GLOBAL NEWS: NEWS FROM KENYA

POST ELECTION VIOLENCE AND THE KENYAN PRACTITIONER The 2007 post election violence that rocked the country during December 2007 and most of January 2008 saw the destruction of many businesses and a mass exodus of people, resulting in a huge number of individuals being displaced. The signing of the peace accord by the government and…

STRAIGHT SHOOTING: Professional Development Update

Quality is key in the rigorous process of qualifying as a South African Chartered Accountant. All steps in the qualification process from the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees through to the standard setting Part I examination, the training programme and eventual assessment of professional competence are specifically designed to promote and embrace the standards relating to…

STRAIGHT SHOOTING: Transformation Reigns

We continue to grapple with the pervasive shortage of qualified professionals and sound accounting skills across the country. The emigration of skilled professionals, coupled with an inadequate pipeline of qualifying Chartered Accountants are two of the pressing issues that the profession faces today. Dealing with both challenges is complex and is often beyond the reach…

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Financial Performance Management – new mid-market solutions offer an alternative to spreadsheet terror. Careful management of the financial performance of any organisation is critical to its success and long-term sustainability. In a dynamic marketplace, however, static reporting based on spreadsheets seldom delivers the agility necessary to remain competitive. Small and medium sized organisations are thus…

ECONOMIC MARGINS

The individuals entrusted with the management of any company have numerous responsibilities, including providing returns to their capital shareholders and the monitoring and control of performance across divisions, and across the company as a whole. Management thus requires performance measures that allow for the assessment of performance across the company, and which at the same…

TECHNICAL: Accounting

GAAP MONITORING PANEL FEEDBACK The GAAP Monitoring Panel (GMP) is a joint initiative between the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and the JSE Limited (JSE). It was created in 2002 as an oversight body to enhance compliance with accounting standards. A total of six companies listed on the JSE were referred to the…

NLRD: TRACKS INFORMATION FOR HR DEVELOPMENT IN SA

SAQA’s National Learners’ Records Database (NLRD), the first such system in the world, holds the key to tracking crucial information for human resource development in South Africa. It is the NLRD that underpins the publication of important information and research tools, such as SAQA’s second edition of “Trends in Public Higher Education in South Africa,”…

SPECIAL REPORT – THUTHUKA

TRANSFORMING THE AUDITING PROFESSION The phrase, “I want to be an auditor when I grow up” has probably never been uttered in a primary school anywhere in the world. Unlike the medical and legal professions, there are no TV shows set in auditing firms. But the auditing profession is undeniably crucial, protecting, as it does,…

NEW GENERATION: CHANGE FATIGUE

“Back in the 70s and 80s things never changed as much, it was like the world stayed the same for longer, you know!” These are the words of a man sixty three years old in corporate South Africa. We were discussing the constant change in his work environment, after the company he worked for was…

WIK EN WEEG: DIE EKONOMIE KALF

Om te kalf is vir ‘n koei om geboorte te gee. Maar daar is ‘n ander tipe, alledaagse ‘kalf’. Dit is wanneer dinge ineenstort, en dis die een wat ek in gedagte het! Ons ekonomie kalf momenteel. Net nageboorte waar jy kyk, en nie ‘n mooi aangesig nie. Dit het tog so onskuldig begin. Huishoudelike…