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In terms of the auditing process, you deserve a holistic approach.
At MGI Bass Gordon, we believe that it’s not enough just to assess financial information and deliver annual financial statements. Not only do the unique elements of your business need to be considered, but proper time must be devoted to understanding its very nature – while identifying real solutions that contribute to profitability.
Because we understand that audit processes run parallel with the daily pressures of running a business, we make your audit as painless and seamless as possible.
Our seasoned audit team wields in-depth knowledge and decades of experience like weapons in the pursuit of your annual audit victory. Get to know them better in this brief interview:
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Team, what is the most important benefit of an audit in terms of operational peace of mind for a business owner?
It allows for independent oversight that business owners need – an objective look from the outside by experienced professionals, executed by applying business and industry knowledge. This extra set of eyes during the audit process provides assurance to business owners that the figures shown in the financial statements fairly present the results and position of the business.
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How does teamwork influence your approach?
Well, we celebrate the saying that goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work” and therefore teamwork really underpins our client approach. The strength found in our teams’ diversity produces multifaceted solutions to our clients’ ongoing and specific needs.
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Johann, what is your most powerful success story in using audit findings to boost a client’s performance?
I believe that our most powerful success stories come from the extensive knowledge our team members have gathered from our in-house training sessions and over their first-hand experience around legislation, especially tax legislation. When this knowledge is combined with the in-depth business knowledge our audit teams gather from auditing our clients and our audit findings, we are perfectly positioned to identify situations where there have been changes in legislation or opportunities within the tax legislation which our clients can benefit from in minimising their tax liabilities and as a result, maximise their performance. There have been several occasions where our audit teams have identified these situations and advised our clients accordingly where the benefits for our clients far outweigh the cost of an audit.
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MGI Bass Gordon offers business reviews as a value-added audit service. What is the advantage of this?
The advantage of a business review is that it gives business owners a constructive high-level report on any internal control deficiencies identified in the business and its operating processes. Even though this is done outside of the scope of an assurance engagement, the client benefits from our expertise as seasoned auditors and our integrated knowledge of business systems and processes. The final Management Report is an especially useful tool to assist business owners with implementing changes which lead to higher profitability and compliance.
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Abraham, what number one difference do you feel you make in the lives of your clients?
I’m here to empower business owners and organizations to grow, to structure their personal and business affairs, and help them achieve compliance with statutory requirements. The difference I make in their lives is providing innovative solutions to the problems they face, with a personal attention to detail. I find reward in demystifying the audit process for clients and helping them navigate the waters of statutory compliance towards the safe harbour of profitability and efficiency.
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How do you ensure your audits comply with the professional standards set out by the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors?
We believe that it’s critical for quality to permeate through all the services we provide to our clients. This is done by building and fostering a culture of quality management and ensuring that quality and efficiency remain at the forefront of all that we do. The Partners in our firm set the tone from the top, ensuring that everyone remains committed to our values and ethical principles.
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“Generally, the audit evidence auditors collect is persuasive in nature, not conclusive in nature.” Is this statement true?
This is correct. Within the framework of auditing lies a conceptual trade-off between accuracy on the one hand and relevance on the other. The longer an audit is conducted, the more audit evidence is gathered, the more accurate the audited information is – but as this happens the audited information declines in relevance due to the lapse of time. Of course, the converse rings true as well. To express opinions that remain both relevant and accurate, a balance needs to be struck and to achieve this, auditors must utilize procedures which result in evidence persuasive in nature as opposed to conclusive.
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Susan, how do you navigate the new-age digital businesses in terms of auditing?
Firstly, we need to familiarise ourselves with what is changing in the digital landscape and how this will impact our audit approach. The traditional auditing principles will continue to be part of the approach, but the challenge is how we adapt this with the change in digital environments. We continue to assess and review what is new in the digital environment and how this can be best implemented in our engagements. We then communicate this to our teams and ensure that they have received the appropriate training. What is always forefront in our approach is to make sure that our audit process is efficient and relevant.
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Can an audit help to improve a company’s internal control and systems? How so?
Most definitely. One of the value-adds of having an audit conducted is that it gives the owner of the business a constructive high-level report on any internal control deficiencies identified in the business and its operating processes. When conducting an audit, we gain an in-depth understanding of the business and together with management identify assertion level risks, financial statement risks, as well as business risks. In this manner the client benefits from our expertise as seasoned auditors and our integrated knowledge of business systems and processes. An important aspect of the close-out phase of an audit, is meeting with management and those charged with governance of the entity. In this meeting the final Management Report will be discussed, which is a particularly useful tool to assist business owners with implementing changes which lead to higher profitability and ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
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Alan, how do you help clients understand the scope and purpose of your audits?
We quickly tailor our approach and language to fit with our client’s level of understanding and their financial literacy – which is incredibly diverse across our portfolio of clients! Simply put, the audit process can scare the life out of some clients and reading of financial statements can be daunting, whereas some clients are themselves Chartered Accountants and have performed audits, thus understand their financials very well! We look to package the audit with a personal touch, appreciating the needs and comfort level of the client with the process and then ensure we communicate our progress accordingly. We have also found that some new clients aren’t aware of the engagement options available to them based on the Companies Act requirements and may have had audits imposed on them by other advisors when it wasn’t necessary.
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As a team, how do you approach non-cooperation of client employees when conducting an audit?
The important message to relay is always that we are working together as one team (both the client staff and ours) to achieve a common goal of ensuring a smooth and seamless audit process. We believe this involves greater communication around why certain information is requested, why certain procedures are performed, and of course, around deliverables and expectations from all parties. Once everyone is involved and understands the bigger picture and the greater common goal, the overall management of the engagement should be greatly simplified.
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At MGI Bass Gordon, we conduct statutory and non-statutory audits, independent reviews, compilations, and agreed upon procedures of the following types of entities:
- Private Companies
- Not-for-Profit Companies
- Public Benefit Organisations
- Estate Agencies (Trust & business)
- Attorney Trust Accounts
- Religious Organisations
- Schools & Tertiary Institutions
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We care about the ongoing health of your business – and that your financial reporting is watertight, fair, and accurate. To this end we invite you to regard our role as that of watchdog, not bloodhound, as the saying goes. Interested in exploring your auditing journey with us? Start the conversation with our team today: +27 21 405 8500
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