Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA): 2024 Trust Account Audit Reports Submission Reminder

Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA): 2024 Trust Account Audit Reports Submission Reminder

• 19 August 2024
• Regulatory Compliance and Legislation
• South African Accounting Academy

This requirement is in accordance with section 54(5)(b) and 54(6) of the Property Practitioners Act (PPA). No requests for extensions will be considered or granted by the PPRA.

The submission must be done by your auditors on the MyPPRA Auditors Portal (https://theppra.org.za/myaudit), accessible via the PPRA website. Please note that only auditors registered as assurance with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) are eligible to audit the trust accounts and submit trust account audit reports on the Auditors Portal. Further information for auditors can be found in the Guidelines on Audit, Accounting Records and Trust Accounts for Business Property Practitioners and detailed FAQ, available on the PPRA website.

In addition to the electronic submission on the Auditors Portal, auditors must upload signed pdf copies of the trust account audit reports on the audit firm's letterhead during the online submission. Auditors must only use the new illustrative audit report templates, published by the IRBA in March 2023 and available on the IRBA website https://www.irba.co.za/guidance-to-ras/industry-specific-guides-and-regulatory-reports/estate-agents-trust-account-report. Only auditors of Payment Processing Agents are required to complete all three templates on the IRBA website. Other auditors must only complete the first template on the IRBA website.

Consequences of late submission or non-submission:

• A late submission penalty of R20 per day will be imposed by PPRA, in terms of section 54(6) of the PPA and Regulation 38 of the Property Practitioners Regulations (PPR), for the first 3 months if the trust account audit report is not submitted by 31 August 2024.
• If the trust account audit report remains outstanding by 30 November 2024, an additional fine of R25,000 will be imposed by the PPRA Inspections Department, through a Compliance Notice issued in terms of section 26(4) of the PPA and Regulation 38 of the PPRA.

Principals of business property practitioners who are not in possession of trust account exemption letters must bring this communication to the attention of their auditors. For further enquiries, please contact the PPRA Audit Compliance Department at [email protected].

Click here to download the Reminder:

https://theppra.org.za/download.php?data_id=136841

Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:

• The Property Practitioners Act is yet another piece of legislation that your clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with.  If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
• As an auditor and independent reviewer, you need to consider and assess compliance with the PPA and Guidelines issued by the PPRA.
• As an accountant, you may need to advise your clients who are property practitioners on compliance with the PPA and adherence to the latest communication and guidelines issued by the PPRA.

Relevance to Your Clients:

• A property practitioner has a duty to comply with the Property Practitioners Act.
• Your clients who are property practitioners, must not only comply with the PPA, but they also have to adhere to the latest communication and guidelines issued by the PPRA.

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