WOB Chair Ruth Medd FCPA, experienced NED and audit committee chair, will host four female Grant Thornton Partners at a special WOB EOFY Director Insights session on 8 June at 12 noon. Key topics that will be covered include the new mandatory Director Identification Numbers, what to expect beyond audited accounts, the removal of special purpose financial reports and more... Click here to register.
Ruth says the webinar on th 8 June is a must for all Director. She adds "those of us who are AFR readers may have seen the professional services editor Edmund Tadros recently writing about the very large gender pay gap experienced by female accounting partners and the increased remuneration pressures for firms hiring /keeping experienced auditors (below manager level), due to high demand for talent. To me this suggests that audit fees are likely to rise.
Having chaired an audit committee of a listed company for 10 years my takeout is that all committee members work hard; and the chair works even harder - hours of reading and digesting materials, discussions with the auditor, discussions with senior finance staff and discussions with the accountants.
I doubt anyone will disagree."
The auditor’s perspective
It makes sense for your auditor to have informed and capable audit committee members. As their contribution to this, the larger firms:
- Brief the audit committee members to ensure they are across changes to accounting standards, ATO requirements and other market and regulatory matters.
- Include changes that impact the audit in their audit report and in be the engagement letter that outlines the audit areas for the year’s audit.
- Run professional development activities for their audit clients.
The benefit to us, the client, is that it keeps the fees down and makes the organisation an attractive audit client. Try finding a new auditor - particularly for a Not For Profit enterprise.
WOB’s perspective
WOB wants its members to be better informed on financial matters than the average board member, primarily as a health and safety measure, but also because it will help you to add value to your organisation. A key activity we undertake in our Getting Started workshop is helping you to understand your financial capability. If you score low, we recommend that you correct this deficit in your directorship armoury.
EOFY Briefing - a must attend event for all directors
Grant Thornton is a valued WOB partner. Annually they provide an important EOFY Update for our members, where they update us on what's new on the Board agenda.
As the financial year draws to an end, it's very important to understand what should you know and pay attention to when reviewing financial statements as a member of a board.
Our EOFY webinar will feature four Grant Thornton partners (all female) who will cover:
Financial reports
- Accounting standard changes
- Removal of special purpose financial reports
- Declaring tax exposures in financial statements
Taxation
- Payment time reporting
- Introduction of director ID numbers
Grant opportunities post COVID
- R&D Tax concessions
- Export grants
They will also talk about what to expect from your auditor beyond audited accounts.
A must attend webinar. Make sure you book today.
