The Financial Markets Authority’s Audit Quality Monitoring Report for 2016-2017 identifies areas for improvement in audits by NZ’s licenced auditors. Jacco Moison, Manager of Auditor Oversight at the FMA, discusses the key findings with Claire Grayston at CPA Australia and identifies actions auditors can take to improve audit quality. Jacco also explains what others, including directors and audit committees, can do to support audit quality.

Social enterprises will be explained with guest David Shires, Director, Capacity International. Also discussed will be how accountants skills to can assist them to progress and develop.  Importantly the discussion will cover how working with Social Enterprises can offer significant benefits to members such as obtaining new clients, to give back for social good and to engage with social entrepreneurs in the latter stages of a career.

A discussion with Jason Cassas and Peter Kidd (Grant Thornton Australia) about the legislation and recently issued guidance by the ATO that requires certain taxpaying entities to lodge General Purpose Financial Statements with the ATO.  The discussion will focus on the legislative requirements, the underlying reasons for the legislation and how the ATO sees the legislation being applied in practice, as set out in the ATO guidance. 

Part three of a seven part podcast series with Jason Cunningham CPA about the seven key ingredients of business success which is based on Jason’s book Have Your Cake and Sell It Too. Our latest podcast explores the importance of customers and how you can best serve your clients. It’s looking at your business through the eyes of your customer and understanding that you can’t be all things to all people. Jason explains why you must put your customers first and the difference between marketing and selling. The bigger picture says get as many people through the door as possible - this episode will help you get the customer mix right.

Medium Charities are able to obtain a review instead of an audit and small charities are not obliged to have either. Nevertheless, many of those charities continue to obtain an audit, even though that is more onerous than a review and is required to be conducted by a Registered Company Auditor. Mel Yates at the ACNC discusses with CPA Australia whether charities should be encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity for red tape reduction and what impediments to the conduct of reviews need to be overcome.  Or does an alternative solution need to be explored?

The ACNC was created in 2012 by the ACNC Act and has now been in operation nearly 5 years. Read the inaugural commissioner’s, Susan Pascoe, reflection on those first 5 years in ACNC five years on: Reflections of the Inaugural Commissioner, Susan Pascoe AM in which she notes that, under the Charities Act, the ACNC Act is required to be reviewed after five years in operation. That review is expected to be announced in 2017 and stakeholder input sought.