So to answer the questions - first off the Financial Statements need to be signed off by a Qualified Accounting Officer.
You appoint the first AO through the initial registration and they/he/she gives their consent to be the corporations AO.
Thereafter you can change the AO at any stage and a relevant CK2A is filled in which reflects the change at the Registrars office. Note that all the members must sign off on this. Usually the New Accountant will arrange this as until the registrar records the change the old accountant is still responsible.
Nothing is 'legal' until the registrar has recorded the changes.
A note for those who believe a shelf company is the way to go as it is quicker than going through the hoops with registering a new corporation. When you buy the shelf company, you fill in the ck2's and lodge them. There is a delay factor which we are all aware of at the registrars office. It will take the same amount of time for them to process a CK1 as it will a CK2 & CK2A .........the note is...be aware that that during the period that the registrar has your changing documentation CK2/CK2A in the pipeline and has not recorded the change, someone/body/people...who you do not know...both AO and members are in charge of your company. So there you are just bought a new business, deposited some money into an account in the name of the business, maybe transferred a R10mill property.....and guess what - you have in effect given it to an unknown person to 'look after' it for a short while. The new name that you wanted has disappeared along with some of your newly invested assets...How do we know this is a problem.........mmmmmm....go figure.
Make sure your AO is registered and a member with SAIPA or SAICA - the main institutes which govern the qualification of accountants and auditors - there are a few other institutes as well but usually these two main bodies are the main guys with SAIPA being the one you should target.
The AO duties includes - making sure the books have been drawn up correctly in terms of gaap and that the financials reflect the books.
Thats the main duty and then they have to report if there are any irregularities reckless trading etc. Remember that if there are any irregularities then the company / member liability coverage scenario falls away. This includes technical insolvent situations.
The members are responsible for seeing that the books are drawn up properly and they have the ultimate responsibility for the results. There are a few accountants currently sitting with members doing time, as they were all assumed to be in cahoots. That is why an accountant cannot just take a back seat when seeing something wrong. That reminds me of the chinese couple who named their handicapped child......Sum Ting Wong.
The other responsibility of the members is to pay the accountant huge bucks for services rendered - and not to whine about it.
The future of CC's is in the balance with the new companies bill having been passed now. The bill provides for an indefinite case but is open to interpretation. The thought is that as soon as the bill is enacted, you will not be able to register a new cc. Old cc's will have a 10 year period to convert to a new style company.
What is a Public Officer that Dave has been talking about?
Every CC needs to nominate a designated person to be responsible for receiving legal and tax documents on behalf of the business. A Member of the CC is normally appointed as the Public Officer or this can be any other person. This is normally your accounting officer or bookkeeper but you can appoint an unskilled unqualified other person to do this function. This is also the person that may sit doing time when the fines of the company vehicles have not been paid.....so choose someone you do not like. This is why the accountant normally gets to be appointed to this prestigious position.
So thats it for now - its quite simple really like most accountants. Who said that......
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