– IMPLICATIONS OF GAAP CHANGES The changes to the accounting treatment of business combinations, in particular the implications for the way goodwill is calculated and accounting for changes in shareholdings (business combinations achieved in stages, loss of control, etc.) arising from the revised IFRS3, Business Combinations and amended IAS27, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements in…
DetailsMr John Frith, a chartered accountant from Port Alfred has raised an interesting issue with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). He pointed out that by making either the surviving spouse or a charitable institution the sole residuary heir of his estate a testator will end up paying 20% less estate duty. The…
DetailsThe A-Class has been part of the Mercedes Family for a number of years and has evolved into an upmarket city vehicle. The “city car” is the latest buzz from car manufacturers. When you think of a city car, usually you visualise a small cramped car that goes for kilometres on a sip of fuel.…
DetailsCRE portfolio management fundamentals #1 property is not a sunk cost As with other overhead charges, there is a belief, sometimes correct, that noth¬ing can be done to reduce property costs directly impacting profit and loss ac¬counts. Worse still, in many organisations, particularly the older traditional sectors with many owned assets, physical property is treated as…
DetailsIt was Plato, writing in the fourth century BC, who advanced the concept of the ‘noble lie’. It was part of a proposition that lying is not merely forgivable but actually admirable as long as it is carried out for moral ends. It goes without saying that this is not a proposition that would be…
DetailsTop 10 Statistics: Part II of the Qualifying Examination (Financial Management) SAICA is extremely pleased with the excellent pass rate achieved in the Part II Financial Management Exam (QEII) written in November 2008. An overall pass rate of 79% (previous year 53%) was achieved. The first time candidate pass rate was 81% compared to 63%…
DetailsFROM THE PEN Risky Business There are surely many who would argue that the one factor that triggered the current financial crisis we’re facing is greed. Toru Hashimoto, former chairman of Deutsche Securities, was recently quoted at an international Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG) meeting as agreeing that greed, excess liquidity and poor risk management…
DetailsIn our August 2008 edition, I outlined the process being followed to review the CA(SA) qualification process consistently to ensure maintenance of the standards we have grown so accustomed to. Much progress has been made since that date and I thought it important to remind members of where we are headed with the qualification process…
DetailsIf a competition were held to find the most common rhetorical question, there is little doubt that this one would win – why do taxes increase? How many readers remember General Sales Tax? The introduction of the Sales Tax Act in 1978 not only brought about an entirely new consumption tax with a wide impact…
DetailsRisk is an unavoidable fact of human life, and nowhere is this more evident than in financial matters. Without risk there can be no trade or commerce, as all commercial ventures depend on a certain degree of risk: and very often the riskiest venture returns the greatest profit. For any manager, the primary goal of…
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