The acquisition of CQS Technology Holdings, which was announced at the end of 2015 by Adapt IT, will move into its final phase on 1 July, when the CQS name will be replaced by CaseWare Africa, a division of Adapt IT.

According to a statement from CaseWare Africa, Ross Hampton, MD of the division, and long standing Director of CQS, is said to be enthusiastic about the move.

"The acquisition has been carefully planned to cause minimum disruption to our clients. The leadership and team remain the same, and the way we engage with our clients will stay unchanged but with the added benefit of having the resources of a much larger, JSE listed, entity behind us," he says.

Hampton confirms that the move into a larger group will yield substantial benefits to the company's current customers. "Being part of a large group is a significant advantage as the cloud era dawns. Technology is disrupting the accounting and audit profession by driving automation and supporting the creation of an ecosystem across the reporting value chain.

"Cloud enables seamless collaboration irrespective of geography, common stores of big data and powerful analytics to derive deeper insight and so add value to customers. The role of the finance professional is transforming," says Hampton. "All of this requires considerable infrastructure and, as part of a bigger group, CaseWare Africa is even better placed to partner with its clients as they face the challenges and seize the opportunities new technologies present."

CaseWare Africa has an existing team of local developers as well as audit and accounting specialists devoted to localising the software in line with relevant government and other regulations and standards.

This localisation effort will be strengthened further via access to the resources of the Adapt IT group, particularly as CaseWare's drive into other African companies gains momentum, and the software needs to be localised for each country, according to the company.

"Africa has been a growth focus for some time, and Adapt IT's existing footprint in Mauritius and Botswana, with Kenya soon to come, will allow us to offer in-country support and service more rapidly," Hampton continues. "This acquisition adds a considerable upside for enhancing what we already offer our clients."

In May Jackie Hussein, managing partner for Caseware Africa, said there is an overwhelming response to the rollout of platforms that allow for the integration of digital tools and that there is a drive to entrench cloud tools into the accounting and auditing process.