Author: Professor Rashied Small, Executive: Education and Training at SAIPA
 
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) recently released its 2017 Global Status Report which measures the progress of its members in adopting its international accounting standards. IFAC found that, although member organisations are committed to meeting their SMO’s (statement of member obligations) for each standard, the process is complex and progress is rarely quick. In fact, full implementation may take years.
 
As the report notes, professional organisations typically share responsibility for adoption with external stakeholders like government and educational institutions. Their ability to win the cooperation of these parties is therefore vital in achieving their end.

Why South Africa leads
It is encouraging that South Africa has been ranked number one in implementing IFAC standards over the previous five years, except for 2017. As a member of the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), I can attest that the country’s status as an early adopter is due in no small part to the organisation’s focus on relationship building and collaboration. The same is true of any of the nation’s various professional accounting organisations (PAO’s).

Education
Adoption of IFAC standards starts in the country’s education system. Courses for accounting must meet government regulations and address the needs of industry. It is therefore appropriate that SAIPA, like most professional bodies, sits on the advisory committees at South Africa’s various universities. These panels review current curricula to evaluate if they are still relevant to industry requirements and incorporate international standards. The Institute also consults with other tertiary education providers. In addition, SAIPA works with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), the Council of Higher Education and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.

Government
Government plays a key role in the adoption of IFAC standards and SAIPA’s relationship with them is extremely good and positive. The Institute has worked hard to win the right to positively influence regulation by being involved in and adding value to the legislation development process. The Institute provides representation to government in parliament on matters like tax and the Companies Act and is a member of the recognised controlling body (RCB) with SARS. Government is also entrusting professional bodies with more responsibility to ensure that regulations and standards are embraced by their members
.
Professional bodies
A country’s regulators can greatly accelerate adoption of IFAC standards by working together towards this goal. Fortunately, the many professional bodies in South Africa maintain a good working relationship with one another. This has contributed to our success. For standards that govern the field, SAIPA is represented with each stakeholder to ensure correct interpretation and implementation of the standards. These include the Financial Reporting Technical Committee, Accounting Standards Board and Ethics Standards Board.

Other countries
If some of South Africa’s trade partners do not fully implement IFAC standards, this can reduce the benefits of our own adoption. To address the issue, SAIPA joined several African accounting bodies, most notably the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and the Southern African Community Institutes of Accountant (SACIA) a sub-structure of PAFA that promotes collaboration and co-operation amongst regional PAO’s. This gives us the opportunity to help ensure standards are fully adopted across the continent.
 
For unaffiliated countries, SAIPA has signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with several who wish to adopt the standards but lack the guidance or resources to do so. Currently, we offer our services to seven African professional bodies to assist them with adoption and developing a curriculum of minimum competencies.

Non-regulated accountants
All auditors in South Africa must belong to a professional body, but not all practicing accountants. This is of concern because non-regulated practitioners are under no material obligation to adhere to IFAC standards. Through the Forum of Accounting Bodies, SAIPA is working with Treasury on new regulations to compel all accountants to join a professional body. This will give their employer or clients the assurance that they are fully compliant, being bound by our code of conduct, investigation and disciplinary processes, and continuous professional development programmes. Treasury should begin rolling out a new regulatory framework by 2020.

Setting the pace
In adopting IFAC’s international standards, South Africa has become a yardstick for the rest of the world. International bodies are investigating our implementation frameworks, educational curricula and professional programmes as blueprints for their own endeavours. While collaboration is the key to making adoption happen, the secret ingredient is the hard work of relationship building that makes close cooperation possible.
 
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

Following a clear rise in interest in the South African Institute of Professional Accountants’ (SAIPA’s) National Accounting Olympiad (NAO) last year, the institute has again invited entries from Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners that are currently taking Accounting as a school subject, and who wish to follow a B.COM degree as further study.
 
The entries will officially close on 25 April 2018 with no limit on the number of entries per school and a registration fee of R50 per learner. However, it will be free for any learner from a no-fee school.
 
Zobuzwe Ngobese, Marketing and Business Development Executive at SAIPA notes that since the competition’s inception in 2002, the Institute had opened it to Grade 11 pupils for the first time last year.
 
