May 2008

FROM THE PEN The Prada Issue In a scene from that now infamous movie, ‘The Devil wears Prada’, Miranda Priestly (the Editor portrayed) tells Andy, the budding ‘serious journalist’, that her disdain of fashion is really just her ignorance of the business of fashion. She says to Andy (who sniggers because she thinks the blue…

CUSTOMER CONTRIBUTIONS

Accounting for customer contributions has until recently been an area that has been subject to varying accounting treatments. The term ‘customer contribution’ generally refers to a situation where an entity receives contributions, in the form of cash or other assets, from a customer or prospective customer or another third party entity, for example: “A property…

TECHNICAL: ACCOUNTING

ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS APPROVED At a meeting held on 8 February 2008, the Accounting Practices Board (APB) approved the following for issue: Revised IAS 1(AC 101) – Presentation of Financial Statements The changes made are to require information in financial statements to be aggregated on the basis of shared characteristics and to introduce a statement of…

XBRL

XBRL has evolved. See it in action today. See real companies using real XBRL tools today to develop and publish business information, streamline reporting processes, enhance profitability and increase transparency. SEE XBRL IN ACTION IN MAY 2008 WHERE           17th XBRL International Conference entitled “Evolution in Business Reporting – XBRL in Action” Eindhoven, Netherlands (near Amsterdam,…

SAICA NEWS: STRAIGHT SHOOTING

Continuing Professional Development An interesting debate I often have with Chartered Accountants (CA(SA)) and other professionals, from a variety of constituencies and, across geographical boundaries, is on the topic of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Invariably, the discussion leads to the definition of a professional and what constitutes a professional, be they CAs(SA) or any other…

SPECIAL REPORT TOPP 1 – 3

THE PINNACLE OF CAs(SA) SUCCESS IN COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Programme aims to avoid retraining of CAs(SA) More than 70% of chartered accountants [CAs(SA)] registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) practice in commerce and industry – the largest constituency of SAICA’s 26 915 members. With the aim of addressing the constituency’s needs,…

DEAR SARS: OBJECTIONS AND APPEALS

This article considers certain aspects of the rules governing objections and appeals and particularly whether a taxpayer will succeed with his/her request that the payment of the tax be postponed pending the finalisation of an objection and appeal. Objection and Appeal The rules regulating the lodging of objections and noting appeals have been significantly amended.…

WIK EN WEEG: VERLAMMENDE SWARTGALLIGE MISMOEDIGHEID

Die nuwe jaar, wat so bemoedigend begin het, het baie vinnig in ‘n ander gedaante begin ontwikkel. Die politieke geluide wat op Polokwane gevolg het, wat veral verwys na ‘n ontwikkelingsstaat filosofie, om die produksiekant van die ekonomie aan te moedig, maar wat waarskynlik net meer herverdeling, staatsbesteding en uiteindelik inflasie sal veroorsaak. Terwyl ons…

GOOD NEWS: Public Private Collaboration

Since 1994, the South African government has been faced with an enormous challenge. After inheriting an almost bankrupt state and burdened with an acute skills shortage in the public sector, the government was under pressure to deliver on its mandate of providing a ‘better life for all’. While a lot of progress has been made…