South African Institute of Chartered Accountants - The Future

The Future

The profession began a long process to revise the PAA Act in the early 1990s and this process will came to fruition in 2005 when the Auditing Profession Act (Act 26 of 2005) was promulgated (the Act commenced on 1 April 2006). The process has been upset by a spate of international and local corporate failures, with the result that governments worldwide saw the need for regulation of auditors to be tightened up and became more involved in the process. Another issue that still requires the profession and SAICA's contribution is that of Transformation. The Thuthuka project, an initiative by SAICA to promote skills development and transformation in the CA profession, was launched in the Eastern Cape in 2002 and it was expanded to Limpopo and Kwazulu-Natal in 2004. This programme is providing education support to African learners and students, and seeks to uplift communities while benefiting the CA profession. To regulate SAICA’s efforts going forward, the Institute has now implemented a system whereby leadership issues are identified by the SAICA Board and delegated to the secretariat, so that each day SAICA adds a little more to its history. Confusion often arises regarding the differing roles and responsibilities of SAICA and the IRBA . It is important to understand the roles of the two bodies.

SAICA is a non-profit, voluntary body that provides a wide range of services to its members and associates. It is controlled by a Board, elected by members through regional committees, and by bodies representing the Institute's other key constituencies such as members in business (commerce and industry), large practices, small practices and ABASA. The IRBA is the statutory body controlling that part of the accountancy profession involved with public accountancy in the Republic of South Africa.

It is important to stress that all entrants to the accountancy profession are subject to consistent requirements. Following qualification, chartered accountants entering public practice are required to register with the IRBA, whilst keeping their SAICA membership, and are governed by its regulations. Those qualified chartered accountants practicing outside of public practice are not subject to the jurisdiction of the IRBA, but are subject to the jurisdiction of SAICA. The IRBA functions in terms of the Auditing Profession Act, 2005 (Act 26 of 2005). Its members are appointed by the Minister of Finance and not more than 40% of the members of the IRBA Board may be registered auditors.

The IRBA is partly funded by fees and levies payable by registered auditors and partly by the National Treasury. The IRBA reports annually to the Minister of Finance, who then tables the report in Parliament.

The mission statements of the two bodies highlight their differences. SAICA's mission is to serve the interests of the CA profession and society, by upholding professional standards and integrity, and the pre-eminence of South African CAs nationally and internationally.

The mission of the IRBA, on the other hand, is to protect the financial interest of the South African public and international investors in South Africa, through the effective regulation of audits conducted by registered auditors and accountants, and in accordance with internationally recognised standards and processes. This is achieved by providing the means and the regulatory framework for the education and training of adequate numbers of competent and disciplined accountants and auditors, to serve the needs of South Africa. The Board strives constantly towards the maintenance and improvement of standards of registered auditors. It protects the public who rely on the services of registered auditors and supports registered auditors who carry out their duties competently, fearlessly and in good faith.

In order to ensure that all members, associates and trainees comply with the high professional standards set, SAICA provides technical support, continuing professional development (lifelong learning), disseminates and communicates the latest information on technical developments and business trends to its constituencies.

One of SAICA's major objectives is to ensure that membership of the accountancy profession better reflects the population demographics of South Africa. To this end, the Institute has a number of initiatives in place designed to increase the number of CAs(SA) from previously disadvantaged communities.

The responsibility for training prospective CAs(SA) is a shared one. SAICA is responsible for the registration of trainees and management of their training contracts, either in public practice or outside public practice. Trainees who do not wish to follow the public practice route may specialise in financial management. The Institute sets and adjudicates the Part I (QE 1) and the Part II in financial management examination (QE 2), for those trainees who have opted to take the financial management route. The IRBA exercises a monitoring role over the SAICA public practice training and QE I examination processes.

The IRBA is also responsible for setting and marking the Public Practice Examination (PPE) for those trainees choosing the public practice route. Trainees may only write QE 1 or PPE after they have passed QE 1 and upon the completion of a minimum of 18 months of a three year training contract. After completing their training contract and passing both QE 1 and QE 2 or PPE, candidates are required to register with SAICA in order to use the prestigious Chartered Accountant designation.

The IRBA conducts practice reviews, investigations and disciplinary processes for registered auditors and accountants. Generally, an individual registered with the IRBA is also a CA(SA) registered with SAICA and therefore must comply with the Codes of Professional Conduct of both bodies. According to the Constitution and By-laws of SAICA, any alleged misconduct by a person who is a member of both bodies is dealt with by the IRBA, in the first instance. SAICA accepts the findings of the IRBA disciplinary process and imposes its own disciplinary sentences on those found guilty. Disciplinary matters relating to members not registered with the IRBA, and associates, are dealt with by the SAICA ethics and disciplinary process.

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