After four long years of blood, sweat and tears, Dr Corrie Cloete not only walked away with a PhD from the North-West University (NWU), but also a South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) Top Achievers Award.

Dr Cloete received first prize in the doctoral degree category of the 2018 SAIPA Accounting Thesis Competition on 11 October 2018 during a prestigious ceremony in Johannesburg.

In his award-winning thesis he developed a risk analysis tool for professional accountants. This tool will enable accountants to assist their clients in the management of an array of challenges experienced by entrepreneurs who own small-medium enterprises.

“I am deeply honoured by this award,” says Dr Cloete. 

He adds that winning such a prestigious competition will have a positive effect on his career, since he developed research skills on a level that is impossible to do otherwise. “The research standards set by the NWU are very high, and this is evident if one analyses the reports issued by the non-South African examiners.”

According to Faith Ngwenya, technical and standards services executive at SAIPA, the aim of the SAIPA Accounting Thesis Competition is to raise the bar for accounting research.

“Dr Cloete’s excellent submission has without a doubt contributed immensely to the realisation of that vision,” she says. She adds that it was the quality of his research and his unique concept that made his submission stand out from numerous theses and dissertations submitted from universities across South Africa.

Award -winning research

Dr Cloete has had his own private practice for 27 years and applied for his PhD in 2014.

The risk analysis tool he developed will allow both professional accountants and their clients to map a very clear path in the process of analysing current and potential risks.

“This tool will save time and money, and will ensure that all risk analysis elements are fully covered,” says Dr Cloete. He adds that it could also provide court-admissible evidence with a clear set of arguments that legal representatives and accountants could use.

NWU alumnus Dr Corrie Cloete was awarded SAICA’s Top Achiever Award for his doctoral thesis.