us to broaden our content focus to include the entire lifecycle of the CAs(SA) on our pages.
So our magazine not only covers important business related strategic themes, but in 2010, we'll specifically be introducing lifestyle features that address our CAs(SA) call for articles on health and well being, leisure activities, grooming and a global trends watch.
Editor: Raina Julies
Email: journal@saica.co.za
Publishing Administrator – Editorial: Angel Lelosa
angell@saica.co.za
+27 11 621 6696
Publishing Administrator – Production, Web: Mpho Netshivhambe
mphoh@saica.co.za
+ 27 11 621 6724
Published by:
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
Integritas, 7 Zulberg Close, Bruma Lake, 2198
Local calls: 08610 SAICA (72422)
International calls: +27 11 6213321
www.accountancysa.org.za