It 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…
Top 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%…
In 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…
If 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…
Risk 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…
Will this lead to a big four audit market dominance? External auditing (hereafter referred to as auditing) has evolved from a routine checking of the books of account to a vital part of the governance process of companies. Factors such as the volume of transactions, information technology, globalisation and the constant increase in the complexity…
Dit is alweer meer as ’n jaar gelede dat die ekonomie ’n belangrike waterskeiding bereik het. Die sikliese opswaaifase wat middel 1999 begin het, het in laat 2007 tot ’n einde gekom. ’n Afswaai fase het begin, en veral gedurende 2H2008 spoed opgetel. Tog het verwagtinge gedurende 2008 redelik positief gebly. Na jare van vinnige…
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is South Africa’s sole provider of railway freight services. The company moves about 180 million tonnes of goods over its 17,000km of track every year and has an annual turnover of R16.5bn (£1bn). It has successfully developed what I have termed a network activity-based costing system (NABC) from scratch over the…
Who was it that said “the first step to wisdom is admitting what you don’t know”? I really have no idea – and of course I feel wiser for saying so – but I do wish that this old chestnut could be more commonly observed in business. I am often amazed at how a few…
Accountants appear to regard the use of spreadsheets to consolidate the financial statements of listed companies as unusual and somewhat unsophisticated. It is also generally considered that companies, whether listed or unlisted, that use spreadsheets to perform the consolidation, are behind the times. This article will explore some of these sentiments and examine empirical evidence…