Nicolaas van Wyk, Author at Accounting professional news weekly

Accountants Have Benefited From Automation Since 3 000 BC. Why Should it Stop Now?

Nicolaas van Wyk It’s a pity that in 1920 when archaeologists discovered 5 000 year old tablets along the Euphrates River in modern day Iraq, they didn’t speak to their accountant. The tablets and the strange symbols engraved on them would bemuse scientists for the next 50 years until an archaeologist eventually determined that they …

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Accountants: You Might Be Doing Too Much

The risk of over compliance is causing non-compliance. As accountants, we need to remember that doing too much is just as dangerous as doing too little. It’s an all too familiar story. A small business owner or NPO director reaches out to an accountant to get their books in order. The accountant takes one look …

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Never Let a Good Skills Crisis Go to Waste 

Your skills are in demand, your income should reflect this. It’s a tragedy that South Africa suffers from a scarcity of skilled professionals, including accountants who can’t be trained fast enough and increasingly choose to emigrate. A country can’t grow without its base of accountants growing.  This scarcity also means there is opportunity for those …

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SAIBA to host 2022 Accountant’s Climate and Sustainability Summit on 12 May 2022

President Ramaphosa recently appointed a Climate Council. The Presidential Climate Commission is an independent, statutory, multi-stakeholder body. The establishment of the Council is in response to international developments and commitments to reduce emissions to net zero. These commitments, if followed through, will have dramatic effects on the economic and social systems in South Africa. For …

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Your neighbourhood is failing. It needs your accounting expertise to save it.

Local government in South Africa is failing. According to the latest Auditor General report, only 19% of municipalities are in good financial health. The accounting situation at 25 municipalities is so bad that 25 didn’t even submit statements for auditing. As accountants, we know that audits matter. A municipality with perpetually horrendous audit outcomes will …

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Corruption Grows in the Audit Expectation Gap

The layperson could be forgiven for looking at SAA’s unqualified audit results between 2012 and 2016 and feeling assured that the airline was free from fraud and corruption. As Judge Raymond Zondo made clear in the first part of the State Capture Report, in which PwC is mentioned 102 times, this was far from true. …

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What does it mean to be “Professional” and why is CPD mandatory for Professionals?

Professionals like doctors, lawyers and accountants often receive special privileges in law. Only a doctor can treat patients or operate. Only lawyers can appear in court. Only auditors can audit financial statements and only accounting officers can issue independent review engagements. Why would society award professionals such exclusivity and what do they expect in return? …

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Here is how to step up your game

Gordon Ramsay shows you how to cook. Jeff Bezos shows you how to fly to the moon. SAIBA shows you how to run an effective practice. You are just as good as the systems you use to file your clients tax and other returns. Download our guides for the latest on how to file PAYE, VAT, …

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