Your Content Goes Here As professionals, one of our key considerations should always be how other disciplines and industries approach a problem. Project management, and quality management in industry, are two disciplines worth considering. I did some research and came across some interesting insights. Quality is defined as, ‘the level at which a product, service, or result corresponds to the requirements’. However, what if one complies with the requirements, but the product is still defective? Quality means that there should also be no defect. A defect is a flaw not anticipated by the requirements. In quality management, it is [...]

Your Content Goes Here In today's audit practices, efficiency is increasingly being directed to effectively leveraging resources to deliver comparable value to clients. This efficiency is typically quantified in terms of time and resource expenditure. Recently, the focus has shifted from the sheer cost of human resources to optimising their productivity through the use of additional resources. This shift reflects a growing emphasis on enhancing human efficiency, in contrast to merely managing human resource costs. Now more than ever, efficiency is paramount for small and medium-sized practices, due to challenges in staff recruitment and retention, coupled with inflationary pressures. [...]

Your Content Goes Here You may be familiar with the concept of ‘social compact’. It describes the unspoken agreement we all have with society. Within the realm of finance, this principle underscores the fact that the responsibility for maintaining accurate financial records and reporting on them extends beyond the parameters of auditors. Yes, auditors are the last line of defence against misstatements and errors, and most of them are doing a stellar job. But let's not forget the team behind the scenes. From the data processors and bookkeepers to the accountants and financial managers, all the way up to [...]

Your Content Goes Here The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has introduced an exposure draft (ED) that aims to provide specific guidance on auditing less complex entities (LCEs). The IRBA has commenced consultations with SMPs and, I must say, their approach to the implementation in South Africa is very cautious, and risks to audit firms, the profession and clients are being identified in great detail. At LEAF, our mandate remains consistent: to provide our practitioners with the requisite tools and knowledge to effectively navigate these ever-evolving technical standards. The introduction of the LCE ED necessitates a recalibration [...]

Your Content Goes Here If you've been tuned in to the business grapevine, you might've heard about the recent meeting of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators over in Washington DC. The gist? The auditing profession is facing challenges, with some students and auditors considering alternative career paths, due to pressures, costs, compliance, and negative press regarding a few high-profile blunders. But here's the silver lining: auditing still packs a punch as a career choice. Auditors are the backbone of trust and transparency in the business world. They're blending the trusted methods of traditional accounting with cutting-edge tools [...]

Your Content Goes Here The IRBA and National Treasury recently instituted new maximum fines for auditors. These fines don’t apply to specific situations, nor to certain types of firms or clients. In an attempt to determine the reasons for the maximum fines, and the effect they will have, considered with other measures taken by the IRBA and the National Treasury, one can safely assume that IRBA had the following train of thought, as their actions have not proven otherwise to date. The IRBA is limited by previous maximum fines to disciplining auditors appropriately and will use the maximum amount [...]

Your Content Goes Here In South Africa, the auditing profession presents a world of exciting prospects for aspiring professionals. There are rewarding aspects to this career, and the opportunities it offers for personal and professional growth. Ever transforming field Auditing is a field that is constantly evolving and adapting to the changing business landscape. Aspiring auditors can expect a dynamic environment that presents numerous opportunities for growth and development. Through their work, auditors contribute to upholding financial integrity, promoting transparency and driving accountability, making a positive impact on businesses and the wider community. Recognised expertise and esteem Auditors are [...]

Your Content Goes Here The audit profession has evolved in a one-size-fits-all checklist-driven exercise, where the auditing standards are seen as the only procedures necessary for performing an audit. The areas where most audit failures are experienced are those where the audit procedures can’t be regulated for each situation. These are the areas where judgment, scepticism and intimate knowledge of the entity’s business are crucial. The latest revision of ISA 315 aim to expand and explain the necessary concepts and, alarmingly, the profession views these amendments as “new or additional audit procedures”. In reality, these concepts have been applied [...]

Your Content Goes Here Firms that have not adopted and implemented ISQC1 fully by now are at a disadvantage and need to catch up quickly to fully implement ISQM1, ISQM2 and ISA220 (revised); otherwise, in my opinion, they run the risk of their audit divisions being out of business in a few years. Even though it may be seen as ‘just more compliance’, it should be approached from the point of view of accountants trying to assist you by telling you how to run your business. From a business point of view, you would want everything to be well [...]

Your Content Goes Here Over the last few decades, audit firms have been led down a path of compliance above all else, and, especially small firms, have insisted on holding on to their traditional methods and approach to auditing to limit the risk of making a mistake when interpreting auditing standards. The risk and internal control standard, ISA315, is highly confusing, and the latest amendments have only added to the confusion. Therefore, firms, some of them not so small, have insisted on always using the substantive approach in auditing, regardless of the state of controls and the business model [...]