Technical Specialist : Tax and Accounting at Auditor-General of South Africa

IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT RESEARCH NEEDS IN A SPECIFIC SPECIALIST AREA AND PROBLEM DEFINITION IN COLLABORATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS

• Identify problem areas pro-actively and on an on-going basis by analysing developments of the tax legislation and practices, the accounting standards, Quality Control results, stakeholder feedback, training needs, technical committee input, and cyclical debrief sessions.
• Re-actively address grey areas in tax and accounting guidance and support on receipt of feedback or queries from audit.
• Determine what needs to be achieved, within broad objectives.
• Formulate a method to address the problem areas, with limited general managerial guidance / direction.

RESEARCH PROJECT EXECUTION & COORDINATION

• Collect, analyse & interpret information relevant to the research problem or request
• Process analyses and validated research data
• Prepare project charters as necessary
• Write research project reports and minutes of project meetings according to plan.
• Propose research findings and recommendations to Senior Technical Manager in accordance with stakeholder requirements and best practice principles.
• Conceptually integrate the diverse functions of accounting, tax, auditing, legislation, corporate governance, ethics, into technical guidance.
• Formulate new technical policies, procedures and guidance to be followed by the audit staff.

TESTING OF PROPOSED PRACTICES & QUALITY ASSURANCE

• Consult external technical specialists to evaluate proposed practices & procedures for validity & practicality
• Refine proposals & procedures for sign off by Senior Technical Manager
• Liaise with stakeholders on the relevance and practicality of process during execution of projects

DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

• Draft guidelines and procedures on tax and accounting support.
• Manage dissemination of information to stakeholders through written guidelines.
• Conduct and/or support practical training sessions on tax and accounting related developments.
• Consider integrating information dissemination into training and support KPA below:

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

• In areas where project outcomes result in product, e.g. audit methodology, the technical specialists liaise with relevant stakeholders to maintain the quality of content.

TRAINING & SUPPORT

• Provide technical tax and accounting support to audit business units on issues arising during the audits.
• Review of financial statements for compliance with the relevant tax requirements.
• Providing training to the Product Champions on relevant tax legislation (corporate income tax, including capital gains tax, Value Added Tax, Pay as You Earn etc.)
• Pro-actively support the technical learning team & learning providers on tax and accounting related developments.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND PLANNING

• Participating in forecasting of future needs for the AGSA, within the taxation and accounting specialist area, to support the AGSA vision and goals.
• Assess the impact of trends and new developments, within the specialist area of taxation and accounting, and provide inputs on the AGSA strategy as applicable.
• Assist the SMs, DBUL and BUL in advising the AG on taxation and accounting related matters necessary for consideration at these levels.
• Influence professional bodies, policy makers and standard setters to achieve public sector financial management transformation.
• Fulfil a steering role in directing the development and application of the tax legislation and accounting standards as they relate to the public sector.

Skills, Experience & Education

• Research techniques & methodology
• To identify, design and apply appropriate research methodologies for information management according to AG’s needs
• Process decoding skills
• Understanding of audit business objectives and requirements to design approaches and processes that will achieve objectives.

Qualifications

• CA (SA)

Experience

• 5 years’ experience (with a minimum of 3 years post articles in a specialist area)
• Tax (Income Tax, including capital gains tax; Value added tax; Pay As You Earn) and GRAP/ IFRS accounting experience is a requirement
• Experience in research and development of guidance related to GRAP and IFRS accounting support will be an advantage