Insights

Fraud prevention: it’s all about opportunity

Fraud in Australia is a persistent fact of life, affecting businesses of all sizes and across all industries. While there is no foolproof method of preventing fraud, the risk can be minimised by taking a systematic and considered approach to its management. It is generally accepted that there are three...

Geoff Peck

Partner - PKF Integrity

Melbourne

Insights

Is your business system still fit for purpose?

As a partner at PKF Digital, I’ve seen many clients in the same frustrating position: financial audits that were once manageable have turned into time-consuming torture. If you’re spending more time and energy than ever preparing for audits, your business system might be the culprit. Business systems should streamline processes,...

Don McLean

PKF Digital Partner

Sydney

Insights

Sustainability and the role of organisations

Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards are now live. In this article, we explore where your business can start to address these new requirements.

2 contributors

Melbourne, Perth

Insights

Cyber risk: secure your business like you secure your home

There are two types of businesses—those that have been hacked and those that will be. We often work with companies that don't realise how vulnerable they actually are, until it's too late. The biggest mistake? Ignoring key cyber risks, leaving critical information exposed, and not knowing what threats exist. Protecting...

Tony Corry

Director - Technology Assurance and Advisory

Brisbane, Melbourne

Insights

The future of AI regulation in Australia: understanding the proposed mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI

Regulation is coming: are you ready? Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown from simple, single-task systems to powerful large-language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Co-Pilot, but there hasn't been much regulation or control over its development. The rapid pace of technological advancement has outstripped the ability of regulatory frameworks to...

Rory O'Kane

Senior Data Scientist

Melbourne

Insights

Elevation and maturity of the internal audit function

With less than six months to go, has your organisation considered how to implement the new internal audit standards? Internal Audit (‘IA’) plays a vital role in helping organisations achieve improved performance, in ensuring risks are adequately managed in an increasingly complex landscape, and in protecting the public interest. To...

2 contributors

Brisbane

Time running out to implement bribery prevention

Insights

Time is running out to implement foreign bribery prevention measures

In March 2024, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024 (Cth) was passed. The Act is designed to remove barriers to foreign bribery investigations and prosecutions previously faced by law enforcement and prosecutors. The key changes include: A company will be criminally liable if an associate (an officer,...

Geoff Peck

Partner - PKF Integrity

Melbourne

Insights

Enabling a consistent approach to tax affecting your leases and decommission responsibilities

For the year ended 30 June 2024 (and 31 December 2023), entities are required to recognise a related deferred tax asset (DTA) and a deferred tax liability (DTL) for leases and decommissioning liabilities. In June 2021, the Australian Accounting Standard Board (AASB) published AASB 2021-5 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards...

Garry Mathoda

Director

Sydney

Insights

ASIC focus to improve investor confidence and knowledge

In May 2024, ASIC published its Focus Areas for the 30 June 2024 reporting season, giving priority to educating and building the confidence of investors. ASIC focus areas are now classified as either: Enduring focus areas, orParticular focus areas. ASIC highlighted financial reporting areas which they have determined to be...

James Lee

Partner

Sydney, Newcastle

Insights

Unpacking the new consolidated entity disclosures

As a result of the introduction of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share – Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2023, from 30 June 2024 onwards, Australian public companies who prepare a consolidated financial report (except those companies that report to the ACNC) must include a new consolidated...

Ken Weldin

Partner

Melbourne

Insights

Strengthening resilience: Considerations for Australian business following the largest global outage in history

On Friday, 19 July 2024, worldwide infrastructure crumbled in what is now recognised as the largest outage the global economy has ever seen. A critical error in CrowdStrike Falcon led to a widespread outage affecting organisations relying on their endpoint protection services. The error was introduced during a routine software...

Tony Corry

Director - Technology Assurance and Advisory

Brisbane, Melbourne

Clarity Mag

Changes to financial performance reporting to bring investors more consistency

On 9 April 2024 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued its new standard IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements. IFRS 18 (AASB 18, when adopted in Australia) will replace IAS 1 (AASB 101) Presentation of Financial Statements. This standard is effective for most for-profit entities for financial...

Simon Fermanis

Partner

Perth

Clarity Mag

Revenue recognition for cloud software providers

The days of desktop versions of software files downloaded and installed on local computers (remember MYOB desktop?) are numbered and providers of software applications such as accounting applications, software security systems, ERPs and a myriad of others are moving to cloud deployments. This presents complexity for the provider of the...

