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PhD (Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014 The profession of chartered accountancy (CA) is critical to the economic, social and cultural development of South Africa. It has the potential to play a broader leadership role in the development of the financial skills the country needs so desperately. Extensive research has shown that South Africa has far too few CAs to satisfy the needs of the economy. The profession itself is, however, facing numerous challenges especially given the high expectations of employers of newly qualified CAs and the image of the profession in South Africa in regard to transforming professional demographics, a vestige of the apartheid regime. Many commentators agree that the fundamental flaw in accounting education is that it has remained static while the profession has changed. There is growing consensus among accounting professionals that recent accounting graduates do not adequately meet the standards set by potential employers in the modern, globalised business environment. One university that offers an accredited CA programme is the North-West University (NWU) which is perfectly placed to draw students from rural and urban areas alike; it has the potential to make a significant contribution to the accountancy skills shortage of the country and, hence, contribute to the economy and broader society. However, being newly formed as a result of government‟s merger of various historic institutions, the NWU faces some tough challenges in its endeavours to contribute to the delivery of CAs. The NWU must identify and break down the barriers, limitations and weaknesses that prohibit its students from achieving optimal results, especially the barriers that can, at least partly, be controlled or influenced by the university. The various studies reported on in this thesis are all built around this pivotal theme, i.e. they all endeavour to reveal the hurdles the institution needs to overcome or the areas that require improvement to ensure that the NWU successfully delivers as many as possible CA graduates of the highest quality and to the optimal benefit of employers and broader society. Ultimately, this study wishes to provide the NWU with the information it needs to reform its CA programme in line with this goal. In broad terms, this study, therefore, aims to establish the extent of the barriers to success of the CA programme at the NWU and to make recommendations on appropriate interventions to address such issues. To address the broad aim of this thesis, it is divided into five subordinate research projects, each designed to identify areas in the NWU‟s CA programme that necessitate amelioration. The first project has the primary objective of comparing and critically analysing differences in curriculum, teaching and learning methods, and assessment between the NWU CA programme and the professional accountancy department of a comparable university in the United Kingdom (UK) (so as to identify possible interventions for the NWU programme). It would be imprudent for any organisation not to look first towards international best practice in search of interventions, and a comparable UK institution is an obvious choice given the similarities in degree structures, the South African higher education framework having originally developed from the UK framework. The method employed is a case study involving the comparison of the qualification frameworks of the two countries involved and of two specific accounting degrees in regard to curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment, including the inspection of institutional documentation and an analysis of focus group transcripts involving academic staff from either institution. The remainder of the projects delve into more specific internal concerns regarding the NWU‟s CA programme. The second project has the objective of identifying and gauging the strength of possible barriers to student achievement (as identified in the literature) in the NWU‟s CA programme and, with a view to gaining insight into transformation constraints, the third project aims to assess whether there are differences in the perceptions of the NWU‟s CA students from different campuses and different ethnic backgrounds regarding the efficacy of various students achievement drivers. Both these projects involve a written survey on student perceptions on achievement barriers affecting the NWU. The participants to these projects were 790 CA students and the results are analysed statistically. The strength of achievement barriers and transformation constraints indicated in the accounting education literature might not reveal the complete picture of the reasons why students fail, especially at the first-year level where failure and dropout are often of great concern. To, therefore, determine the full range of barriers, the fourth research project has the objective of diagnosing any possible reasons for student failure (that are not necessarily addressed in the literature) and, more specifically, failure to complete the first year of CA studies at the NWU successfully. This project is approached in a wholly qualitative manner through a discursive analysis of four separate focus group interview transcripts involving a total of 29 randomly selected failed CA students. The first four research objectives reveal a number of weaknesses in the NWU‟s CA programme in need of amelioration, and various recommendations are made in this regard. A major theme arising is the lack of skills development and assessment opportunities afforded to students in the NWU CA programme. The thesis