Performing Rights in Sound Recordings in South Africa up to 1965 By virtue of section 143 of South Africa’s Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright Act of 1916, the British Copyright Act of 1911 (hereinafter referred to as “the British Act”) was made applicable to the Union of South Africa. In 1932, the organised record…
How to Ignite Your Career One of the best movies ever made is “The Dead Poets Society”, which stars Robin Williams as an inspiring school teacher. I will never forget the scene where he takes his students into the memorabilia hall decorated with the photos of past students. He refers to the photos with phrases…
International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) are the public sector accounting standards of choice for many countries of the world. Almost 70 countries have adopted IPSASs or are in the process of adopting IPSASs. Many international organisations, most notably the United Nations, are also in the process of adopting IPSASs. IPSASs and national accounting standard…
While most people in South Africa are focusing on 2010 and the soccer World Cup; 2009 will be the year of the next wave of change in accounting standards. There are no fewer than twenty five standards that are new or that have been amended or revised, which need to be applied from 2009. This…
ACCOUNTING INTERPRETATIONS AGREEMENTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAL ESTATE The IFRIC has issued IFRIC 15 – Agreements for the Construction of Real Estate. The Interpretation will standardise accounting practice across jurisdictions for the recognition of revenue among real estate developers for sales of units, such as apartments or houses, ‘off-plan’, i.e. before construction is complete.…
QE1 CHANGES SAICA and its education committee (EDCO), after consulting with its various stakeholders and after careful deliberation, have decided to change the timing of the Part 1 of the Qualifying Examination (QE). As from 2010, the exams will be written at the end of January with the results being released in April each year.…
MIB: MEMBERS IN BUSINESS More than 70% of chartered accountants [CAs(SA)] registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) practise in commerce and industry – the largest constituency of SAICA’s total membership. With the aim of addressing the constituency’s needs, SAICA recently hosted the inaugural SAICA Captains of Industry Gala Dinner and official…
FROM THE PEN The Change Issue A few weeks ago I attended a presentation by JP Landman, a self-employed political and trend analyst, Harvard graduate, and author of the article “Is the bad mood justified?”. Landman introduced his presentation with a story about a South African hedge fund manager he knew, who had taken a…
IFRS or GAAP The Accounting Practices Board agreed to issue IFRSs (International Financial Reporting Standards) as Statements of GAAP in late 2003. The JSE Limited required listed companies to comply with IFRSs from 2005. Effectively IFRSs apply to all forms of companies registered in South Africa. The debate around the continued and increasing complexity of…
FROM THE PEN The woman’s issue Believe it or not, the image on our cover this month has caused some consternation in our office. I’ve had to endure a barrage of opinions raging from the lucidly candid: “Are you mad?”, to the: “How can you portray such an old image of women?”; “Surely you don’t…