Clarity Mag

PPP operators — have you considered AASB Interpretation 12?

Governments, including local governments and other public sector entities, often enter into arrangements with private sector entities, including charities, to operate and fund public services. These arrangements are commonly referred to as public private partnerships (PPPs). A common example is where, where a private sector entity (the operator), constructs and...

Kym Reilly

Partner

Sydney, Newcastle

Clarity Mag

Proposed changes to the ASX corporate governance principles and recommendations

The 4th Edition of the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations were issued in 2019. On 27 February 2024, the ASX Corporate Governance Council released its Consultation Draft for the 5th Edition of the Principles and Recommendations. The proposed changes are intended to strengthen listed entities’ governance and increase transparency...

Shaun Lindemann

Partner

Brisbane

Clarity Mag

Mandated climate reporting in Australia

On 27 March 2024, a Bill was passed in the Australian Government to mark a new era in mandated sustainability reporting for all Australian businesses. Schedule 4 to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (Cth) was introduced into the House of Representatives to establish...

2 contributors

Melbourne

Insights

Data governance — a decision making approach

Over the past year, PKF, working with the Governance Institute of Australia, Macquarie University’s DataX Research Centre, and other expert organisations, has supported an important research study to assess the data governance landscape in Australia. The findings are unexpected and motivating.Survey participants and process In August 2023, the Governance Institute...

Ken Weldin

Partner

Melbourne

Insights

Cyber security as a cornerstone of sustainable supply chain

Imagine this... your business has undergone rigorous internal audits and your processes gleam. But, a single security breach in one of your supplier’s systems exposes sensitive data, disrupts operations, and shatters customer trust. In 2024, with rampant cybercrime, complex global partnerships, and data privacy regulations tightening, ignoring supply chain security...

Phillipa Ngorima

IT Auditor

Sydney, Newcastle

Insights

Local government changes — a sign of the times

As of mid-2022 all NSW local government councils and joint organisations were required to have considered the 2023 Risk and Audit Guidelines. The 2023 Guidelines replace the 2010 NSW Government’s Internal Audit Guidelines for Local Government in NSW. They seek to incorporate findings and lessons learnt from relevant industry reviews...

2 Contributors

Brisbane

Insights

ASIC surveillance results — areas of improvement for financial reporting and audit quality

In October 2023, ASIC published its annual surveillance report. The report highlights areas where the quality of financial reporting and audits can be improved. The surveillance report summarises findings from ASIC’s reviews of both financial reports (180 ASXlisted entities and large unlisted entities) and audit files (15 related audit files...

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Kevin Nguyen

Auditor

Perth

Insights

How the economy is impacting financial reporting

Our economic climate is changing, and so too is how we must approach the preparation of financial reports for upcoming reporting periods. Changing conditions means that the preparation of financial reports will not simply be a rollover of the estimates used in the preparation of the previous financial report. Many...

Kevin Helmers

Partner

Newcastle, Sydney

Insights

Taming the trail: Risk mitigation in mountain biking and business

As a new convert to mountain biking, it didn’t take me long to realise that riders face an array of obstacles that can send you tumbling down a hill faster than a stock market crash. But what I soon learnt is that the secrets to risk mitigation in mountain biking...

Cameron Bradley

Partner

Brisbane

Insights

Tax governance matters

Taxation in Australia is both complicated and constantly changing. Public interest in the tax system is arguably at an all-time high. Politically there is a desire to increase tax transparency for larger businesses and high net worth individuals to provide community confidence that ‘the bigger end of town’ is paying...

Garry Mathoda

Director

Sydney

Insights

Embracing the data analytics revolution

Data analytics, at its core, is the art and science of extracting actionable insights from the labyrinth of data. It encompasses the use of cutting-edge tools and methodologies to dissect, analyse, visualise, and interpret data, leading to informed and strategic decision-making. This pivotal concept has gained immense significance in today’s...

Sangeetha Ravisankar

Senior Data Analyst

Sydney, Newcastle

Insights

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Geoff Peck

Don McLean

2 contributors

Tony Corry

Rory O'Kane

2 contributors

Geoff Peck

Garry Mathoda

James Lee

Ken Weldin

Tony Corry

Simon Fermanis

Kym Reilly

Shaun Lindemann

2 contributors

Ken Weldin

Phillipa Ngorima

2 Contributors

Kevin Nguyen

Kevin Helmers

Cameron Bradley

Garry Mathoda

Sangeetha Ravisankar

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