ICAZ Winter School kicks off today
PHILLIMON MHLANGA IN VICTORIA FALLS
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) Winter School kicks off today in the resort town of Victoria Falls with more than 300 delegates expected to attend.
The meeting runs up to Sunday July 24, 2022 under the theme Reconnecting, shifting gears, leveling up.
It is coming at a time when many companies are facing severe headwinds including not being able to comply with International Accounting Standards (IAS) 21.
The accounting profession has been battling currency consideration since the issuance of Statutory Instrument (SI) 33 of 2019, which among others, prescribed the accounting for RTGS balances, bond notes and the United States dollar.
The law, however, clashes with IAS 21.
The mandatory adoption of IAS 29 has also increased complexity in the accounting system.
The complexity is also caused by the difficulties to compare financials between periods, meaning the prior year comparatives for both monetary and non-monetary items are to be restated in terms of measuring unit current of the end of the latest reporting period.
The other challenge with hyperinflation reporting is that in almost all financial results published over the past few months, there have been undesired adverse or qualified audit opinions issued by auditors owing to departure from generally accepted accounting standards.
Another headache for accountants in Zimbabwe is the volatility in the exchange rate.
Government gazetted Statutory Instrument 118 of 2022 which legislated the use of interbank rate for transactions as part of efforts to deal with the crisis.
ICAZ president, Tumai Mafunga (pictured), said: “It (exchange rate) has created a lot of headache adding that “We do believe that continuous dialogue with government is required”
