Comments by auditors immediately following the global financial crisis that they had had a ‘good’ crisis – referring to the absence of pertinent audit failures – begged the question as to the relevance of the audit and, more particularly, the auditor’s report. By Linda de Beer Auditors play an important role in the financial reporting…
That is, clever revenue On my latest trip to the Nespresso store at the V&A, I was reminded once again of how amazing their business model is. You start off by buying the Nespresso machine, which is reasonably priced, and think that’s your big capital investment. It is the capital investment, but it’s not exactly…
Aspiring CAs(SA) achieved an 86% pass rate in the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) that was written in November 2014. The APC is the last formal assessment prospective CAs(SA) are required to pass before they can register as CAs(SA). By Janine Claassens The APC replaced the two previous Part II Qualifying Examinations, which were in…
Smaller families, longer life expectancy, and late parenthood in life mean that the number of people ‘sandwiched’ is growing, with an estimated 2,4 million Britons juggling their responsibilities for both parents and children. Being married and affluent roughly doubles your chances of being ‘sandwiched’. The Pew Research Centre (US) estimated that in 2013 nearly half…
As the first cycle of the new Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is completed, it is appropriate to reflect on the decision to substantially change the nature of the ‘Board Part 2’. Alex Watson explains SAICA clearly states that its role is to develop chartered accountants to be leaders in business, and this change in…
Contrary to popular belief, the most creative teams do not solely consist of blue sky dreamers. Groups with a variety of cognitive personality types produce higher levels of innovation, say Ella Miron-Spektor, Miriam Erez and Eitan Navah of the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology. In a study of 41 radical innovation teams of a large defence…
This article is the fourth in a series of six that explores six common mistakes that can negatively impact one’s personal financial situation. Mistake number four: not realising the importance of disability cover Disability cover is there to protect the lifestyle of an individual and his or her dependants in the event that they cannot…
Hard work, long hours and dedication … That’s what it took for these ten APC achievers to make the honours roll. We asked them to tell us a bit more about their journey to success HONOURS ROLL CANDIDATES (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Name Surname Training Office Professional Provider Programme CTA University Shaah Bootha PricewaterhouseCoopers APT University…
Our youth are the future leaders of our generation We are all familiar with the above saying. And Alvin Toffler said: ‘For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile.’ You have all taken a step to pursue a career as chartered accountants, for…
When are pervasive skills developed: in the academic, training, or professional programme? Monique Strauss-Keevy and Denise Maré investigated Pervasive skills are the so-called soft skills, which are defined in the Oxford Dictionary as ‘personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people’. Pervasive skills are also referred to as non-technical skills,…