ANN CROTTY: Steinhoff blinded by ‘science’?
Accounting and auditing are art forms that may be lacking in precision
If I walked into any listed company, forced everyone to stop what they were doing and then spent a week investigating that company, I’m quite sure I would find enough to do serious damage to the company’s share price." So said a wise friend, who is not prone to dramatic claims, after rewatching Markus Jooste’s parliamentary performance. The grim reality for the accounting and auditing professions is that they must be desperately hoping the PwC investigation into Steinhoff will turn up something indisputably wrong — either one huge "something" or hundreds of smaller "somethings" that cannot be lightly dismissed as a matter of interpretation. The R200bn or so write-off recorded in the interim figures released in July certainly points to the likelihood of something indisputably wrong, and so the accounting and auditing professions may be saved. But this might only be so if Jooste is not interrogated too closely about any of it. In parliament he seemed to shrug off the debacle as incons...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.