Accounting Practices Board (APB)

The Accounting Practices Board ("APB") is the former standard-setting body in South Africa established in 1973 to consider and issue what should be generally accepted accounting practice (Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Practices or SA GAAP). With the establishment of the Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC) in 2011 (established in terms of section 203 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008), the APB became redundant and the need for SA GAAP had to be re-evaluated. SA GAAP are effectively the same as IFRSs with the exception of IFRS 1 - First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and the new IFRSs/IFRICs and amendments to IFRSs that were issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) after May 2011. Working closely together, the APB and the FRSC jointly agreed to withdraw SA GAAP for financial periods commencing on or after 1 December 2012.