then explores the use of integrated case studies and business simulation assignments as educational tools to address this problem. Faithful to the fifth research objective of developing and evaluating a prototype of the most needed tool recommended as an educational intervention, an actual inter-disciplinary integrated case study and business simulation assignment is developed to enhance students‟ professional skills. The success of the assignment is evaluated by having 56 third-year CA students actually complete the assignment and then testing their experiences thereof utilising an adapted questionnaire designed for this purpose, followed by statistical analysis of the data. The contributions of this thesis are manifold including, but not limited to, the identification of a variety of areas for amelioration in accounting education practices, being one of very few comprehensive studies that investigates many achievement barriers holistically. This thesis sheds new light on some themes that have not yet been sufficiently researched in prior literature, including the value of career-oriented communication, transformation in accounting education, student failure in South African accounting education and the usage of inter-disciplinary integrated case studies or simulations in accounting. It further contributes a new empirical questionnaire, the reliability of which has been confirmed, making further research possible in various other settings. It benchmarks South African accounting education to that of at least one developed country; such international comparisons are scarce in the accounting education field, especially involving Africa. Moreover, it offers explanations for the drivers of pedagogical approaches in accounting education with reference to various forces rooted in institutional theory and education theory. The author, however, believes that the most practical contribution of this thesis is the actual inter-disciplinary case study and business simulation assignment which can be used or adapted by accounting educators to develop and assess professional skills and which provide some evidence of students‟ experiences of such an assignment that can inform the development of future assignments. Inter-disciplinary integrated tools are scarce in this field. The thesis is of managerial value for the NWU, but its findings are not confined to the domain of this institution, as they should provide useful insight for other institutions and accounting educators, as well as government(s) and professional bodies as the guardians of the profession. Delivering a higher quantity of better qualified CAs, especially from the designated population groups, are to the benefit of the whole country. Most of all, this thesis provides evidence of efforts to make a difference in the continuous quest to ameliorate accounting education one step at a time. Doctoral

MCom (South African and International Taxation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014 This study examines the factors to consider in establishing an effective tax Ombudsman in South Africa. It seeks to establish how the democratic protection institutions such as the South African Public Protector and the South African Human Rights Commission and the Courts created in terms of the 1996 Constitution vis-à-vis the ways the South African Revenue Service‟ (hereinafter referred to as SARS) new court rules and Service Monitoring Offices safeguard and protect taxpayers rights against SARS‟ administrative abuses. The researcher reviews and analyses literature gathered from the following sources: the Australian and Canadian tax Ombudsman, the United Kingdom‟s tax adjudicator, the South African motor industry Ombudsman, the South African banking services Ombudsman, the South African Public Protector, the Tax Administration Act (28 of 2011) (hereinafter referred to as the TAA), the South African Constitution (108 of 1996), and other popular scientific articles and reports on the introduction of the tax Ombudsman in South Africa. The findings reveal the core factors that underscore the establishment of an effective tax Ombud in South Africa to include: independence, neutrality, credible review process and confidentiality. Other auxiliary factors with regard to the appointment of the tax Ombud are: leadership skills, honesty, integrity and courage. Furthermore, the provisions of the TAA, in relation to the appointment of the tax Ombud‟s funding, staffing, location, and powers with particular reference to cost recovery and disclosure of taxpayers‟ confidential information, impede on the tax Ombud‟s independence. It also emerged from this study that the independence of the tax Ombud‟s office is being over-emphasised, leaving other pertinent issues of equal importance, such as education and publicity, unattended to. The recommendations for this study revolve on the tax Ombud‟s appointment, budget and recruitment of its own staff, building a reputation of independence through public education and the power to recover costs. Masters

