The appointment of fund auditors is one of the key governance tasks that a board of trustees will need to undertake. In many instances (in fact, most) this process is handed over to the fund’s administrator or consultant to manage, who tend to favour certain firms and the reasons for this are not always clear.…
In the past 10 years, interest in Corporate Governance has grown tremendously. Corporate scandals, environmental concerns and globalisation have played their part (Adbo & Fischer 2007). These explicit or noticeable events have focused attention on Corporate Governance. Business is changing, methods of conducting business are changing, businesses are increasingly relying on information technology (IT) and…
During the past decade, accounting and auditing firms have experienced a significant change. During better times, business was easier to acquire and maintain as clients deemed accountants and auditors to be authorities that dare not be questioned. Client fee sensitivity, competition, increased legislation, specialisation, and poor public image have made the practice of accounting and…
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF GAAP FOR SMEs SAICA, with the permission of ACCA, has loaded a brief and ‘easy-to-use’ summary of the Statement of GAAP for SMEs on its website. This summary is endorsed by Paul Pacter, the Director of Standards for SMEs at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and is based on the…
At its meeting on 26 October 2007, the Professional Conduct Committee considered the following matters: An Associate General Accountant (AGA(SA)) had been charged with holding himself out as a Registered Auditor when not so registered. The associate did not respond to the charge sheet and the matter has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee, with…
FROM THE PEN The People Issue At a recent Q&A session at a risk management media briefing, I was ceremoniously told by a fellow media colleague that the people, the voters should start to take ownership of the fact that, as a country, we have a serious skills shortage. And that it was not, as…
FROM THE PEN Who Googled Africa? In this issue, we deal extensively with the question of managing people within the business, and how this has a direct impact on a company’s financial performance (see the articles on page 14 and 16 respectively). In fact, both the authors portend that in order to ensure a company…
Die ekonomie is nie vlak water waarin niks aangaan nie. Elke liewe dag is daar veranderinge, soos ‘n mens sou verwag in diep onstuimige poele van buite af, in die markte, en natuurlik in die politiek. Selfs met ‘n oorlog in Irak, baie hoë oliepryse, ‘n huismark in Amerika wat lyfstraf ondergaan, ‘n kredietskok wat…
The challenges facing Africa’s political growth and socio-economic development are daunting. Yet over the past few years, there has been increasing evidence showing that Africa’s tide of despair is turning. With eyes set on a vision of an Africa free from poverty, free from conflict and fully integrated into the global economy, governments, businesses, development…
The death was announced recently in the United States of Leona Helmsley, pejoratively known as The Queen of Mean and famous for her dictum that “only little people pay taxes”. A hatter’s daughter from Brooklyn, in 1972 she became the second wife of Harry Helmsley the “King Kong of New York real estate.” Helmsley divorced…