Get engaged!

Do you feel like you are speaking to a robot during your online meetings – speaking to a series of letters? Have meetings become mundane and disengaged? Let’s bring back the engagement into meetings using a range of online technology   The basics It should be standard virtual meeting etiquette, that everyone on the meeting…

Finance function foe to friend

We begin with the obvious: team cohesion is decisive in whether an organisation succeeds. The finance function should critically challenge to what extent it adds to this cohesion. Are we intelligently weaving ourselves into the fabric of our organisations? With real buy-in from our colleagues, we can drive the positive change we seek   The…

Xero’s end-to-end solution for VAT

Xero integrated with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), to launch a VAT eFiling beta earlier this year. The closed beta is live now, with general release set for later this year when all Xero small business and accounting customers will be able to eFile directly with SARS. This follows the launch of two other…

Clarification on Ethical values and attitudes

The SAICA CPD policy states that all SAICA members and associates are required to: Paragraph 2.2: Undertake relevant continuing professional development (CPD) activities on an annual basis Paragraph 2.1.1(b): Follow an output-based measurement approach to CPD by demonstrating the maintenance and development of relevant competence by generating an annual CPD reflective plan Paragraph 2.1.1(f): Undertake…

Disclosure – The pathway to corporate reporting reform

In the 1980s, there were essentially three elements to corporate reporting: an income statement, which focused on profitability, a balance sheet that focused on solvency, and a cash flow statement that concentrated on movements in cash and essentially working capital. The associated disclosure, too, was relatively narrow. Notes to the balance sheet provided reconciliations to…

Why are accountants and auditors so hesitant to embrace new technologies?

We explore some of the reasons for the lack of adoption of emerging technologies in the assurance space. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and its associated technologies are creating a vast number of opportunities and millions of new jobs. Yet, accountants and auditors (collectively, assurance professionals) are not embracing these technologies at the same pace…