During the past decade, accounting and auditing firms have experienced a significant change. During better times, business was easier to acquire and maintain as clients deemed accountants and auditors to be authorities that dare not be questioned. Client fee sensitivity, competition, increased legislation, specialisation, and poor public image have made the practice of accounting and…
DetailsSUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF GAAP FOR SMEs SAICA, with the permission of ACCA, has loaded a brief and ‘easy-to-use’ summary of the Statement of GAAP for SMEs on its website. This summary is endorsed by Paul Pacter, the Director of Standards for SMEs at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and is based on the…
DetailsAt its meeting on 26 October 2007, the Professional Conduct Committee considered the following matters: An Associate General Accountant (AGA(SA)) had been charged with holding himself out as a Registered Auditor when not so registered. The associate did not respond to the charge sheet and the matter has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee, with…
DetailsFROM THE PEN The People Issue At a recent Q&A session at a risk management media briefing, I was ceremoniously told by a fellow media colleague that the people, the voters should start to take ownership of the fact that, as a country, we have a serious skills shortage. And that it was not, as…
DetailsFROM THE PEN Who Googled Africa? In this issue, we deal extensively with the question of managing people within the business, and how this has a direct impact on a company’s financial performance (see the articles on page 14 and 16 respectively). In fact, both the authors portend that in order to ensure a company…
DetailsDie ekonomie is nie vlak water waarin niks aangaan nie. Elke liewe dag is daar veranderinge, soos ‘n mens sou verwag in diep onstuimige poele van buite af, in die markte, en natuurlik in die politiek. Selfs met ‘n oorlog in Irak, baie hoë oliepryse, ‘n huismark in Amerika wat lyfstraf ondergaan, ‘n kredietskok wat…
DetailsThe challenges facing Africa’s political growth and socio-economic development are daunting. Yet over the past few years, there has been increasing evidence showing that Africa’s tide of despair is turning. With eyes set on a vision of an Africa free from poverty, free from conflict and fully integrated into the global economy, governments, businesses, development…
DetailsThe death was announced recently in the United States of Leona Helmsley, pejoratively known as The Queen of Mean and famous for her dictum that “only little people pay taxes”. A hatter’s daughter from Brooklyn, in 1972 she became the second wife of Harry Helmsley the “King Kong of New York real estate.” Helmsley divorced…
DetailsWhy the New Generation column? The placement, development and empowerment of the new breed of Chartered Accountant CA(SA) represents a material percentage of employment nationally. It is clear that this generation, with their specific way of dressing, communicating and acting are entering our corporate world and climbing the corporate ladder at a fast pace. Having…
DetailsThe modern financial leader’s role includes making a strategic contribution to the business. Every financial leader should therefore understand globalisation. The facts, and the fiction. For starters, one should notice that the map of the world has changed. The new map does not have Europe at the centre. The reality is that the four largest…
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