New ACCA SA's Technical Support Executive

Previously the South African Institute of Professional Accountants’s (SAIPA) Technical and Standard Executive, van Wyk has extensive experience in Accountancy and specializes in the interpretation and the application of Tax and Commercial Law.
 
Prior to joining SAIPA, van Wyk spent six years in private practice and a number of years lecturing in the field on a part-time basis. In addition to his position at ACCA, van Wyk is also the Chief Director at the Centre for Independent Review (SACIR) an independent public interest organisation. SACIR is committed to accountability, quality standards and education in the performance of assurance and related reporting services, so as to reduce the expectation gap between users of financial statements and those that provide assurance and related reports on financial statements.
He obtained his B Com and B Com Honours degrees through the University of Pretoria, and his MBA through the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs).
“I have a good understanding of the profession, how the profession engages with different government departments and other stakeholders. I have built quite a good network of stakeholders in SAIPA, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti). I hope to utilise all of the networks and resources built up over many years for the benefit of ACCA,” van Wyk explains.
The newly appointed executive will represent ACCA in various stakeholder forums, including South African Revenue Services (SARS) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro).
“My secondary role is to draft submissions and to give pesentations to get more recognition for ACCA members in different statutes and legislation,” he informs. No stranger to this role, while at SAIPA, van Wyk drafted numerous submissions and papers on the financial reporting requirements in the Close Corporations and Companies Act.
“Lastly, my role is to inform members on a continuous basis of technical developments. This will be done through the ACCA website (www.acca.org.za) and a technical newsletter,” he reveals.
 
Independent Review – a strategic initiative
ACCA has identified the Independent Review as a strategic initiative for ACCA members. The Independent Review is contained in the Companies Act 2008, which comes into effect on 1 July 2010. According to the Act, while public companies and those deemed to be of public interest are subject to an Audit, non-owner managed companies will be subject to an Independent Review. Owner managed companies may voluntarily or at their creditor’s request, adopt an Independent Review in their Memorandum of Incorporation.
 
The Independent Review is a new report to be issued by ‘independent accounting professionals’ on companies Financial Statements. It is an alternative report to the traditional Audit issued by a registered Auditor and is likely to replace Accounting Officer Reports issued in terms of the Close Corporation and other statues.
Of significance from an ACCA SA perspective, is the fact that an independent accounting professional need not necessarily be registered as an Auditor, although they must be a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).The Independent Review must be aligned to IFAC’s Reporting Standards. As far as the former, is concerned, ACCA has been affiliated to IFAC for many years.
These changes in legislation are expected to have a considerable impact on the Accounting and Auditing profession in South Africa. It is estimated that more than 700 000 companies in South Africa are likely to benefit from these changes.
“Companies will be able to opt for a less onerous and less costly form of assurance. Close Corporations will also be assured of a standardized reporting regime. Cost savings in the region of R1-billion annually are expected,” van Wyk observes.
Current regulations have followed a similar approach to that of the European Union.
 
“Many countries have adopted IFAC standards for review, the agreed upon procedure, and the compilation of standards. These reports started as a result of the need for an alternative report other than an Audit. Initially, it was only the Auditing Report that was mandatory for all companies. Audit exemption was first introduced in the United States and Europe. More than 80% of all companies in Europe can apply for audit exemption. This created the need for a second tier, an alternative reporting structure, other than auditing. While some countries are drafting their own alternative assurance standards, others, such as France and South Africa, have adopted the IFAC standards,” van Wyk recounts.  
He describes the ‘new’ Companies Act as a combination of the Close Corporation Act of 1984 and the Companies Act of 1973. “The new Act combines the principles contained in each of these and assesses that we have Accounting Officers previously in terms of the Close Corporation Act and should utilise their skills. Secondly, we also have Auditors performing Audit Services. The Independent Review brings these two groups together to set a minimum education benchmark, and procedures that should be followed before one issues an Independent Review. The Independent Review should be considered an alternative to the Auditor and the Accounting Officer, and should also be noted to be consistent with what is happening in the European Union and across the rest of the world,” he observes.
He says the new legislation provides greater certainty. “The Independent Review addresses two shortcomings of the Accounting Officer Report. The Close Corporation Act never set standardised qualification criteria for Accounting Officers, and it never went into detail to determine the procedure that an Accounting Officer should follow. The Independent Review clarifies both of those shortcomings by linking it clearly to IFAC. It further states that only professionals, who are members of IFAC, will be eligible to issue Independent Review Reports. The Independent Review Report will play a fundamental role in the reporting structure of entities. It will mean a lot more work for ACCA members and a lot more recognition for them as well,” van Wyk concludes.