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Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997)

Regulations

Regulations for Annual Reporting by Public Higher Education Institutions

Schedule

Implementation Manual for Annual Reporting

Chapter 4

 

CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

4.1 Content of the Annual Financial Report component of the Annual Report

 

The report comprises: (King II: 135-137)

 

Council's statement of responsibility for the financial statements
Report of the auditors

The following statements and reports comprise the sections of the Annual Report on which the auditors present an opinion (report of the auditors on the annual financial statements):

Statement of accounting policies relevant to the financial statements
Consolidated balance sheet
Consolidated statement showing all changes in equity/funds
Consolidated income statement
Consolidated cash flow statement
Notes, explanations, and elaborations to the annual financial statements

 

4.2 Example of a typical Council's statement of its responsibility for the financial statements

 

(King II: 38-39; 125-133)

 

The Council is responsible for the preparation, integrity, and fair presentation of the financial statements of the ABC University of Technology/University.

 

The financial statements presented on pages nn to nn of this Annual Report for yyyy, have been prepared in accordance with the South African Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (International Financial Reporting Standards) prescribed by the Minister of Education in the regulations in terms of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997), as amended, and include amounts based on judgments and estimates made by the management. The Council has also prepared other information, as required, to be included in this Annual Report and is responsible for both its accuracy and its consistency with the financial statements.

 

The "going concern" basis has been adopted in the preparation of the financial statements. The Council has no reason to believe that the ABC University of Technology/University will not be a "going concern" for the foreseeable future, based on forecasts and available cash resources. The viability of the institution is supported by the content of the financial statements.

 

The financial statements have been audited by XYZ & Co., who have been given unrestricted access to all financial records and related data, including minutes of meetings of the Council and all its committees. The Council believes that all representations made to the independent auditors during their audit were valid and appropriate.

 

APPROVAL OF CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The consolidated financial statements on pages nn to nn of this Annual Report were approved by Council on dd mm yyyyand signed on its behalf by:

 

 

A. ACADEMIC

Principal

 

 

B. MONEY

Director Finance

 

 

A. SHARP

Chairman of Council

 

 

The ABC University/University of Technology

City/Town

 

4.3 Report of the independent auditors to the council of a higher education institution

 

Example of an unqualified report

 

To the Council of the XYZ Higher Education Institution

 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated annual financial statements set out on pages nn to nn for the financial year ended 31 December 20nn. These financial statements are the responsibility of the HEl's Council. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

 

SCOPE

 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the Statements of South African Auditing Standards [International Standards of Auditing ISA]. These standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes:

examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements;
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management; and
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.

 

We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

AUDIT OPINION

 

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements fairly represent, in all material respects, the financial position of the HEI at 31 December 20nn and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the South African Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice/International Financial Reporting Standards and in the manner required by the Minister of Education in terms of section 41 of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act NO.101 of 1997), as amended.

 

 

XYZ & Co.

Registered Accountants and Auditors

Chartered Accountants (SA)

 

Date

Address

 

4.4 Submission of the consolidated annual financial statements

 

A set of the consolidated annual financial statements for each individual HEI and the entities in respect of which consolidation is required, must be prepared and submitted to the Department of Education within six months of the end of the respective financial period.

 

A separate set of financial statements for the institution as an entity will be prepared for institutions that require such statements.

 

In respect of every set of annual consolidated financial statements the adopted financial policies that were applicable to these statements must be disclosed in order that readers of the statements will be able to understand both the basis and the means of measurement of their content. Whenever a particular accounting policy is changed, the fact that there has been a change must be noted.