Thesis (M.Com. (South African and International Taxation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011. Tax avoidance has been a concern to revenue authorities throughout the ages, and revenue authorities worldwide are engaged in a constant struggle to ensure taxpayer compliance while combating tax avoidance. South Africa is no exception to this struggle and the increasingly innovative ways in which taxpayers seek to minimise their tax burdens necessitate amendments in order to remain at the forefront of taxpayer compliance. In view of the above, the general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) have been amended numerous times to address weaknesses. The most recent of these amendments are those of 1996 and 2006. The research on GAAR in South Africa has focused on critical analyses once the legislation fails to stand up to the rigours of court, and has thus used the principle of hindsight to criticise GAAR and recommend improvements. However, in their current form (post-2006 amendments) the GAAR have not been presented before the courts, and thus the use of hindsight is not an appropriate tool to determine if the current GAAR regime has improved upon the weaknesses identified in the past. This study applied a qualitative case study approach to determine if the 2006 amendments to GAAR have in fact addressed these weaknesses. The current GAAR regime was applied to previous cases to determine if the unfavourable judgments for the Commissioner would now be considered favourable. In executing this process, an instrument was developed in phase 1 of the literature study to apply the new GAAR to the cases. In the second phase of the study this framework was applied to case law in which the previous GAAR regimes failed to stand up to the rigours of court, thus determining whether the 2006 amendments to GAAR addressed the weaknesses of the previous GAAR regime. The final phase of the study consisted of a literature control to determine if similar such conclusions have been made by other commentators to support the findings of the study. The findings of the case studies revealed that, on a balance of probabilities, none of the cases selected for analysis would have been held in favour of the Commissioner if they were brought to the courts today on the same grounds that they were attacked at the time and the courts used the instrument developed in phase 1 to apply the GAAR to these transactions. The study therefore indicates that the use of similar (often identical) wording of the purpose test as in the previous GAAR, as well as the use of the purpose test in conjunction with the amended abnormality test still result in a GAAR regime that may be an ineffective deterrent to tax avoidance. Masters

Thesis (M.Com. (Tax))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011. The current South African tax system offers livestock farmers a variety of forms of relief. There are also certain aspects that do not make it so advantageous to be regarded as a farmer by the tax collector. A large number of farmers emigrate to other countries without knowing how the tax systems of those countries function or how much tax they will have to pay. With these factors in mind the question arises concerning how other countries tax their livestock farmers and what relief is provided to them. The objective of this research is to examine and compare the theoretical tax legislation of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, where after it will be applied in a case study. Finally conclusions and recommendations will be made based on the results of the research. It was found that, although the relief provided to South African livestock farmers regarding some aspects exceeds the relief provided in Australia and New Zealand, there are certain aspects that could be adjusted in order to make it more advantageous for livestock farmers to stay in South Africa. These proposed adjustments can indirectly stimulate the national economy. Masters

Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011. Recent corporate reporting history is well–known for its corporate failures and questionable accountancy practices, many of which caused the profession to be frowned upon. However, the splodge on the accounting profession?s reputation goes deeper than its corporate reporting failures. The scientific foundation thereof is also being questioned in academic circles. Even though accounting scholars have been trying to formulate foundational accounting theories, it has been the accounting regulators that have been more successful in promoting their versions of what accounting theory should be, which place a question mark on the legitimacy of current day accounting theory. This thesis aims to delve deeper into the foundational philosophies of accounting and its impact on the practice of accounting. With the current accounting globalisation efforts, the profession's stewardship function is becoming less prominent in its promulgated standards, which in turn brings the focus on the many questionable ethical practices found in the profession. Even though the regulatory bodies require their members to commit themselves to professional codes of conduct, which entails competency, integrity, objectivity and confidentiality, the 1st article in this thesis claims that ethical conduct is more than mere adherence to rules and regulations. It is also about the image of not only the profession, but also accounting research and education. Accounting is broadly practised, researched and taught within its so–called conceptual framework, of which a key objective is to guide and inform accounting practice. The conceptual framework became the basis upon which accounting theory is based. However, many accounting scholars are openly critical of presenting accounting theory as a set of practical guidelines. The 2nd article in the thesis concludes that, from an academic perspective, accounting theory should be based on three quintessential guidelines. The first of which is its primary purpose of reporting on the historic economic events, secondly the provision of useable and comparable information about these events and finally, the facilitation of business decisions based on relevant and reliable information. In the