Annual Financial Statements, or Financial Report, is a structured presentation of relevant financial information of a business, or individual. The complexity of a Financial Statement may vary from business to businesses depending on the industry and size of the business.

Financial Statements typically include:

• A balance sheet that shows the company’s financial position which summarises a business's assets, liabilities, and owners equity at a given point in time – usually at the end of a financial year.
• An income statement, also referred to as a profit and loss report. This shows the business's income, expenses, and profits for the financial year.
• A Statement of changes in equity, or equity statement, shows changes in equity of the business during the previous financial year.
• A cash flow statement reports on a business's cash flow activities, particularly its operating, investing and financing activities.

Financial Statements are necessary to:

• Make business decisions
• Create a budget
• Attract potential investors
• Apply for finance or a loan

While most accountants can prepare an Annual Financial Statement, not all accountants are allowed to sing off on a Financial Statement. This is mainly to ensure that the accountant signing off on a Financial Statement has sufficient knowledge and is qualified to understand the implications of the content in the statement.

We’ve included a table with more information below, but in short Accounting Officers may sign off Financial Statements for Close Corporations, while an Auditor is needed to sign off Company Financial Statements.

Dynamitech have both accountants and a Chartered Accountant in-house to sign off Financial Statements for Close Corporations and Companies.

QUALI- FICATION	FULL DESIGNATION	AUTHORISED TO PERFORM:		USUAL AREA OF SPECIALISATION	RULING BODY	FULL NAME OF RULING BODY
		AUDITOR'S REPORT (Pty) Ltd	ACCOUNTING OFFICER (Close Corporations)
CA	Chartered Accountant	If Registered also with PAAB	Yes	Financial management and consultancy	SAICA	The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants www.saica.co.za
AGA	Associate General Accountant	No	Yes	General Accounting
AAC	Associate Accounting Technician	No	No	Bookkeeping up to Trial Balance
RAA	Registered Auditor and Accountant	Yes	Yes	Auditing	IRBA (formerly PAAB)	Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors www.paab.co.za
ACIS	Chartered Secretary (Associate)	No	Yes	Company Secretary	ICSA	The Southern African Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators www.icsa.co.za
FCIS	Chartered Secretary (Fellow)
ACCA	Associated Chartered Certified Accountant	UK and Europe - Yes South Africa - No	Yes	All Round with specialised sub-categories and diploma programmes	ACCA	The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants www.acca.org.za
FCCA	Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant
CAT	Certified Accounting Technician	No	No	Bookkeeping up to Trial Balance
CIMA (Associate)	Chartered Management Accountant (Associate)	No	Yes	Management and Cost Accounting	CIMA	Chartered Institute of Management Accountants www.cimaglobal.com
CIMA (Fellow)	Chartered Management Accountants (Fellow)
Professional Accountant (SA) (formerly CPA)	Professional Accountant (SA)	No	Yes	All Round with specialised sub-categories	SAIPA	South African Institute of Professional Accountants (formerly: Institute of Certified Public Accountants) www.saipa.co.za
Accounting Technician (formerly CFA)	Accounting Technician	No	No
Business Accountant (Practice)	Business Accountant (Practice)	No	Yes	General Accounting	SAIBA	The South African Institute of Business Accountants www.saiba.org.za
Business Accountant (Affiliated)	Business Accountant (Affiliated)		No	General Accounting
Business Accountant (Student)	Business Accountant (Student)			General Accounting
IACAO	Registered Accounting Officer	No	Yes	All Round	IAC	Institute of Administration and Commerce www.iacsa.co.za
IACAT	Registered Accounting Technician		No
CJBIcb(SA)	Certified Junior Bookkeeper	No	No	Bookkeeping, Payroll, SARS returns (not income tax)	ICB	Institute of Certified Bookkeepers www.icb.org.za
CSBIcb(SA)	Certified Senior Bookkeeper			Bookkeeping, Payroll, SARS returns, Cost & Management Accounting fucntions
CTFAIcb(SA)	Certified Technical Financial Accountant			Bookkeeping, Payroll, SARS returns (including Income Tax), Cost & Management Accounting fucntions, Accounting Control
CFAIcb(SA)	Certified Financial Accountant		Yes	All accounting functions including Accounting Officer for Close Corporations
Registered Tax Practitioner	Tax Practitioner	Depending on other Qualifications	Depending on other Qualifications	Tax planning, returns and Advice	SARS	South African Revenue Services www.sars.gov.za

Source: Find an Accountant