01 Sep 2024

Any entity listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and is supervised by Bank of Botswana, with 150 employees and has an annual revenue of P200 million, qualify to be members of Botswana Accountancy Oversight Authority (BAOA).

This was said BAOA Public Relations Officer, Mr Oupa Gaofise in an interview at the just ended 17^th National Business Council conference in Francistown.

He said some of their stakeholders were public interest entities, certified auditors and audits firms, government and the general public.

He said BAOA provided an oversight and regulation by developing and enforcing financial reporting, auditing and corporate governance standards and codes to protect public interest.

He said the organisation issued, adopted, established, monitored and enforced financial reporting, accounting and auditing standards.

“BAOA was established through the Financial Reporting Act of 2010 as an independent oversight body of the accounting and auditing profession to regulate the reporting of financial matters,” he said. 

He also said BAOA conducted investigations and where necessary, imposed relevant sanctions on certified auditors and officers on public interest entities. 

The aim of BAOA, he said was to increase enforcement and sanctions, increase visibility and awareness and improve operational excellence.

Mr Gaofise said BAOA developed and maintained inventory and records of all data processing activities handled by the authority. He further said the conference assisted in promoting BAOA and making the public aware of the services the authority offered.

Mr Gaofise said this awareness will lead to an enhanced global confidence in financial reporting, audit and corporate governance.

“BAOA benchmarks its performance standards with those of the global body of audit regulators so as to be aware of the standards that govern them”, said Mr Gaofise. Mr Gaofise added that BAOA recognised the need to enhance international confidence in financial reporting in audit and corporate governance through exceptional technical skills and expertise. Ends