Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the different aspects of non-financial reporting that may influence company financial performance. In particular, the authors present an integrated framework of these features that have a direct impact on the financial sustainability of firms for future researchers to further explore and expand the boundaries of the domain. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of peer-reviewed papers, covering the period 2015–2020, was done, and 41 paper were identified and analysed via a thematic review, to identify variables that either positively or negatively impact on the financial performance of listed companies. The literature focuses on disclosures related to integrated reporting disclosures, sustainability disclosures (also called corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures) and corporate governance disclosures. A synthesised inter-textual coherence strategy has been followed during the interpretation of the findings. Findings The results of the synthesised inter-textual coherence strategy were the development of an integrated framework, which indicates that the inclusion of control variables in regression analysis has no impact on the direction of the relationship between quality reporting and financial reporting. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to provide a comparison between the impact of the different types of reporting and financial sustainability.

This chapter discusses the level of sustainability reporting by Collieries in Emalahleni with a specific focus on Water, Effluents and Waste; Emissions; Occupational Health and Safety; Closure Planning, and Indigenous Rights. Reporting on these aspects provides Collieries with the necessary tools to communicate with stakeholders and investors about significant sustainability risks and opportunities, which in turn may lead to increased investment, financial sustainability and an increase in reputation. When comparing the survey results and the disclosures found in the reports of the mines, the results show that the detailed ESG reporting are insufficient and incomplete in addressing the unintended consequences of mining and the perceived inequalities between mine-workers, contract workers and the original inhabitants of the area. One possible reason for incomplete and insufficient reporting may be a result of the proliferation of corporate reporting and insufficient detailed guidance for sustainability reporting.

The demand for transparency in the mining sector has increased since the 1980s. Our study focused on the public reporting of four South African mining corporations and their disclosures on mine closure. South Africa was identified based on its history of mine abandonment. We found that reporting on mainstream environmental and financial matters, companies disclose little about the social aspects of mine closure. External reporting norms have evolved, with a widening scope of reporting themes presented in strategically parsimonious language. Reporting themes speak to where companies, and transparency initiatives, receive greatest external interest and much of the content in company sustainability reports appear to service this demand. This pattern is manifestly challenging for the social aspects of mine closure, where reporting is minimal and reveals little about the timing of proposed changes to the mine lifecycle, the anticipated societal effects, and how the company will address these.

South African universities that offer the accredited Chartered Accountancy [CA] programme are monitored by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) to ensure that the programme meets SAICA’s requirements in terms of the standards of teaching and learning. The monitoring includes a scrutiny of the academic success of students with regard to pass rates and throughput rates. This inevitably results in universities not only focussing on the academic success of students, but also predicting the success of their students. Much of the existing research focusses on the success of first-year students in the subject field of financial accounting, or success overall at postgraduate level. This article aims to bridge the gap in the research field by exploring academic predictors of success for postgraduate students in the accounting programme, with reference to a specific module ‒ namely, auditing ‒ at a South African university over a period of five years (2014‒2018). The objectives are to determine the extent to which selected grade-12 subjects (maths and language); admission requirements, namely the Admission Point (AP) score and the National Benchmark Test (NBT); as well as undergraduate performance could predict the success of a postgraduate module. Drawing on quantitative data, the findings indicate that the grade-12 subjects and admission requirements do not have a positive correlation with academic success, with only a few selected undergraduate level modules predicting academic success.

Method: The demand for a balanced disclosure of quantitative and qualitative value creation in an organisation and for its stakeholders has increased in recent years. Aim: Therefore, this study focused on the disclosure of 97 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange over a period of five years (2015–2019). Method: A three-phased content anlaysis was followed. Results: The researchers found that value-creation disclosures are mostly concerned with quantitative value creation, and that they focus on value concepts, such as returns to investors, cash flow, increase in employee numbers, and benefits to employees. Some companies have progressed in their integrated reporting practices and now include a reference to value creation by balancing the different forms of capital. However, their reports still do not include concrete statements or definitions about what value creation is considered to be; neither do they disclose qualitative value-creation concepts. Conclusion: The authors thus conclude that imbalanced reporting skewed towards quantitative value concepts persists.

