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Overview

Accounting officer engagements are the bread and butter offering of most accounting firms. Accounting officers have statutory recognition to issue specific types of reports on financial statements and other information. However, most, if not all of the relevant statutes do not stipulate how a member in practice should perform a reporting engagement. The purpose of this seminar is to assist members in practice to establish an engagement framework that can be applied when issuing accounting officer or similar reports on financial statements.

In addition, despite this engagement not being an audit, accountants underestimate the risk and liability they face when doing accounting officer work, whether for a Close Corporation, Company, Sectional Title, Lotteries applications, Schools, NPOs and many others.

This seminar aims to demystify the manner in which working papers are prepared and documented for accounting officer, compilation and independent review engagements by providing advice on common issues experienced by so many public practitioners. You will receive practical tools and tips to assist you in complying with the professional standards for these types of engagements.

Key learning outcomes

• At the end of the seminar you will be able to:
  • Understand the key requirements of the professional standards
  • Apply the standards to each phase of the engagament
  • Have practical tools to assist in such engagements
  • Know how to make engagements more effective and efficient
  • Understand the link between risks, controls and engagement approach

Course content

• The purpose of engagement working papers
• The five key working papers that will keep you out of jail
• Choice of reporting standards and which report to use and when: IFRS, IFRS for SMEs or entity specific framework
• Using the PI Score to determine the engagement type
• Critical information that must disclosed on the first page of financial statements
• Who is responsible and liable for misstatements in the financial statements?
• Which standards to use when performing accounting officer, independent review or compilation engagements
• When are financial statements fairly presented? What happens if they are not?
• Company share registers and directors’ minutes related to the financial statements
• How to complete an engagement in under four hours
• New technologies to enhance your workflow
• What to do as accounting officer when your client doesn’t pay his tax
• Recapping accounting officer duties – what should you do, what should you not do
• Lead schedules and checklists to use as an accounting officer
• Engagement letters and type of reports to issue
• Documenting assurance engagements
• General principles of proper

Presenter

Prof. Steven Firer , Head of Technical, Nkonki

Steven is a registered auditor and CA (SA). Amongst his five degrees he has a Master’s degree in Law from the School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand and a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business and Leadership at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is a former professor of accounting and auditing at Wits University, Monash University and Rhodes University. Steven is currently Head of Technical and IFRS Advisory at Nkonki Auditors in Johannesburg. He is a highly acclaimed researcher and has published extensively as a co-author on text books, conference papers and academic research articles.

CPD

Attendance of the half-day seminar will accrue 4 + 1 hours’ CPD for members of a relevant professional body such as ACCA, SAICA, AAT, SAIPA, SAIBA, IAC, CSSA, ICBA, LSSA, FPI, and the IBA. The SAAA CPD policy is compliant with IFAC IES7 and is recognised by SAICA, AAT, SAIPA, SAIBA, IAC, CIS and others.

Complete a free online assessment at the end of the event and receive an additional CPD point.