PHILLIMON MHLANGA
Zimbabwe’s accounting profession regulator, the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB) ,has launched the Auditors Development Programme (ADP), meant to improve the quality of auditors in the country.
The programme also aims to help local auditors meet stakeholder expectations and protect the financial interest of the Zimbabwean public and investors.
The ADP will equip registered candidate auditors with critical skills which will enable them to conduct in a manner that reflects professional competence and judgment, ethical values and strategic approaches.
The competencies gained will in turn enable registered auditors to provide professional services to their clients.
Candidates who have an audit elective may spend a minimum of 18 months and 30 months for non-audit elective candidates.
But, for candidates who have managerial experience at an audit firm, may reduce their training period to 12 months.
The development comes at a time when other countries in the region are already implementing ADP. For example, South Africa launched ADP in 2015 whilst Namibia implemented the ADP programme a few years ago.
Speaking at the launch of ADP in the capital Harare, PAAB chairman, George Mahembe said: “What we are looking for is quality audit, which is a key driver of economic development. We need a strong pool of auditors for our country, which will give investors confidence to invest in Zimbabwe. ADP is part of a solution to the quality of auditors. ”
PAAB secretary, Admire Ndurunduru weighed in saying: “It’s a developmental specialist programme and we are ready to register the candidates for this ADP. Its critical to upgrade the competencies of our auditors for us to continue to serve public interest.”
Head of education at PAAB’s, Nyasha Chakuma said PAAB will benchmark the ADP with Namibia and South Africa.
“It’s a new era for Zimbabwe,” Chakuma said.
She added: “ A gap was identified and there was a need to benchmark with the region in terms of the audit quality.
“We are not taking the South African ADP or the Namibian one. But we are benchmarking.
“We welcome all chartered accountants to come on board. We want the (audit) profession to be attractive. For one to be candidate, one need to be a member of PAO (Professional Accountancy Organisation) and should produce a letter of good standing. As we are looking at audit quality, there will be high monitoring intensity.”
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors in South Africa technical manager, Sipho Khumalo, who also spoke at the launch event, said: “It’s a specialist programme where auditors will work under specialists in the area. The model Zimbabwe is working on is similar to South Africa and Namibia. Its competence driven and this will help auditors confidently sign off reports.”