The paper explores the relationships between a c omprehensive I ist of financial i ndicators and t he quality of Integrated Reporting disclosed in companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. These relationships were investigated using the Ernst & Young (EY) Integrated Reports Awards and financial information obtained from IRESS Ltd for a selection of 45 companies over four years (2014 to 2017), and us ing S pearman rank-order c orrelations, a Breusch P agan t est, and five m ultiple regression analyses. The results indicate a similar trend in the direction of relationships between the baseline and other models, except for pr ice-earnings and net profit margin. Statistically significant positive relationships were identified between I ntegrated R eport Quality (IRQ) and a verage debtors collection (DEBT), earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) and return on equity (ROE). Statistically significant negative relationships were identified between IRQ and fixed-assets turnover (FATURN), inventory turnover (INV), earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) dividend yield (DIVYIELD), dividend cover (DIVCOV) and return o n capital employed (ROCE). The results of this study can assist companies in the effective and productive allocation of their capitals, which in turn will enhance long-term sustainability.

Auditing and Assurance: Graded Questions provides a practical, applied and engaging question book to support students throughout the undergraduate level of the Auditing curriculum. The question content effectively tests all concepts from introductory through to advanced level, and provides step-by-step guidance to support skills development and to assist readers to develop effective exam question techniques and approaches. An innovative approach and 'real-world' focus engages readers to apply their knowledge to motivating and realistic scenarios which are linked to current events, whilst ensuring that skills and knowledge are thoroughly tested through comprehensive questions that are sufficiently challenging. The question levels within each area of the curriculum are varied and structured to ensure that students acquire broad understanding, effective integration of knowledge, and a thorough mastery of exam technique.

Education is one of the main objectives in the South African Growth Plan as announced by the minister of Economic Development in October 2010. The financial performance and compliance to corporate governance principles of provincial departments of Education in South Africa is therefore crucial. This paper investigates the financial performance of the Free State Province's Education department over the ten year period 2000/2001 until 2009/2010. The audit reports of this department was analysed to determine the aspects of concern regarding financial performance. The results indicate that aspects of concern include non-compliance to laws and regulations, poor governance, lack of supporting documentation and unauthorised, irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Based on these results a questionnaire was developed to test the perceived historical and current aspects of concern in the department. Results from the questionnaire on perceived historical and current aspects of concern for the department included non-compliance to laws and regulations, poor asset management, lack of fraud prevention and detection, lack of supporting documentation for transactions, lack of accountability, lack of integrity and supply chain management. Further aspects perceived as historical and current aspects of concern included lack of tender procedures and occurrence of tender fraud, lack of discipline and a culture of corruption within the department. All of the aspects identified could be traced back to poor compliance to corporate governance principles. The results indicate that the non-compliance can be associated with management's inability to ensure compliance to laws and regulations, improper working of the internal audit departments and ineffective audit committees. Possible solutions that are recommended include employment of skilled and experienced personnel; proper and timely disciplinary action; continuous training; effective performance evaluations; early detection mechanisms, like an effective internal audit department and implementation of effective corporate governance principles such as a well-functioning audit committee and internal audit departments.

This is the second in a series of three articles. In the previous article issues surrounding the cost-benefit problem for the intended users of audited financial statements were introduced and discussed. As part of the first article a survey was included, with the purpose of identifying potential users of audited financial statements, and to determine their views on the benefits of audit reports for private and limited interest companies, along with their views on the Companies Bill for independent reviews for private companies as an alternative to an audit. With the uncertainty related to the new corporate legislation it is perhaps proper to take an in-depth look at the lessons that can be learned from the United Kingdom. The reason for using the United Kingdom as a benchmark is because of the similarities regarding corporate legislation.

During 2008 the SAIPA Technical and Standards Department commissioned Cornelie Crous to perform research on the Audit and Independent review as proposed in the new Companies Act. A series of 3 articles was drafted. This is the last of the articles and provides feedback on the results of the survey.