There is an uncomplimentary joke that other professionals love throwing at chartered accountants. "How do you know that someone is a CA? They tell you!" Most of us know the top accounting firms in South Africa and in the world. Think about it: how many global legal firms do you know? How about engineering firms? Not many. But everyone knows the big four international firms and the large indigenous South African firms. Whether CAs say it or not, the public has high expectations of their firms, especially when it comes to integrity and ethics. Their core offering of audit services requires independence and professional scepticism, more than any other profession known to man. They are not to be liked; they are not your friends; they shouldn't be dined or entertained. They are there to do a job - a job of assuring the public and especially users of financial information. However, these firms have over the decades grown in other services. About a decade ago, the debate was fierce about t...
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