An accounting syllabus for marketing students as determined by SME needs and specifications

In South Africa, SME development has been identified by government as a priority increating jobs to solve high unemployment.SMEs also often battle to survive in a tough and ever changing business world. There isa high failure rate among many SMEs. Some of the reasons for the high rate of failureare that the owner or manager is unfamiliar with established business practices, lack ofmanagerial expertise in business management and lack of finance to fund the business.It is essential that the individuals responsible for the management of the business havethe necessary training and expertise to equip them for the successful running of thebusiness.It is therefore crucial that all employees in the SME sector irrespective of the department theywork in obtain some degree of training and expertise. These employees also need someknowledge of the financial position of the business. This can only be made possible if allemployees have a fair amount of financial knowledge so that decision~making is madeeasier.The curriculum of the CPUT subject 'Accounting for Marketers' may not meet therequirements of SMEs. It is an advisable that SMEs requirements should be continuallymeasured against the course offering to ensure that the course equips the students with thefinancial knowledge needed by SMEs. This can be done as CPUT has close ties with theseSMEs through co-operative education and intemships.An attempt was made to identify the skills and techniques required by the marketing studentspertaining to the SUbject 'Accounting for Marketers' in practice and to comparing the syllabiused in education. This comparison would hopefully lead to a clear understanding of thegaps between education and practice, if any, which will enable the researcher to makerecommendations regarding the 'Accounting for Marketers' syllabi.The main purpose of the study was to measure the gap, if any, between the subjects'Accounting for Marketers' offered at CPUT and the requirements of the SMEs. If indeed agap exists, the institution can broaden certain aspects of the syllabi, by incorporating casestudies on legitimate companies, which will aid the students to stay informed aboutAccounting in their field of expertise. There will be better integration of theory and practice.1I1A descriptive research method was followed using a census survey research design topresent a structured comprehensive questionnaire to the total population of SMEs affiliatedwith the Department of Cooperative Education and that have participated in the experientialtraining program.The number of SMEs who completed and returned the questionnaires was 15. This resultedin a response rate of 50 percent which was a fair representation of the entire census.In support of the findings recommendations were made regarding each component thatformed part of an accounting syllabus. The results indicated that certain components in theaccounting syllabus were rated as very important and others not. Components that werereferred to as important but which were not a part of the syllabus will be under scrutiny by theresearcher to come to a resolution, where these components will be accommodated in theaccounting syllabus for marketing students for 2008.