About the webinar: This session will introduce qualitative research, explain when it is most appropriate, and show how it can be used to generate rich, theoretical and practice-relevant insights into accounting phenomena such as IFRS implementation, ESG reporting, governance, and informal accountability systems. The webinar will also cover key advantages and limitations of qualitative methods, together with an overview of useful software tools (e.g., NVivo and ATLAS.ti) to support rigorous analysis. Drawing on extensive experience supervising qualitative accounting theses and publishing in corporate reporting and accountability research, Prof van Zijl will share practical tips and tricks to help postgraduate students and emerging researchers design, execute and publish high-quality qualitative studies that have impact. The session is ideal for Master's and PhD students, as well as academics seeking to broaden their methodological toolkit and position themselves more strategically as distinguished researchers in their respective disciplines.

About the facilitators: Prof Wayne van Zijl is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and Associate Professor at the Margo Steele School of Accountancy, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa, where he also serves as Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management. He holds a PhD in Accountancy from Wits, with research examining the evolution of accounting using insights from biological evolution and dynamic systems theory. His research sits in the field of corporate reporting, combining technical financial reporting with qualitative and interdisciplinary theoretical approaches. He is particularly interested in how accounting standards evolve, how accountability systems function in practice, and how reporting can better address sustainability and societal needs. Currently, his theoretical work focuses on studying the pluralistic evolution of corporate reporting. Other projects are more practical and examine reporting and accountability in civil society and not-for-profit organisations, including rotational savings clubs (stokvels) in the Global South, with postgraduate students as key research collaborators. Wayne has published widely in international, peer-reviewed journals, including Critical Perspectives on Accounting and the British Accounting Review, and has contributed chapters to leading research handbooks on sustainability and financial accounting. He is an IAAER-ACCA Scholar and is actively engaged in the global academic community through editorial roles and peer review. He serves as Associate Editor of Meditari Accountancy Research (ABDC A-rated) and Section Editor of the South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences (ABDC C-rated). Alongside his research, he teaches corporate financial reporting and research methods at the master's level and supervises extensively in accounting and reporting research.

Host: Southern African Accounting Association (SAAA)

Invitation PDF

How can we, as accounting educators, use AI to make our work better?

• Institutional guidelines
• Pedagogy
• Student engagement
• Assessment

About the webinar: The aim of this webinar is to discuss the ways accounting educators can use AI to enhance teaching, streamline assessment, reduce administrative workload, support research, strengthen equity and belonging, and better prepare students for an AI-enabled profession. We will discuss how AI can personalise student engagement, be used to mark assessments and provide efficient feedback, and simplify tasks such as drafting course documents or preparing presentations. The discussion also explores how AI tools can foster student engagement and inclusivity by enabling translation, providing low-stakes support, and identifying early risks. Ultimately, we will discuss reasonable ways of how AI can support our workload, enabling us to focus on high-impact teaching while equipping students with the skills needed for the evolving accounting landscape. The focus is on support for accounting academics: workload efficiency, quality, and integrity.

About the presenter: Ilse Lubbe has been teaching accounting students in the College of Accounting at the University of Cape Town's Commerce Faculty in South Africa for over 20 years. She holds a PhD in Higher Education Studies. Since joining UCT in 2002, she has taught in undergraduate and postgraduate professional accounting programmes. She served as the Head of the College of Accounting and convened the Financial Reporting IV course in the PGDA programme. Ilse's research interests are in the education of professional accountants. She has published and presented several papers relating to curriculum design challenges and professional accountants' education. Ilse is a senior associate editor of the Accounting Education journal, an A-rated international journal. She is the lead author of the Financial Accounting: IFRS Principles textbook, in its 6th edition. She leads the national Ethics Collaboration Research Group, which is currently conducting a longitudinal study involving several universities. The group published an Ethics for Professional Accountants textbook that includes several case studies that highlight the daily ethical dilemmas of professional accountants in South Africa. As a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)), she served on the Accounting Standards Board (ASB), the Academic Board of the South African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA) and the Chartered Accountants Academy (CAA) in Zimbabwe, and more recently on the Board of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

Host: Southern African Accounting Association (SAAA)

Invitation PDF

Facilitator: International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER)

About the webinar: This webinar presents key findings from a recent study examining the implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the external audit profession. Drawing on a 2025 expert roundtable and in-depth interviews with Big Four practitioners and leading academics, the seminar explores how AI is reshaping audit practice, professional roles, and education. The discussion is structured around three overarching themes. First, it considers reporting, technology, and commercial dynamics, including AI-enabled audit tools, changes in financial reporting, and implications for audit fees. Second, it examines human AI interaction, focusing on how auditors currently use AI, the risks of overreliance, required levels of AI understanding, and evolving job characteristics. Third, it addresses education and training, highlighting implications for auditor competencies, firm-level training, university curricula, and the profession's attractiveness. Overall, the seminar provides timely, post-ChatGPT evidence on AI's impact and offers insights relevant to practitioners, educators, standard-setters, and regulators.

Host: Southern African Accounting Association (SAAA)

Contacts: Joseph Akande and Tarish Jagwanth

(Posted here 2026-01-28)