FROM THE PEN Foundation Issues With 33 chapters and an estimated 6.5 billion copies printed, Chairman Mao Zedong’s (Tse-Tung) book, The Little Red Book, during the 60s, was arguably the single most visible icon in mainland China, even more visible than the image of the Chairman himself. In posters and pictures created by the Chinese…
For many years South Africans were perhaps a bit happy-go-lucky when it came to tax matters. You know the sort of thing; “discount for cash”, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Or stick a student into your converted garage – now a “garden cottage” – and make a bit on the side. No need to bother the…
A thought leadership issue “Everything that is counted does not necessarily count; and everything that counts can not necessarily be counted” Albert Einstein We can count the profit we make, but we cannot count the happiness that a customer gets from good service. We can count sales, but we cannot count the cost of the…
It has been said many times before that property is one of the biggest investments one can make in a lifetime. So when it comes to divesting yourself of one of life’s biggest assets, do you go it alone or use an estate agent? Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, asks if you…
Customs and excise is not a subject that is covered in the Tax syllabus at University in Bachelor of Commerce degrees even less rarely covered in professional journals. Once qualified and working as a Finance Director, Manager or even a Tax Manager, you are now for the first time confronted by customs and excise issues.…
Communicating deficiencies in internal controls to those charged with governance and management (ISA 265) is a new International Standard on Auditing (ISA) that comes into effect, together with all the other clarified ISAs, for all audits of financial statements beginning on or after 15 December 2009. ISA 265 consists of a number of requirements that…
EXPOSURE DRAFT 275 – FINANCIAL REPORTING FRAMEWORK FOR NON-PUBLIC ENTITIES The Exposure Draft ED 275 – Financial Reporting Framework for Non-public Entities was released for comment during December 2009. An important part of developing the framework is to solicit comments from preparers, auditors, users, government and other parties with an interest in a Financial Reporting…
I really love my job (or should I rather say Calling). For the past 18 months I have been engaged with 80% of CA-reer responsibilities that I really like and I can see myself doing it and growing in it for a very long time! The other 20%… well, every job has a 20% portion…
Overview of the main features of the Act1 Background The Act sets out the minimum requirements to ensure adequate consumer protection in South Africa. This Act constitutes an overarching framework for consumer protection, and all other laws which provide for consumer protection (usually within a particular sector) will need to be read with this Act…
The latest incarnation of the BMW 7 Series has been part of many motoring conversations locally and abroad. You may be thinking: “what could they really have changed, except for the shape?” Well if that’s what you think, then read on. On the outside there has indeed been a complete overhaul of the shape of…