Membership - Guides

This is a guide to help new and prospective members understanding what is required to obtain full membership to the ABC. You may only apply for membership once you have published at least 1 issue.

Steps of the process:

1. Complete the application for membership and pay the non-refundable administration fee – step two follows only after payment is received.

2. An ABC auditor will e-mail an auditability questionnaire for you to complete,

   Note the following with respect to the questionnaire:

   • All members are required to have an auditor who is registered with IRBA (Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors) to perform the audit on the circulation.
   • Certain members may opt to have the ABC audit their data instead of an IRBA registered auditor. Please contact the ABC to determine whether your title qualifies.
   • New members must select a category for their circulation (refer to Appendix A of the rules, for a description of the various categories)
   • All new members report according to ABC cycles:
     
     1. Quarterly - titles printing 11 or more issues per annum
     2. Six Monthly - titles printing between 6 and 10 issues per annum
     3. Annual - titles printing 5 or less issues per annum

   Once the questionnaire is completed and the ABC auditor is satisfied with all the information, step 3 follows.

3. The ABC will send you a letter granting you provisional membership and when your initial certificate is required to be submitted to the ABC.

   Your initial certificate will depend on your ABC cycle from above:

   1. Quarterly – Jan-Mar, April-June, July-September or October-December
   2. Six Monthly – January to June or July to December
   3. Annual – January to December of July to June

   You may apply for a certificate covering a shorter period under certain circumstances.

4. When your initial certificate is due (usually 20 days after the end of the applicable cycle):

   • log onto this website ([www.abc.org.za][1])
   • click on Members Area (on your top right hand side)
   • enter your ID number and password
   • click on Input Data (on the left hand side below members area)
   • your publication will then be listed (click on the right hand side, the letters will be in blue– Input/edit data)
   • complete the input form with your circulation figures and save the form (do not tick the check box yet as the form will be inaccessible to you) – there should be no balancing difference at the bottom
   • If there are no differences and you are happy with the figures, tick the checkbox at the bottom of the form and save the form.
   • The ABC will verify the input form to ensure that all the information is complete – an e-mail will be sent to you once the input form has been processed or a revision has been requested.
   • You will then be able to print the audit certificate
   • The audit certificate needs to be signed by you and stamped by the auditor completing the audit or by the ABC where applicable.
     • The auditor needs to audit the input form and submit his/her original audit report together with the audit certificate to the ABC.
     • Where the ABC audits the input form, it will issue the audit report
     • It is advised that all deadline dates are clearly understood.

5. After your initial audit certificate AND audit report is submitted to the ABC:

   • You will receive a letter from the ABC granting you full membership.
   • You may only use the ABC logo in your marketing material after full membership is granted.

6. Submit circulation figures thereafter in accordance to your ABC cycle.

1. Application fee
2. Annual fee based on circulation – refer to the fee schedule on the website
3. Audit fee – dependent on your auditor

All information should be clearly understood at the time of completing the application for membership.

If any information is unclear, please contact the ABC.