Tag: BDO South Africa

Nobody enjoys paying tax, but since it’s our legal obligation, we may as well make the most of it by legitimately saving where we can. Because tax savings - even if fractional - compounded over prolonged periods of time can contribute significantly to any person’s financial position.

We are living in a time of economic uncertainty. Inflation is skyrocketing, Eskom is loadshedding, and food prices are the highest they’ve been in 14 years.  These conditions are putting a lot of strain on business owners, and some tough decisions regarding the future may need to be made.

The process of ‘business rescue’, as outlined in the Companies Act, has become heavily stigmatised in South Africa, leading to undue strain on corporates and an overall less healthy business environment. Companies, like people, can get 'sick' from time to time. When this occurs, a business is said to be suffering from 'financial distress', a condition caused by various factors.

Although Eskom and government provide support for large renewable energy projects designed to bridge the power gap on a number of levels, there is still an important piece missing from these initiatives.

Too many powerful and well-remunerated people in our public sector are letting South Africans down by continually failing to achieve the strategic objectives of the entities they manage. Officials in the public sector must employ clean governance principles across every aspect of their operations.

Buzzwords like automation, mechanisation and digitisation can sound like the end of the human workforce and the loss of personalisation, but in fact they offer a bright and efficient future for the assurance industry. The lexicon of technology buzzwords has become, for many sectors, representative of complexity, unwanted change and negativity.

One-liners and sweeping statements about the importance of tourism to the South African economy are not enough for the 2020 SONA. While the sector is undoubtedly one of the major contributors to the development of the economy, the Tourism Fund doesn’t have a lot of money in its coffers.

Every organisation with a network, an online presence and holding or accessing confidential data is at risk of cyber-breach or attack. The very nature of the internet means that cyber criminals from anywhere in the world can hit any specific targets.

According to QuickBooks, there are already more than 700 apps that are assisting accountants to automate processes and reduce their workload. Gone are the days where accountants can be mere number crunchers, who collate and check data and allocate it to the correct cost centre. The future accountant will have transformed her/himself into a financial advisor, adding value to businesses by offering strategic advice, consulting and financial planning.

Cyber-attacks are increasingly becoming more and more sophisticated, and the magnitude of their impact across all industries globally is at an all-time high. A number of reports in the last two years revealed that the BRICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) were found to be amongst the largest victims of cybercrime. According to VM Advisory*, South Africa is listed as one of the ten globally most vulnerable countries to cyberattacks.