2021
Budget Highlights for 2021/22
The Minister of Finance delivered his budget speech on 24 February 2021. Due to Covid pandemic, tax relief were provided mainly for individual tax to assist in the recovery of the economy. The individual tax brackets were increased with the lowest tax rate of 18% applicable to income of R216 200 and the maximum marginal rate at 45% applicable to income above R1 656 601.View PDF
Auditor’s responsibility on JSE Listing Requirement 3.84(k) – CEO / CFO sign-off on internal financial control
The JSE Listing Requirement 3.84(k) requires the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the financial director (FD) to sign a responsibility statement that they have implemented the necessary internal financial controls to ensure the financial statements are fairly presented and no facts have been omitted or untrue statements made. The auditor has a responsibility to conclude whether this statement is inconsistent with the financial statements or with the auditor’s knowledge obtained during the audit.View PDF
2020
SHARE CATEGORIES – Equity or Liability?
When buying equity shares in a company, one can purchase different category shares, namely ‘ordinary shares’ (also referred to as ‘common stock’) and ‘preference shares’ (also referred to as ‘preferred stock’). Shares represent equity in a company. However, in certain circumstances shares may have to be recognised as a liability in stead of equity. This tip will look at when shares are equity and when it represents a liability.View PDF
LIABILITY – YES or NO? Should it be accrued or provided for?
This tip deals with the principle that a contractual or a statutory obligation in itself does not necessarily gives rise to a liability. For example, an entity is obligated by law to pay income tax – however – in terms of accrual accounting principles, there is no obligation to pay tax unless income has been earned. The earning of the income is the past event that gives rise to the obligation to pay the tax. In this example, the liability is classified as a tax liability in accordance with IAS 12.View PDF
CEO / CFO signoff on internal financial control – JSE Listing Requirement 3.84(k)
To ensure a higher level of accountability from executive management, the JSE Listing Requirement 3.84(k) requires the CEO and the financial director to sign a responsibility statement that they have implemented the necessary internal financial controls to ensure the financial statements are fairly presented and no facts have been omitted or untrue statements were made View PDF
Disclosure of Director Remuneration – CIPC Notice 38 of 2020
All companies that are required to have their annual financial statements (AFS) audited and those that have their AFS voluntarily audited in terms of Section 30(2) of the Companies Act 71 of 2008, shall disclose directors’ or prescribed officers’ remuneration and other benefits paid, payable or receivable as per Section 30 (4)(5)(6) of the Act. View PDF
IFRS 16 Lease modifications
The last few months forced many entities to renegotiate lease terms and review their current lease agreements – the question arises how and when to account for a new lease when the lease terms and/or lease payments have changed, or where it was determined that it is not a new lease but a lease modification.View PDF
8 Things you need to know about online advertising policies
The Advertising Policies apply to (1) ads and commercial…
Tangible assets carried at nil value but still in use
IFRS (IAS 16) requires the review of the useful life, residual value and depreciation method of asset items at least at each financial year-end. IFRS for SME (Section 17) requires such a review when factors have been identified that may indicate that the residua value or useful life of an asset has changed.View PDF
2019
Guidance on the IFRS 15 requirements relating to Contract Costs
Whilst IFRS 15 is primarily a standard on revenue recognition, it contains specific requirements relating to contract costs. Companies may therefore need to change their accounting for those costs on adoption of IFRS 15 for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. View PDF
Disclosure of Directors’ Remuneration in Group Companies
The Companies Act requires full disclosure of the remuneration of directors and prescribed officers (whether executive, non-executive or alternate directors) in the financial statements of companies that require an audit in terms of the Act. This requirement may become quite cumbersome where a Group of Companies consists of multiple companies. View PDF
Accounting for non-cash consideration in terms of IFRS 15
IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers came into effect for years commencing on or after 1 January 2018, with many entities having fully adopted the new Standard at this point. One of the more practical issues which entities are likely to encounter is the accounting requirements for non-cash consideration. View PDF
Tips on how to successfully manage the transition to the new Lease Accounting Standard
IFRS 16 Leases comes into force for years commencing on or after 1 January 2019, which means that the transition date (the opening date of the comparative period) for December year ends has just passed. Bearing this in mind, if you have not yet started work on your IFRS 16 impact assessment, now is the time to start. View PDF
2018
IFRS 9: Financial Instruments – Restatement of Comparative Periods
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have introduced a new accounting standard IFRS 9: Financial Instruments to replace IAS 39: Financial Instruments Recognition and Measurement. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. The following are the principles behind the restatement of financial statements after adopting IFRS 9. View PDF
External Auditor’s Responsibility to consider Cybersecurity