The aim with the Olympiad is to make Accounting a subject of choice for learners and to expose them as early as possible to the Accountancy profession. SAIPA also invests substantially in positioning the NAO to provide learners with a foot in the door with future employers.
 
“We want to reach even more schools to make the subject of accounting popular again because our economy needs more accountants in order to grow,” Ngobese adds.
 
Competition schedule
The first-round exam paper of the 2018 competition is scheduled for 16 May 2018at the learners’ respective schools. All learners who qualify for the final round will be invited to participate on 1 August 2018. The final round will determine the top provincial and national winners.
 
The top performers, as well as their teachers and schools will receive great prizes of which more information will be communicated at a later stage.
 
Ngobese further points out that SAIPA plans to open the Olympiad to pupils from Grade 10 to Grade 12 in the future. He says in many instances pupils have already made their career decisions when they reach their final school year.
 
For more information on the National Accounting Olympiad, or to request an entry form, please send email to saipa@proverto.co.za, or visit the SAIPA website https://www.saipa.co.za/saipa-national-accounting-olympiad-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

Author: Ragiema Thokan-Mahomed. Legal, Ethics and Compliance Executive, South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA)
 
The 12th to 18th of November is International Fraud Awareness Week, an initiative established to educate the public on the threat of fraud and ways of combating it. It’s therefore a good time for professional accountants and business people alike to take pause and consider what role they can play in driving fraud from the market.

New NOCLAR standard
However, fraud is only one element of corruption. A bigger war is being waged against what has become known in the accounting industry as NOCLAR (Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations). The threat is so real that the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) created a new standard called Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations to address the issue.
 
The standard, which became effective on 15 July 2017 and is the result of six years of labour, will be integrated into the organisation’s globally-recognised Handbook of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. Several existing clauses in the Code have been amended to accommodate its provisions.

Memorandum of understanding
In light of such developments, the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), in collaboration with other regulating bodies for the accounting industry, is working to develop a memorandum of understanding to enable greater cooperation between these parties to fight NOCLAR. As one of the few internationally recognised professional accountancy organisations, SAIPA has taken the lead in pioneering a solution that will work for everyone.
 
While the final terms of the memorandum must still be established, several suggestions have been put forward. For example, member information of each body is and always will be protected as required by law and will never be shared between them. However, where members have been found guilty of gross misconduct related to NOCLAR or any deviant behaviour within their professional body, we look to acknowledge the recommendation of participating Institutes and act as guardians for the profession to keep unethical practitioners out.
 
This record will be available to other regulators, allowing them to determine if an applicant for their own designation is still in fact associated with that professional body. This would be an effective response in cases where, for instance, a discredited accountant attempts to carry on business under an alternative designation or uses a deceased practitioner’s membership number as their own.
 
It will also be important to investigate the principles and processes each body applies to combat corruption within its ranks. Where these are determined to be sound, consensus will be sought on how to make them universally applicable or to adapt them for the collective good.
 
SAIPA believes that cooperation and communication between regulators is the only way to provide robust defense against NOCLAR and promote the main goal of the Code of Ethics, which is always to protect the public interest. This interest extends to upstanding accountants who adhere to the principles of ethical conduct, organisations and individuals who administer their affairs honestly, and the reputation of the profession itself. It is in this spirit that the memorandum will be drawn up and made effective.

The accountant’s role
It’s also vital that professional accountants know and understand the Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations standard, which was developed for three reasons. Firstly, it makes provision for disclosing potential NOCLAR to public authorities, where appropriate, without breaching client confidentiality.
 
Secondly, it arms the accountant with better alternatives than simply resigning from a matter without NOCLAR issues being resolved. Thirdly, it provides direct guidance on how to respond to potential NOCLAR in various contexts, allowing the practitioner to act with confidence when approaching these difficult situations.
 
While the standard was created to enhance ethical conduct, and offer protection to stakeholders and the general public, it also gives the professional accountant the freedom to play a significant role in the global fight against NOCLAR. It is therefore the duty of all practitioners to know what steps to follow and when to act if corruption is detected, and SAIPA encourages them to familiarise themselves with its requirements.
 
