AI skills for the modern accountant

AI Skills for the Modern Accountant: From First Prompt to Boardroom Strategy

AI is already inside the numbers you sign. This programme makes sure you use it well, and can prove it.

Date:

15 July, 2026

Time:

Available immediately

Hours:

35 hours

CPD Units:

Category:

Technology

Group:

Channel 3: Specialisation

Format:

Self-study

R625,00 VAT incl.

Product Information

Most accountants are not short of AI tools; they are short of a safe, structured way to use them. This programme fixes that. It teaches AI the way it is actually used in South African practice: what to trust, what to check, and who carries the responsibility when the tool is wrong.

You are taken from first principles to finance leadership across three levels. Level 1 builds the foundations every practitioner needs. Level 2 applies AI to real workflows, from financial statements to VAT, management accounts and reviews. Level 3 equips financial managers and CFOs to set AI strategy, govern it, and report it to the board. Every lesson is grounded in SARS, POPIA, the Companies Act, IFRS for SMEs and the CIBA Code.

By the end you will not simply use AI. You will direct it, check it against CIBA’s own standards, and be able to show a client, a partner or SARS exactly how you reached an answer. Every lesson ends with an interactive knowledge check.

Who this course is for

Bookkeepers and accounting technicians who want to use AI safely.
Practitioners in public practice serving SME and tax clients.
Accountants in commerce preparing statements, management accounts and reviews.
Financial managers and CFOs setting the organisation’s AI position.
Anyone in a South African finance role, employed or independent, whatever their professional body.

This is a practical, applied programme. It is not an academic qualification or a theory course.

Presenter/s

How this course work

Self-paced and online on the CIBA learning platform, with no set dates and no live sessions.
One or two modules a sitting works well; spacing them over a few weeks helps the material stick.
An interactive knowledge check runs through each module: click an answer and see at once whether it is right, and why.

What will set you apart

After completing this programme, you will be able to:

Explain in plain English what AI can and cannot do, and where the professional keeps the liability.
Prompt AI reliably using the CIBA C-R-I-S-P method.
Check AI output against the CIBA SARS-Defensibility Standard before it goes out.
Use AI across financial statements, VAT and tax, management accounts, reviews and client work.
Validate AI-assisted financial statements with the CIBA TRACE Standard.
Draft your firm’s AI policy and keep client data compliant under POPIA.
Lead AI adoption with the CIBA LEAD Standard, ending in a board-ready AI Leadership Plan.
Work with AI professionally and ethically, with every claim verified.

Event breakdown

Level 1 – AI Foundations for Accountants

#	Lesson
1.1	What AI Actually Is and What It Is Not
1.2	AI Tools You Can Use This Week
1.3	AI and SARS: Risks, Flags and Opportunities
1.4	Ethics, Liability and AI

Level 2 – AI in Accounting Practice

#	Lesson
2.1	AI and the Annual Financial Statements
2.2	AI, VAT and the Tax Returns
2.3	AI and the Management Accounts
2.4	AI and Client Communication
2.5	AI in Marketing and Business Development
2.6	AI and the Independent Review
2.7	Your Firm’s AI Policy
2.8	Your Complete AI Practice Toolkit

Level 3 – AI Strategy and Leadership for Finance

#	Lesson
3.1	AI Strategy for Finance Functions
3.2	AI Governance and Risk in Finance
3.3	Evaluating and Procuring AI Tools
3.4	AI and the Finance Team of the Future
3.5	AI in Board and Audit Committee Reporting
3.6	Capstone: Leading the AI Transition

Eighteen lessons across three levels, each ending in an interactive knowledge check. Durations and CPD units are estimates; confirm against the final accreditation.

Certificate

On completion you receive one CIBA certificate of completion, carrying 10 verifiable CPD units in the other category, for the full three-level programme.