The South African Institute for Professional Accountants (SAIPA) says applications to its Project Achiever programme, which is geared to assist those writing the November 2018 SAIPA Professional Evaluation (PE) examination, will close on May 30th  and has urged entrants to not miss this deadline.
 
Classes are set to start on June 2nd.
 
New entrants to the professional accountancy profession are mandated to pass the PE examination, which ensures they adhere to international education standards. This is done by assessing whether an aspiring professional accountant meets the minimum competence or proficiency level to be assigned the designation of Professional Accountant (SA).
 
The designation is one of the few authorised by the South African Revenue Service to provide services as a tax practitioner. A Professional Accountant (SA) can also perform numerous functions, including issuing reports in terms of the Companies Act, Close Corporations Act, and Micro lending industry regulations, Sectional Titles Act, Non-Profit Organisations Act, and Schools Act.
 
Inception
For many aspiring Professional Accountants (SA), the PE examination can be both an important step in the development of a Professional Accountant (SA) and a potential roadblock for those who are unable to pass the exam.
 
From here Project Achiever was born in 2015, a programme funded by Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (FASSET) that assists candidates in successfully completing the examination and becoming designated SAIPA professional accountants. Although the programme was implemented to facilitate the transformation agenda of the profession, in other words particularly aimed at helping newly qualified black accountants, it is open to all candidates.
 
Last year SAIPA also launched the online version of Project Achiever to reach interested candidates in outlying areas.
 
The 12-week, competency-based and learner-centered programme that focusses on the holistic development of the young professional.
 
It is not a content-based programme designed to get people through an examination. Rather it exposes candidates who have completed the professional development and practical experience component of their development to the ‘soft’ skills components required to become ethical and proficient professionals. This enables them to develop into professional accountants able to provide solutions to the issues brought to them by their clients.

Candidates are encouraged to consolidate their knowledge through self-study and research and to apply this to develop practical and implementable solutions to business scenarios and problems in a multi-disciplinary manner through group discussions.
 
The PE examination is further aligned with the International Education Standards 6 (IES 6) Assessments, with an emphasis on the principles of competency-based assessment. 
 
“The benefit for future employers or clients is that they will benefit sooner from the combined competence and expertise of the Professional Accountant (SA) beyond the preparation of financial statements for compliance purposes,” explains Ngobese.
 
For more information regarding requirements and applications for Project Achiever please click here.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Idéle Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za  
 
For more information on SAIPA please visit:
Website: www.saipa.co.za
Twitter: @SAIPAcomms
LinkedIn: South African institute of Professional Accountants Company
Facebook: South African Institute of Professional Accountants

The South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) invites all universities to enter their Tax & Accounting Thesis competition, by submitting the top three completed thesis/dissertations for 2017/2018 in fulfilment of the Honours, Masters or Doctoral degrees in either accounting or taxation on or before 30 June 2018.
 
“The competition is aimed at promoting good research in accounting and taxation by rewarding candidates whose thesis/dissertation have been selected through an adjudication process as the best in their degree level,” said SAIPA’s Technical and Standards Services Executive Faith Ngwenya.
 
Requirements

• The candidates should have successfully completed their relevant degree; however, it is not a requirement that they should have graduated;
• The thesis/dissertation should only be in English;
• Entries for the Honours and the Masters should only be sent by the university;
• The entry for Doctoral thesis could either be directly submitted by the candidates themselves or by the university.

 
SAIPA reserves the right to verify with the university the eligibility of the candidate.
 
Adjudication process
All thesis/dissertations that have been submitted will be marked by a panel of experts in line with an agreed rubric. Each paper will be marked by at least two independent markers and further independently moderated.
 
Ngwenya points out that the submitted thesis/dissertations will only be used for the competition and will not be published otherwise.
 
There will be one winner in each of the degree levels for accountancy and taxation. Altogether, six winners will be awarded prizes as follows:
 
Doctoral degree winners                             R20 000   
Master’s degree winners                             R15 000    
Honours degree winners                              R10 000   
 
Electronic copies of the thesis/dissertation must be emailed to: thesis@saipa.co.za.
 
The winning thesis/dissertations will be announced at the SAIPA Top Achievers Awards 2018 ceremony no later than 31 August 2018.

ENDS
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Idéle Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za  
 
For more information on SAIPA please visit:
Website: www.saipa.co.za
Twitter: @SAIPAcomms
LinkedIn: South African institute of Professional Accountants Company
Facebook: South African Institute of Professional Accountants

Amid recent media reports of the South African Revenue Service uncovering a trend of non-compliance among tax practitioners in the country, the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) has urged its tax practicing members to annually submit their tax clearance certificates, along with a declaration that they have not been found guilty of any criminal offences; and comply with the required continuing professional development (CPD).
 
SAIPA Technical Executive Faith Ngwenya says failure to comply with these requirements means the Institute will not be able to activate a practitioner as a member, thus not being able to service their clients for tax purposes.
 
The Tax Administration Act (TAA) requires since 2013 that tax practitioners register with a recognised controlling body and the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
 
To register a practitioner must belong to or fall under the jurisdiction of a recognised controlling body, have the minimum qualifications and experience set by the controlling body and have no criminal convictions for certain offences set out in the act.
 
Threat of deregistration
National Treasury proposed in the February 2018 budget an amendment to the TAA to have non-compliant tax practitioners deregistered. Treasury said if a practitioner has not complied on a continuous or repetitive basis and does not correct their behaviour after being notified by SARS, they will be deregistered as a practitioner.
 
In recent weeks, SARS held a meeting with the leadership of the recognised controlling bodies and proposed a two-day workshop to address some of the issues raised during the meeting, including the deregistration of tax practitioners, says Ngwenya.
 
“Deregistration is not happening yet, and the process of how it will be done must still be developed.”
 
Whilst it remains unclear how many of our members are non-compliant from the SARS side, SAIPA has already excluded +/- 1 000 members from the list of tax practitioners in good standing as they have not met our annual compliance test which includes payment of their subscription fees, tax clearance status, criminal record declaration and compliance with CPD.  
 
Impact of deregistration
A member who has been deregistered or is not activated as a member of SAIPA due to non-compliance will not be able to offer tax services.
 
One of the complaints that SAIPA receives from members involves the withholding of taxpayer profiles by the former tax practitioner when a new one has been engaged by the taxpayer. Ngwenya adds that the Institute’s legal and compliance division will investigate these complaints.
 
She notes that practitioners are required to release the profile once the taxpayer has switched to a new practitioner. In some cases, they decline to release the taxpayer’s profile due to, amongst others, alleged non-payment for services rendered. This process can be extremely frustrating for taxpayers.
 
Area of concern
Ngwenya says although SAIPA and other recognised controlling bodies are required to meet stringent registration requirements, tax practitioners who are not registered still slip through the system.
 
Some tax practitioners can “circumvent” the system by registering multiple profiles pretending to be an individual filing his own return, or a company doing its own submissions.
 
“We have raised the issue and it has to be addressed by SARS otherwise it simply makes a mockery of the tax practitioner registration process.”
 
ENDS
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Idéle Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za  
 
For more information on SAIPA please visit:
Website: www.saipa.co.za
Twitter: @SAIPAcomms
LinkedIn: South African institute of Professional Accountants Company
Facebook: South African Institute of Professional Accountants