“CHAPU Chartered Accountants (Chapu) from its inception in 2018 has grown to offices in five provinces, with its site set on further expansion. Chapu is a 100% black-owned and managed company with a young and vibrant team of qualified experts.

Rhangani Mbhalati, founder and managing director, says at the core of the company’s growth is an entrepreneurial mindset. Since Chapu’s started fully operating in March 2018, it has grown its staff compliment to more than 50 – a remarkable accomplishment. It now has presence in five provinces: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and Free State. But Chupu is not resting on its laurels and has its sights set on expansion to other countries beyond Africa.

Mbhalati says the business is in a growth phase as a result of investments made in building the right team that bought into the organisation’s vision, complemented by executives who have an entrepreneurial mindset. “However, we are not immune to current global and national challenges, therefore we continuously relook our core strategy and do risk assessment to ensure the firm is always in a good position to sustain the operations and continue with the growth trajectory achieved over the last couple of years.”

Mbhalati is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and registered auditor with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors. He holds a Bcom degree and Honours (CTA) from the Nelson Mandela University. He is currently pursuing Mphil in Development Finance at Stellenbosch Business School. He gained public sector exposure during the time he spent as audit quality control specialist at the Auditor-general of South Africa and as managing director of MNB Chartered Accountants. He also boasts international experience gained during his secondment to PWC in the US where he worked as a senior associate in assurance services.

That’s not all. Mbhalati is also a qualified assessor with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and is involved in a number of community projects aimed at improving the standard of education in rural communities. He also serves on boards and audit committees as part of giving back to the community.

Mbhalati says as a company, they have had to make sound key business adjustments in the past by discontinuing some of the services that were not bringing the desired return on investment. This has allowed Chapu to take lessons and go back to the drawing board to ensure it put in the right investment and resources to get it right in the future.

Chapu says one of its core business strategies is centred on investing in people who buy into its vision. Mbhalati says the company has invested heavily in upskilling and training their staff to ensure they continuously improve the quality of work they provide to their clients and stakeholders.

“We are aware that change is inevitable, therefore we have positioned our firm to be agile and always ready to adapt to the changes in professional standards, technical requirements and technology so we remain relevant in the market,” Mbhalati said.

However, the biggest challenge facing South Africa’s accounting and auditing sector currently is the shortage of registered auditors, due to emigration. Chartered accountants are in demand globally and remote working has presented more opportunities for them to take global opportunities, Mbhalati explained.

Ncumisa Mkunqana, the firm’s head for the Quality Assurance business unit, says to solve this problem, the country must deal with the problem of too many learners who fail to pass maths satisfactorily at Grade 12.

The firm trades in a sector has been rocked by corruption and complacency allegations due to sector multinational companies either being at the heart of corrupt practices or simply looking away when there are irregularities.

Chapu says the key values that underpins their practice are ethics, integrity and accountability.”

Find out more on: Pressreader Sunday Tribune South Africa

Listen to: PODCAST | Chapu rethinks audit in SA