In recent years, the importance of sustainability has grown exponentially within the global financial sector as it becomes a critical aspect of corporate transparency and accountability to society. South African banks, in particular, have made significant strides in integrating sustainability into their core operations, playing a continued pivotal role in driving sustainable growth while addressing…
South African hospitals need to take a human-centred design approach to transform quality healthcare delivery. Imagine a hospital designed with the human experience at its core. One where every detail encourages healing and well-being, where wards are nestled among therapeutic gardens, and where patients and families are welcomed by entrance halls filled with natural light…
In South Africa, sustainability reporting has evolved from being a primarily voluntary exercise to a more regulated requirement, particularly for large companies and financial institutions. Enhancing reporting quality: transparency and international standards The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) mandates listed companies to produce integrated reports, which encompass sustainability disclosures, in accordance with the King IV Report…
Traditionally, when thinking about the general or typical function of an accountant, one would think of the people in the finance department within a company or the person who does your financial record keeping and tax, or of auditors, the treasurer of a club or association. Today, these ostensibly ‘simple’ roles has become quite evolved…
‘Where there is no plan, the budget is the plan’ So, what does this mean? Well, let’s take two prominent economic and spending plans, the National Development Plan 2013 and the National Health Insurance Bill 2023. The one thing both these plans lack is a financing and spending budget, without which there can be no…
As an auditor of property practitioners’ trust accounts, are you aware of the new developments following the illustrative reports recently published by IRBA in March 2023 and the coming into effect of the Property Practitioners Act in February 2022? AUDIT OR INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS All business property practitioners with an annual revenue of…
As an academic, I have the unique opportunity to survey and interview expert practitioners from different roles, contexts, and levels of experience. Recently, I interviewed preparers and users of small and medium-sized JSE-listed entities. There was an overwhelming feeling that IFRS financial statements were unnecessarily complex, overly lengthy and of limited use, with users placing…
On 24 February 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) took the decision to include South Africa on its ‘grey list’, thereby classifying it as a jurisdiction under increased monitoring. This greater scrutiny has a ripple effect on registration, banking, auditing and reporting requirements. It is critical that board members of non-profits be aware of…
The dire state of the financial health of South African municipalities is a well-documented and frequently discussed fact. Over the past number of years, the impact of this on service delivery and municipal infrastructure has become evident. Many municipalities are (arguably) on the verge of collapse. Ultimately, local government is the sphere of government which…
Employee share ownership plans (ESOPs) have become popular in South Africa as a mechanism to drive companies’ Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) strategies and to align stakeholder and employee values. Amongst the numerous success factors of this complex area is the accounting for these complex arrangements. Several interacting aspects of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)…