Vermaak elected as chairman of Forum of Firms

Theo Vermaak

The Forum of Firms was formally established in 2002 as an association of top international networks of accounting firms that perform transnational audits. The objective of the Forum is to promote consistent and high-quality standards of financial reporting and auditing practices worldwide. The Forum brings together firms that perform transnational audits and involves them more closely with the activities of the International Federation of Accountants in audit and other assurance-related areas.

Vermaak also chairs the PKF International Professional Standards Committee and as such, has overall responsibility for the network's assurance services policies, procedures, training and support, and its global quality assurance function.

International experience

Supporting his candidature, Vermaak has considerable international experience in the US, Europe and Africa. Prior to joining PKF International on a full-time basis in September 2013, he held the position of director of Accounting and Auditing with PKF O'Connor Davies in New York, where he became an International Associate Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Associate Member - New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA). He is also a former member of the NYSSCPA SEC Practice Committee.

Vermaak has worked and lived in Kenya, Slovenia and Slovakia in addition to South Africa and the US, and has conducted training and seminars across the globe. His prior experience ranges from quality assurance and technical support to working in the treasury division of a large national bank. He established Converg Financial Training in 2003 in partnership with PKF South Africa, and today works closely with Converg on PKF International projects.

He is both a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and the ACCA Global Forum for Ethics, and represented PKF International as a member of the Transnational Auditors Committee.