Finding your company’s ‘sweet spot’ reporting solution among a welter of packages You don’t need to go to extremes to remove the pain and risk in using spreadsheets – there are dependable, fast and easy solutions available to automate and manage your consolidation needs. The Catch-22 One can easily design extensive financial reports, with a…
“Attempting to correct a misguided contract or tender after the award is often too late and the damage will have already been done.” Gaining popularity – a procurement process for minimising potential corruption and controversy in tender awards We can expect an upsurge in the demand for proactive procurement reviews after the Finance Minister has…
Small and medium practices (SMPs) face a host of challenges, which SAICA is helping to address. SAICA Small and Medium Practices (SMP) division is pursuing its 2013 objective of meeting more of our Small and Medium Practitioners out in the field, whether by attending discussion groups or visiting individual practices. The purpose of this is…
Besides crunching the numbers, SMPs can play a ‘virtual’ role as directors, advisers and business facilitators to SMEs. South African chartered accountants in small and medium practices (SMPs) who look beyond auditing alone have the opportunity to engage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in mutually profitable relationships, say SME funders. The change in South Africa’s…
Faster turnaround makes for happier clients and employees, while reducing your costs. I was encouraged to meet so many of you last month. My thanks for your feedback and interest in these articles. Last month we looked at the importance of timeliness of service. I would like to continue along the same lines and give…
How to unlock value in privately held businesses? Pulling the levers that offer the best return for the least amount of effort or risk to capital. To begin discussion around unlocking value in any business, a recap of how we measure value is required: Value is created when a business generates free cash flows. Business…
Developing a holistic work-wellness model will benefit people and organisations. The term work/life balance is often used in the context of over-stressed employees, family problems and the retention of “Generation Y” people. Lack of work/life balance is seen as a problem both for the individual and for the organisation. In itself, the term has interesting…
Developing a holistic work-wellness model will benefit people and organisations. The term work/life balance is often used in the context of over-stressed employees, family problems and the retention of “Generation Y” people. Lack of work/life balance is seen as a problem both for the individual and for the organisation. In itself, the term has…
Global mining industry faces a confidence crisis Mining houses are working to rebuild investor confidence. Worldwide, the mining industry has outperformed the broader equity markets over the past decade, but this trend recently changed. While mining stocks fell slightly in 2012, they slipped nearly 20% in the first four months of 2013, according to a…
Making the most of extended SAM timelines Since the end of 2012, when it became apparent that the implementation of Solvency II will be delayed past its planned 1 January 2014 date, there have been growing concerns and different views across the South African insurance industry about how Solvency Assessment and Management (SAM) would be…