It is the time of the year when many companies have just had their financial year end, and estate agents must keep in mind that their full audits must be submitted within four months of their year-end, said Annette Evans, regional general manager of IEASA Western Cape. It must also be remembered, she said, that audits are now to be submitted online to the EAAB via the auditor’s portal on the body’s website (eaab.org.za/myaudit).
The Estate Agency Affairs Act requires both the agency’s business and trust accounts to be audited. If the agent is operating as a sole proprietor with a personal bank account, everything that goes through that account will have to be audited.
The audit must include:
• all monies received or spent, including monies deposited to trust accounts or invested in a savings or other interest-bearing account
• all assets and liabilities
• all financial transactions and the financial position of the business
• the estate agency’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) number
• the estate agency’s registration number as required by section 26(a), which prohibits the rendering of services as an estate agency entity without a registration number.
Agents will not be able to renew their Fidelity Fund Certificates (which means they cannot legally operate as estate agents) unless their full audits are completed and submitted on time, so they must ensure that auditors receive the necessary paperwork with enough time to do the audit and submit it.
