(First of three parts)
The accountancy profession in the Philippines is regulated by the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (BOA). The country’s recognized Professional Accountancy Organization is the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Picpa). There are more than 188,000 Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) registered in the Philippines, of which over 8,000 are currently active CPAs in Public Practice.
To practice accountancy in the Philippines, the requirements are:
- the completion of a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) from a university accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and
- successful completion of the CPA Licensure examination.
Recently, the CHED and the BOA approved three new university accounting programs in addition to the reformatted BSA.
Work experience can be gained in any of the four recognized areas (Public Practice, Commerce and Industry, Academia and Education, and Government). For CPAs in Public Practice, a three-year meaningful experience must be completed. In addition, accreditation must be achieved from a range of different regulatory bodies depending on the industry and other characteristics of their clients.
The existing CPA licensure examination in the Philippines is usually taken shortly after completion of a BSA and is administered exclusively through a six-paper multiple-choice examination prescribed in BOA Resolution 2015-262. The existing licensure examinations for CPAs cover the following six subjects:
- Taxation
- Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions
- Financial Accounting and Reporting
- Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting
- Auditing
- Management Advisory Services
- A number of factors led the different stakeholders involved in the certification and regulation of the accounting profession to recognize the need to re-design the accountancy curriculum. These factors included:
The need to achieve greater compliance with International Education Standards, which had been significantly modified in the past 10 years.
The need to ensure different specializations for accountants were recognized, whereas the existing education and certification model favored the public practice stream to the detriment of other areas of practice.
The opportunity to achieve greater regional mobility for members of the profession, in particular through the Mutual Recognition Agreements for professional services under the Asean Economic Community established in 2015.
The implementation of the “K to 12 Program,” which added two years of studies in the high-school level in order to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare high-school graduates for tertiary education, employment, and entrepreneurship.
(To be continued)
(Background: The Centre for Financial Reporting Reform of the World Bank One will be releasing the Guide to Implement Competency Based Accounting Education and Certification by the end of 2018. Included in this publication is an article on the Philippine experience, which was written with inputs from former Chairman of the Board of Accountancy Joel Tan-Torres)
Alfred Jean-Marie Borgonovo is Senior Financial Management Specialist, Centre for Financial Reporting Reform, World Bank. Alfred is a Certified Professional Accountant and has provided consultancy services to the Board of Accountancy.
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.