Auditing Profession Act, 2005 (Act No. 26 of 2005Chapter I : Interpretation and Objects of Act1. Definitions |
In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—
means the status afforded to a professional body in accordance with Part 1 of Chapter III, which status may be granted in full or in part;
in relation to any entity, means any national government department, registrar, regulator, agency, authority, centre, board or similar institution established, appointed, required or tasked in terms of any law to regulate, oversee or ensure compliance with any legislation, regulation or licence, rule, directive, notice or similar instrument issued in terms of or in compliance with any legislation or regulation, as appears to the Regulatory Board to be appropriate in relation to the entity;
means the examination of, in accordance with prescribed or applicable auditing standards—
| (a) | financial statements with the objective of expressing an opinion as to their fairness or compliance with an identified financial reporting framework and any applicable statutory requirements; or |
| (b) | financial and other information, prepared in accordance with suitable criteria, with the objective of expressing an opinion on the financial and other information; |
means those standards, practice statements, guidelines and circulars developed, adopted, issued or prescribed by the Regulatory Board which a registered auditor must comply with in the performance of an audit;
has the meaning assigned in section 1 of the Public Audit Act, 2004 (Act No. 25 of 2004);
means the person for whom a registered auditor is performing or has performed an audit;
has the meaning assigned to it in the Companies Act, 2008 (Act No. 71 of 2008);
[Definition substituted by section 1(a) of Act No. 2 of 2015]
means the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996;
[Definition inserted by section 1 of the Auditing Profession Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 5 of 2021), Notice No. 228 of GG44493, dated 26 April 2021]
in relation to a duty, includes an instruction or request to perform or to assist in performing the duty;
means to take all reasonably necessary and expedient steps in order to achieve the purpose, objective or intention of this Act or a provision of this Act;
means a partnership, company or sole proprietor referred to in section 40;
means any non-compliance with this Act or any rules prescribed in terms of this Act or any conduct prescribed as constituting improper conduct;
in relation to an entity which is a company, means the board of directors of the company and, in relation to any other entity, means the body or individual responsible for the management of the business of the entity;
means the Minister of Finance;
has the meaning assigned to it in section 239 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996;
means prescribe by notice in the Gazette, and "prescribed" and "prescribing" have corresponding meanings;
means a body of, or representing—
| (a) | registered auditors and registered candidate auditors; or |
| (b) | accountants, registered auditors and registered candidate auditors; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(b) of Act No. 2 of 2015]
means any person who is engaged in public practice;
means the practice of a registered auditor who places professional services at the disposal of the public for reward, and "practice" has a similar meaning;
means the board established under the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Act, 1951 (Act 51 of 1951) and which continues to exist under section 2 of the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Act, 1991 (Act No. 80 of 1991);
means the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999);
means to publish in the Gazette or in any official publication or official website of the Regulatory Board dealing with the auditing profession and distributed or circulated on a national basis to members of that profession, and "publishing" and "published" have corresponding meanings;
means an individual or firm registered as an auditor with the Regulatory Board:
means an individual who has obtained a professional accountant designation from an accredited professional body, who is registered as a candidate auditor from the Regulatory Board and who is serving under the supervision of a registered auditor;
[Definition inserted by section 1(c) of Act No. 2 of 2015]
means the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors established by section 3;
means any unlawful act or omission committed by any person responsible for the management of an entity, which—
| (a) | has caused or is likely to cause material financial loss to the entity or to any partner, member, shareholder, creditor or investor of the entity in respect of his, her or its dealings with that entity; or |
| (b) | is fraudulent or amounts to theft; or |
| (c) | represents a material breach of any fiduciary duty owed by such person to the entity or any partner, member, shareholder, creditor or investor of the entity under any law applying to the entity or the conduct or management thereof; |
means a rule prescribed by the Regulatory Board under section 10;
means any person other than a client; and
includes any regulations promulgated under section 55;
means a written training contract entered into in the prescribed form and registered with the Regulatory Board whereby a prospective registered auditor is duly bound to serve a registered auditor for a specified period and is entitled to receive training in the practice and profession of a registered auditor.