One of the most complex and rapidly evolving issues which affect all entities is cybersecurity. This leads to the question of whether cybersecurity risk is relevant to the audits of financial statements. What is the auditor’s responsibility in respect of cybersecurity risk when planning and performing audits?View PDF
Use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) when submitting Annual Financial Statements online
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has introduced a new way of lodging the Annual Financial Statements (“AFS”) which must accompany the Annual Returns of a company. The CIPC has mandated submission of AFSs for qualifying reporting entities via XBRL as from 1 July 2018. View PDF
Revised Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting
The IASB has recently published its revised ‘Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting’. The project was initiated in 2004 however due to a series of changed priorities and abandonment in 2010 followed by a phase by phase approach, the resultant framework does not constitute a substantial revision as was originally intended, but instead focuses on topics that were not yet covered or that showed obvious shortcomings that needed to be dealt with. The Board and Interpretations Committee will immediately begin using the revised Framework. It is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020 for preparers that develop an accounting policy based on the Framework. View PDF
Identifying if a Revenue or Purchase Transaction contains a financing element
There are different interpretations as to when one should “discount” revenue or purchases. There are two totally different views - the first one being that discounting begins on the day after the recognition of a sale or purchase and the second one allows for the concept of “extended payment terms” beyond “industry norms”. Note: This does not apply to debtors or creditors. View PDF
Things to consider with the VAT increase
As of 1 April 2018, the effective VAT rate will rise from 14% to 15%. There are important aspects to consider as a result of the increase. The VAT rate to apply to transactions depends on the “time of supply rules”. This is the date on which the transaction is deemed to occur according to the VAT Act. The general time of supply rule is the “earlier” of when (a) an invoice is issued or (b) payment is received. View PDF
2017
IFRS 9 Impairments – Interim and Transitional arrangements applicable to Banks
IFRS 9 will become effective on 1 January 2018 and represents a fundamental change in the impairment of financial instruments. This will have a significant impact on how banks are required to calculate provisions for credit losses (impairments). The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) issued Directive 5 as a transitional arrangement and to provide clarity to banks in South Africa on how to categorise expected credit loss provisions. The transitional arrangement only applies to new provisions that did not exist prior to the adoption of the expected credit loss model. View PDF
Making Materiality Judgements – Practice Statement 2
The IFRS Practice Statement 2 was issued in September 2017 by the IASB to provide companies with guidance on making materiality judgements when preparing financial statements. The practice statement is non-mandatory guidance and is aimed at promoting greater application of judgement. Companies are permitted to apply the guidance in the Practice Statement to financial statements prepared any time after 14 September 2017. View PDF
Revenue recognition – how to account for free gifts and loyalty programmes
IFRS 15 includes specific requirements related to “customer options for additional goods or services” – for example free gifts, discount vouchers, etc - and requires a distinction to be made as to whether this option confers a “material right”. We will look at what is a “material right” and how do you make this assessment. View PDF
VAT on Non-Executive Director Fees
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has ruled in Binding General Ruling (BGR 41), that non-executive directors (NEDs) should register and account for VAT on their directors’ fees where the fees exceed the VAT registration threshold of R1 million in a 12-month period. BGR 41 was made effective from 1 June 2017. View PDF
Determining of other information for audit reporting ISA 720 (revised)
A variety of reporting requirements and voluntary reporting practices exist in South Africa, which may give rise to the inconsistent application of ISA 720 (Revised). The auditor has certain responsibilities under ISA 720 (Revised) when other information has been identified in an entity’s annual report. View PDF
Public sector: Treatment of fully depreciated assets still in use
The treatment of fully depreciated assets is a contentious issue in the public sector space. Many public sector entities utilise assets beyond their accounting useful lives because of issues such as budget constraints. This article highlights the main issues surrounding fully depreciated assets and how the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has set out to address these issues. View PDF
Responding to Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations
Responding to Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations is an international ethics standard for auditors and other professional accountants. It sets out a first-of-its-kind framework to guide professional accountants in what actions to take in the public interest when they become aware of a potential illegal act, known as non-compliance with laws and regulations, or NOCLAR, committed by a client or employer. View PDF
2016
2015
IFRS 9 Financial Instruments: Hedge accounting
Phase 3 of the IFRS 9 project provides requirements for hedge accounting which aligns hedge accounting more closely with risk management, establishes a more principles-based approach to hedge accounting and addresses inconsistencies and weaknesses in IAS 39’s hedge accounting model. View PDF
