Accounting raises the bar
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) in SA has established a task team to investigate the education, training and professional development of would-be registered auditors (RAs) and make recommendations for improvements in competence at entry levels.
Charles Oosthuizen, director at international accounting firm Moore Stephens, explains in a recent press report: “Should the task team’s recommendations be accepted, SA’s aspirant RAs will be facing more stringent assessments, which will lead to a higher level of competence and performance all round.”
According to the report, the task team considered several key concerns. These included the need to increase the number of auditors in SA; the importance of mobility and flexibility with regard to entry to the profession, qualification and registration; and the value of a formal academic programme and written examinations as well as on-the-job assessment.
Oosthuizen says that the task team has recommended, among other things, that the essential “on the job” assessment within the industry’s mandatory training programme be formalised through the development of a specific standard.
Such measures are designed to help prevent future accounting-related scandals and fraud, such the Enron debacle (allegedly caused by shoddy auditing practices) and the dissolution of accounting firm Arthur Andersen.
“Successful completion of the professional experience period, coupled with on-the-job assessment gained in the training programme, will provide IRBA with the assurance of the aspirant RA’s professional competence,” Oosthuizen says.
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