above mentioned business decisions, the concept of value is often taken for granted and many accounting techniques' effectiveness is judged on how well it approximates an item's value. The 3rd article argues that the multiple purposes for which accounting information is used complicates the issue of value, as reported by accounting. Two key conflicting valuation perspectives are the so–called decision–usefulness and true income perspectives. The current drive towards fair value accounting, as opposed to historic cost accounting, cast doubts on the reliability and relevance of accounting information. Even though it may be argued that value–based techniques are more relevant because it is a better reflection of the current business conditions, the mere subjective nature thereof and the accountant's objective valuation skills make the true relevance of this information questionable. Furthermore, mixed model valuations found in financial statements makes cross–company information unreliable. Accountancy research of the past four decades focussed on the concept of user decision–usefulness. The user is also pre–eminent in the globalisation of accounting standards of the FASB and the IASB, where users are specified as the equity investors, lenders and capital providers. The 4th article acknowledges that although these user categories are important consumers of the financial data, there are other users which are also impacted by the financial information and the company's operational performances. There are also concerns over accounting's key assumptions, such as its quantification and predictive abilities, which are fundamental to the decision–usefulness objective. Furthermore, there are questions around how the regulators decided what information is suppose to be useful and what type of utility is being sought. In summary, the focus on the vocational aspects of accountancy stands in contrast to claims of accounting as an academic discipline in the social sciences. The reality is that the practices of the profession will probably always play a central role in what is taught at university level, and the regulators, as the final authority on accounting standards, will probably remain dictatorial in promulgating their versions of accounting theory. Yet, accounting and its wide spread impact on society, makes it a key discipline within the economical and management sciences. It is therefore essential for the resurrection of accounting as a social scientific discipline that there is a return to foundational accounting research that will prepare (and enable) prospective practitioners and academics to question the status quo and push back on accounting practices that are threatening to extinguish the flame of accounting scholarship. Doctoral

Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009. Although the financial and social implications of the recent major corporate scandals like Enron, Parmalat and Fidentia (Cameron, 2007) were extremely severe and the reputation of the external auditor scarred, one could state that never before was the role of the external auditor so much under the spotlight and the global focus on fraud and corruption so intense. So, for example was the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act and S AS 99 in the United States merely as a direct consequence of a post-Enron remedial action (Silverstone and Sheetz, 2004:11-14). Not only globally, but also in South Africa, the focus shifted from mere expressions of opinions on financial statements to a greater awareness, detection and control of commercial crime. This is substantiated by what appears to be the large growth in private forensic investigative and accounting groups, increasing governmental investigative units and extensive media coverage of fraud and corruption scandals (i.e. Shaik, Leisurenet and Fidentia). The objective of this study is to highlight the important role(s) and prominence of South African forensic accountants through a conceptualization and clarification of: • the term "forensic accountant", • the services rendered by forensic accountants and the demand for forensic-related services, and • the importance of perceived benefits of forensic accounting training. The main objective of this study is therefore to determine a core curriculum content of topics of knowledge and skills required, which is essential to the training of a forensic accountant in South Africa. From the literature review and empirical survey, a definition for a forensic accountant is proposed, it was found that the future demand and interest in forensic-related services will increase, that benefits obtained from forensic accounting education were significant and a core curriculum of 46 forensic accounting topics were identified and ranked in terms of importance. Masters

Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007. There are various factors that accounting educators should consider when involved in accounting education. These include: A continuous changing business environment; A new generation of learners studying at universities; A lack of skills among learners; Accounting educators resisting changes in accounting education; and The requirements for continuing professional education. From the literature it seems that much research has been done in the field of accounting education, but that it did not find practical application in the classroom. It is therefore necessary to think creatively in order to find practical solutions for the challenges facing both lecturers and facilitators. In the study the following elements of the teaching-learning environment were identified: Learners; The lecturer/facilitator; The milieu; The subject content (including technical content and competencies); and the Teaching methodology. Each of these elements were investigated during the research in order to identify factors from literature that could be included in an improved teaching plan. As part of the plan (methodology) a board game "Commercium™" was developed to meet the requirements of the teaching-learning environment. The board game was evaluated by first year learners at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. The evaluation proved to be very positive. The learners indicated that technical skills, understanding of the roles of the accountant, soft skills as well as knowledge of the subject content improved as a result. What should especially be noted is their positive reaction due to the fact that the game simulated the business environment and linked theory to practice. They also enjoyed the social and group work aspects of the assignment. The learners further had a general positive attitude towards the game. The highest evaluated positive experiences were described as good, exciting and fresh. On the negative side words such as unhappy, uncomfortable and tensed were recorded. The learners were thus required to move outside their comfort zones. Learners were also required to summarise the project in one word. Two thirds of the remarks were positive, with the number one remark being the word "interesting". The largest negative comment was that the project was confusing at the start. This could, however, be addressed in future projects. In conclusion it can thus be said the Commercium™ game meets the requirements of an effective teaching-learning environment by providing an effective teaching methodology. Lecturers now have an empirically proven effective teaching tool for introductory accounting, based on research of the requirements of the teaching-learning environment. Doctoral

Thesis (M.Com. (Business and Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007. Statistically speaking, only between 4% and 6% individuals can afford to retire comfortably. When this fact is combined with changes such as a longer life expectancy, disintegration of family life and increasing pressure on public resources to deal with issues such as aids, the increasing need for personal financial planning for retirement becomes clear. Firstly, a framework was set of requirements which need to be met with regard to financial planning for retirement. This includes the need to diversify the portfolio (as a method to manage the acceptable risk level), as well as principles and techniques relating to diversification. The possibility of using the services of a financial planner to aid with the retirement planning, as well as aspects to be considered in this regard were discussed. It was also demonstrated that a variety of aspects should be considered when deciding on an investment, including market expectations, general economic conditions and the investor's own research, all within a long-term framework. The final aspect considered as part of the framework, was tax. Having set the framework for successful financial retirement planning in Chapter two, a number of pitfalls to be avoided were addressed in Chapter three. These included the investor's planned annual cost of living, since this is the single most important factor which will determine standard of living during retirement. The planned age at which the individual wishes to retire specifically also needs to be taken into account, seeing that this determines the amount of time he has to build up his investment. The planned rate of return on the investment has to be realistic, but also has to at least keep up with inflation. The effect of inflation could also for example mean that adequate present planning may fall short in 20 years' time. A final aspect to be considered is the importance of taking unforeseen events, such as a potential medical disability, into account. Having set the framework of factors to be taken into account, specific investment options were addressed in the main categories of equity, bonds, property and cash, as well as a pension find, provident fund and/or retirement annuity. Less traditional options such as collector's items, financial instruments or the option to start one's own business were also addressed in more detail. Finally, a questionnaire was addressed to professional people, as represented by auditors in the Northwest Province, with the view to determine the current level of retirement planning and whether or not their expectations matched the theoretic framework as discussed in the previous chapters. Suggestions were made as per the results of the questionnaire by linking the results of the questionnaire and the theoretical framework. Gaps were also highlighted, for instance that very few people as per the sample plan to fully retire, and this changing understanding of "retirement" is not fully captured by current literature. It also seems that professional persons, as per the questionnaire, have an over optimistic view regarding their retirement and funds needed during retirement. Masters

Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005. Skills Development through education and training has always formed an integral part of the development of individuals and the productivity and competitiveness of institutions. Education in South Africa, especially in the Apartheid Era, was a hotly contested area. Since the African National Congress (ANC) came into power in 1994, a new skills strategy was introduced and three important pieces of legislation were passed into law, namely the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Act, the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levies Act. The Skills Development Levies Act in effect forces organisations to provide their employees with training and provides for the reimbursement of their skills levies in the form of grants only if certain training criteria are met. The financial implications of the training and development of employees in South Africa comprise of costs and benefits. Human resource managers are under increased pressure to validate the, often substantial, expenses and the effect they have on the bottom line of the company. In an environment where competition is ever increasing and in the light of the financial impact of the new legislation, the financial viability of an investment in training and development is being questioned. A corporate pharmacy group raised a similar question. The general objective of this research was to determine the financial viability of the training and development of pharmacist's assistants in this corporate pharmacy group. The study consisted of a literature study and an empirical survey by means of a survey questionnaire to measure the impact of training as perceived by pharmacist's assistants and their supervising pharmacists and a questionnaire used during structured interviews with the key personnel of the corporate pharmacy group. The results of the interviews and an examination of the financial records of the pharmacy group were used to calculate the financial viability of the training programme for pharmacist's assistants. The results showed that the training programme for pharmacist's assistants in the corporate pharmacy group is financially viable for the group. Furthermore, a performance evaluation on the training programme indicated that the programme adds value to the group by yielding a return in excess of the required rate of return. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that the pharmacy group should continue providing the pharmacist's assistants with in-house training because it is not only financially viable, but provides other intangible benefits. It is further recommended that the personnel of the pharmacy group have to be informed about the benefits of determining the return on investment of a training programme and trained in the implementation thereof. More effort should be put into the measuring of improvement as a result of the training programme at different stages of implementation of the programme. Further attention should also be given to the allocation of training costs within the pharmacy group. Masters

Thesis (MCom (Managerial Accounting))--PU for CHE, 1995. South Africa is a developing country, and as a result of a series of factors accompanying the development, great emphasis is laid on growth and development. These factors include amongst others the fast growing population, increasing urbanization, housing shortage and the need for houses, as well as the implementation of the Reconstruction and Development Plan (also known as the RDP). All of this points to the fact that expansion in the trade and industrial sector is needed to supply the necessary infrastructure and related needs. Supplying these needs will demand efficient planning, optimal decision making and effective steps from the South African trade sector. In particular the South African building and engineering industry will have to come to the fore to supply the necessary infrastructure. The stone-quarry industry is the greatest supplier of material needed by the building and engineering industry, namely broken stone, aggregate, for the erection of buildings and concrete constructions, and for the construction of roads and railway lines. An increase in the demand for products of the stone-quarry industry will result in greater briskness of trade and stronger competition among existing, as well as possible new entrepreneurs in the industry, especially in the existing circumstances where economic policy supports increased competition. These new demands on the management of concerns, require more efficient and effective planning, decision making and control – which actually entail the functions and fundamental principles of cost and management accounting (business accounting). In South Africa very little literature is available on the stone-quarry industry, in particular on management and the application of the principles of cost and management accounting in such an environment. The greater demands on management as a consequence of the expansion in the trade and industrial sector in a developing country, require better planning, control and decision making in order to bring about more efficient management. Stiff competition and an unfavourable economic climate all lead to the search for efficient and effective management, especially in minor concerns in the industry. The aim of the study is to research and analyse the principles of industrial and cost and management accounting, as well as problems in the decision making, planning and control functions in the stone-quarry industry in the statistical Development Region C which covers the geographical province of the Orange Free State. An empirical research project was launched on the application of the principles of cost and management accounting in the stone-quarry industry. Recommendations are made regarding coping with and solving specific problems in the industry, and the general application of the principles of industrial and managerial accountancy in the industry as a whole, with a view to improving planning, decision making and control, and ultimately the whole of the management process. Masters