South Africa’s political punditry issues frequent calls for greater accountability on the part of our politicians and state. But they hardly any ever stop to make the obvious connection: before there can be accountability, there must be accounting. In his wonderful book The Reckoning, historian Jacob Soll shows how accounting has shaped kingdoms, empires and…
When you’re calculating how much capital you need to retire on, take care because the assumptions we use for post-retirement costs may be much different to your current pre-retirement costs. Your basket of goods changes and research in the US has shown that inflation for retirees over the past three decades has been higher than…
The dramatic collapse of the oil price during the final quarter of the year was probably the most important macro-event of 2014. Oil fell from $91/barrel at the start of the fourth quarter to $55 at the end of the year. It fell further in the first two weeks of 2015 to around $48/barrel. Since…
To enter a trainee contract as a prospective CA(SA) is rigorous and not for the faint-hearted. It has taken long hours, mental anguish and tears to get this far! To ride on a mountain bike from Cairo to Cape Town will take blood, sweat and tears. Some will even say it is madness. What do…
What is integrated reporting assurance all about? By Mark Hoffman Following the gathering momentum behind the integrated reporting initiative, it was not long before the debate regarding how to go about obtaining the necessary assurance over integrated reporting ensued. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in August 2014 released an insightful discussion paper entitled “Assurance…
“In the long run I believe the cloud is here to stay.” Although there has been a trend towards cloud services over the past years both locally and internationally, there is a part of me that wonders if it is just a fad we are caught up in or if it is really here to…
Management as an art, not a science, particularly in today’s dynamic workplace, writes Anthia Falekkos One of the many definitions of a manager is a “person who is responsible for controlling and administrating an organisation or group of staff”. This definition in the current workplace and economy describes a role that is redundant. The new…
“A few wrong decisions on seemingly minor choices can actually have a significant impact on your overall financial health.” In the fast-paced world of professionals, financial planning can often fall to the bottom of the priority list while they are trying to strike the right balance between work and life. However, it is critical that…
Professor Akbar Bootha’s fulfilling career includes lecturing young people from less advantaged backgrounds, but his own children are also making their mark in the accountancy profession. Lynn Grala spoke to him Picture for a moment young boys or girls living in a rural community under the most difficult circumstances imaginable – on the one hand…
IF PASSED, AMENDMENTS TO THE REPORTABLE ARRANGEMENT PROVISIONS WILL HAVE RETROSPECTIVE EFFECT FROM 16 JULY 2014 AND FAILURE TO REPORT COULD INCUR A HEFTY FINE, WRITES DAN FOSTER The reportable arrangement (RA) provisions are under renewed focus since the issue of a draft notice of reportable and excluded transactions and the publication of proposed amendments…