Professional Accountant - Volume 2013, Issue 3, January 2013

Dear Members,

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In the first quarter of 2013, SAIPA announced the split off of our professional journals, into an electroniconly version as part of our 'going green' campaign. The Tax Professional journal has been moved into the online domain.

The notion of South Africa as a gateway into Africa has been perpetuated for decades. It made for a nice story in the early years of democracy, but is it still a relevant hook in 2013? Kerry Dimmer asked an economist, a political analyst and an academic for their perspectives.

ISRS 4410 deals with the practitioner's responsibilities when engaged to assist management with the preparation and presentation of historical financial information without obtaining any assurance on that information, and to report on the engagement in accordance with this ISRS. Appropriate consideration may need to be given as to whether the engagement should be undertaken in accordance with this ISRS.

Competition Commissioner, Shan Ramburuth highlighted the need for companies to instil a "competitive culture" within their organisations. One of the ways to achieve a competitive culture is to adopt an effective competition law training and compliance programme. However, many organisations have no online compliance solutions. These solutions provide an e-learning platform for legal training and education.

As a Professional Accountant, you are no doubt familiar with financial reporting as an everyday activity which provides necessary insight into how the businesses of your clients are performing. However, particularly in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis and many high-profile corporate failures, you are also highly likely to be aware of the emergence of a new type of reporting which goes beyond the financial numbers. Integrated Reporting incorporates additional disciplines to complement the financial data, thereby providing insight into how an organisation's strategy, governance, performance and prospects lead to the creation of value over the short, medium and long term.

Patrick Mbokazi : member profile

Whether you're an entrepreneur running you own business or a professional working your way up the corporate ladder, investing in your health should be one of your priorities, says Dr Anuschka Coovadia, a health and risk management expert at KPMG South Africa.

We all know or encounter people who irritate us in our personal and professional lives, but what we don't realise is that these people are really telling us something about ourselves that we possibly don't want to hear. When I am engaging with executives on my executive renewal programme or with Next Gen Leaders on my mentorship programme, one of the things that often comes up is how to handle the irritating behaviour of others.

When effective accounting processes can mean the difference between the success or failure of a business, it's not surprising that choosing an accounting firm is a serious decision and one that clients should not take lightly.

Many of the cases that are dealt with by SAIPA's legal division involve complainants who wish to terminate the services of their accountant. The services of a new accountant are enlisted by the client.

Everyone is no doubt familiar with the saying that it takes all sorts to make this world. So too, it takes all sorts to make a business function the way entrepreneurs dreamt it would. In the same way that a person is more interested in being an entrepreneur rather than being an employee, other people are more interested in other vocations. This is fortunate because it means entrepreneurs can employ people to do the things they do not care about and are consequently not very good at.

Interview with Independent Chair of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accounts (IESBA), Jörgen Holmquist.

Who is the most useful person in the office? A question that troubles most of us, and, for a minority, something that consumes them. Is it kind Mrs Miggens who has the key to the Paracetamol cupboard when pre-presentation nerves bring on a migraine from the 9th circle of Hell? She's a close contender. Maybe it's Phineas, the boom gate guard at security who turns a blind eye when you park in the Chairman's bay, given that he's never there. Again he's on the list, but not at the top.