The annual tradition of celebrating the Accountancy Week is a big event for all accountants. For this year, the celebration will be from July 16 to 22 and will be held at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel and various locations throughout the Philippines. Accountants all over the country have been conducting this weeklong festivities since 1966, when then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Proclamation 19 declaring the Accountancy Week Celebration (AWC). Filipino accountants continue the AWC tradition and celebrate every third week of July pursuant to Malacañang Proclamation 218 as issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. As we celebrate our AWC, it is appropriate to note what are the more important initiatives in our accountancy profession.
The profession is now addressing the introduction of the new accountancy programs with the issuance by the Commission on Higher Education of the guidelines for three new accounting courses and a reformat of the existing program. Future accountants in the Philippines will now have more options as they pursue their chosen learning track. The employers of the future graduates will also have more options on the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) whom they will hire. Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants definitely will be a player in these major developments. We have now implemented the global standards for our Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The challenge now for us, accountants, is how to meet the heightened demand for more relevant CPD training.
The Board of Accountancy (BOA) is now focused on empowering the small and medium practices (SMPs). The SMPs constitute 95 percent of the practitioners in the country, and they provide services to the majority of the small and medium enterprises. The BOA is focused on transforming the SMPs to better manage their practice and provide quality service to their clients.
After many years in the back burner, the Quality Assurance Review (QAR) over the work of the auditors and the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Accountancy Services (MRA) will be implemented in the last half of this year. The QAR and MRA are important measures that will result in significant impact and involvement of the stakeholders of the profession.
The high-impact regulatory measures that the BOA has been putting in place will continue. The accreditation rules for the various accountancy sectors, the monitoring of the implementation of the Expanded Auditors Report and Certificate of Compilations services, the review of the audit threshold and the motu propio investigation of the board have gained ground. All of these will go a long way toward putting in place a conducive environment for the furtherance of the practice of the professional and law-abiding accountants while curbing the irregularities of the erring CPAs who continue to take advantage of their fellow accountants.
The results of the public consultations on the revisions of the antiquated 2004 accountancy law are now pending in Congress for the start of the public hearings. A revised accountancy law will address the many concerns of the profession.
With the BOA, the various accountancy professional organizations and the many accountancy stakeholders working together, the catch line “I am Accountant” will proudly be proclaimed by one and all in our accountancy profession.
Note: Organizers of the various events for the AWC are encouraged to post in Facebook 2017AWC the details of their events. The hashtag #2017awc can be used to share the pictures and information on the AWC.
Chairman Joel L. Tan-Torres is the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy. He is a Certified Public Accountant who placed No. 1 in the May 1979 CPA Board Examinations. He is concurrently a tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., CPAs. He was the former commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2009 to 2010.
This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.
1 comment
that the 120 units required for accountants whether they are in the government, in private or in public practice is very very very costly for us to comply,,we even have a higher CPE/CPD compared to lawyers and over other profession…i think you have to revisit that sir..i know that MRA requires 120 units CPD for accountants so that he or she can practice in asean countries..but do you think all Filipino accountants will avail the MRAs? You do think we all have the money to spend for your 120 units training?