The concerted and cooperative efforts of the various professional bodies in South Africa and guidance provided by the new standard will provide a robust defence against NOCLAR. It is SAIPA’s vision that, by working together, we will hold the name of the profession high and continue to fulfil our obligation to the public good.
 
Photo caption: Ragiema Thokan-Mahomed

​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

There has been a marked increased in the number of schools and learners participating in this year’s National Accounting Olympiad due to a growing interest in the Accountancy Profession as well as massive awareness drive initiated by the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), says Zobuzwe Ngobese, Marketing and Business Development Executive at SAIPA.
 
“The increase from 310 to 390 schools and 3510 to 7069 learners is quite encouraging and is also due to the fact that in 2017 we introduced the Olympiad to grade 11 for the first time. Next year we want to reach even more schools to make the subject of accounting popular again because our economy needs more accountants in order to grow,” he says.
 
The top four Grade 12 learners nationally, in no specific order, are Adam Melnick from Yeshiva College in Gauteng, Juanè Cronjè from Die Hoërskool DF Malan in the Western Cape, Philip Visagè from Hugenote High School also in the Western Cape and Sara Saleh of Lenasia Muslim School in Gauteng.
 
Gauteng had the most schools participating in the Olympiad, accounting for 145 of the 390 schools that took part.
 
SAIPA has this year opened the competition to Grade 11 pupils for the first time since the inception of the competition in 2002, with the top five national candidates in this division, in no specific order, being Alet Muller from Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof in the Western Cape, Deandre De Meyer of Stellenberg High School located in the Western Cape, Felicia Makondo of EPP Mhinga Secondary School in Limpopo, Nabeel Fazluddin from King Edward VII School in Gauteng and Sean Scorer from Amanzimtoti High School          in KwaZulu-Natal.
 
On October 10th, SAIPA will be announcing the Grade 11 and Grade 12 winners at a Gala Awards evening in Johannesburg.
 
Broadening the scope
In addition to including Grade 11 pupils in the competition, SAIPA has also partnered with Gauteng with Future Forward, which specialises in developing youth orientated intervention programs. The institute’s regional administrators have this year purposefully targeted additional schools in their areas.
 
The aim with the Olympiad, which is open to pupils studying Accountancy or Mathematics in private and public schools, is to make Accounting a subject of choice for learners and to expose them as early as possible to the Accountancy profession, says Ngobese.
 
Performance indicators
The competition is divided into two rounds and Grade 11 pupils had to achieve a score of 60% or more to advance to the second round and Grade 12 pupils had to score 65% or more to qualify for writing the second paper.
 
Out of the 1 750 learners in Grade 11, 255 progressed to the second round and 1 095 out of 5 319 in Grade 12 went on to write the second paper. The overall result for the 5 319 learners in Grade 12 shows that the majority – 2 495 learners - scored 40% or more.
 
In the case of Grade 11 pupils, only 14.5% of the 1 750 pupils scored 60% or more in the final round. The majority – 955 pupils – scored 40% or more.
 
The top performers will receive a bursary, valued between R10 000 and R25 000, which is paid to the tertiary institution of their choice.
 
“This year the bursary is subject to the recipients pursuing studies in the Accountancy profession. The main aim with the competition is to grow the numbers in the profession,” remarks Ngobese.
 
Maintaining high standards
Ngobese says both papers in the competition have been moderated. “They are challenging, but doable,” he says, adding that the results of the Grade 11 pupils are a reflection of the fact that this is the first time they have been exposed to the competition.
 
“We are confident that the results will improve. The Grade 12 pupils have had access to a study guide, compiled by SAIPA, with past examination papers. The Grade 11 pupils will have access to that in the Olympiads going forward.”
 
Ngobese notes that part of SAIPA’s future strategy is to open the Olympiad to pupils from Grade 10 to Grade 12. He says in many instances pupils have already made their career decisions when they reach their final school year.
 
“If we can expose pupils as early as possible to Accountancy as a profession the more likely it is that they will choose it as their career path.”
 
Accounting is a critical skill and with the threat of Mathematics no longer being compulsory at high school, the numbers may start dwindling, says Ngobese.

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