Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa May/June 2015 | Page 36

FINANCE

Auditing
Season

Five tips to make your
audit hassle-free
BY LOUW LIEBENBERG

T

he end of February marks the start of audit
season. According to the Estate Agency Affairs
Act, agencies have four months from the end of
their financial year to submit the results of their audit
to the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB). Failure
to do so can result in an agency not being granted a
Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC). Here are five crucial
elements for hassle-free submissions:
1. Make sure you are using an auditor
Only an Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors
(IRBA)-registered auditor who has Category C
certification is allowed to perform an audit on a trust
account.
2. Prepare
Have all information ready for your auditors. The
documents to have available are:
• Evidence of your registration with Financial
Intelligence Centre (FIC)
• An updated accounting system that provides all
monthly reconciliations
• Copies of all leases, mandates and invoices
• Breakdowns of all staff payments and
commissions
• Proof of all expenditure
Request an IT3b on interest declaration from the bank
as early as possible.
Scan all documents and store them electronically
thus you can easily share this folder, rather than paying
for the auditor to come to your offices.
3. Be part of the process
The owner of the estate agency remains responsible for
the outputs of the audit. If there are adverse findings,
incorrect information, late submission of forms, it is
not the auditing firm that is held responsible.
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MAY 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

Many estate agents do not have a current FFC to
show their auditor. Advise the auditor early if you do
not have this.
Ensure you read the full report and understand the full
content thereof to proactively deal with any issues the
EAAB may identify.

“The owner of the estate
agency remains responsible
for the outputs of the audit.”
4. Make sure the paperwork is perfect
The EAAB has issued a standardised form for auditors.
Ensure your auditors use the correct form – two years
ago the standard one-page submission was changed to
a form of six pages.
5.Make sure your submission is done on time
The deadline for submission is 30 June this year
(if your financial year-end is February). From this year
the EAAB will only accept electronic submissions via
its audit portal at www.eaab.org.za/myaudit. Ensure
you can prove a timeous submission by printing a copy
of the confirmation of submission.
Delays in obtaining IT3b information from banks,
in turn often cause delays in the submission of audit
report to the EAAB. It is much better to submit a
report without the IT3b (specifying that it is to follow)
than suffering the consequences of late submission.
It is the owner of the estate agency’s responsibility to
ensure the audit is done fully and submitted timeously
to ensure the financial safety of your business.

RESOURCES
PayProp
www.reimag.co.za