Cambodia

Head of State:
His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni

Head of Government:
Prime Minister Hun Sen

Capital:
Phnom Penh

Language(s):
Khmer

Currency :
Riel

ASEAN CPA

Profile

Country

Professional Associations

The Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Auditors (KICPAA) is an accounting professional body in Cambodia which was established by Royal Kram dated on 08 July 2002. KICPAA is placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and it is formed to function as below:

Provide a national professional body to represent its members, to promote and defend the statute and interests of the profession;
Participate as a working member of NAC;
Prepare regulations and duties of the profession and ensure their application;
Organise accounting professional training for Cambodian citizens who wish to enter the profession of CPA or Auditor.

There are 3 categories of membership of KICPAA such as Affiliated, Active, and Student or Trainee member.

An affiliated member is any person holding university qualifications in accounting, business or finance of standard recognised by and acceptable to the Registration Committee of KICPAA.
An active member is any affiliated member meeting the requirement to be registered on the list specified in Article 9 of the Anukret on the Organization and Functioning of the KICPAA, on the basis of the level of competency, diploma and aptitude in practicing the profession of this member. The foregoing provisions relating to the admission of active members notwithstanding, the governing council may in its absolute discretion admit to active membership any person whom it deems especially qualified for admission.
A trainee or student member is any person having accounting and financial knowledge deemed sufficient by the Registration Committee to follow a professional training period or carry out studies leading to the profession of CPA and/ or statutory auditor.

Qualifying as an Accountants

No person shall exercise the profession of certified public accountant unless that person is registered on the list of certified public accountants of KICPAA.

With the exception of the specific provisions set by the internal regulations regarding the admission of foreign professionals, the registration as a certified public accountant on the list maintained at the Institute is subjected to compliance with the following conditions:

Be of Cambodian nationality;
Be more than twenty five (25) years old on the day of admission as a member of the Institute;
Be in full possession of civil rights;
Not have been found guilty for any crime or offence witnessed by a clean record delivered by the relevant authorities;
Hold the certified public accountant diploma or a diploma deemed equivalent by the Registration Committee of certified public accountants and statutory auditors.

Individuals and/ or entities can be registered on the list of the accounting firms and/ or auditing firms provided that they fulfil the eligible conditions defined by the internal regulations of the Institute. Moreover, article of memorandum of companies/ entities shall be compliance with the internal regulations of KICPAA. In order to guarantee the liability they may incur as a result of their work and activities, they are bound to subscribe a professional insurance contract. Currently, KICPAA is working on development of Membership Admission Policies and Membership rule.

Setting Up an Accountancy Practice

In Cambodia, active members of KICPAA may start up a firm to practice their profession. The conditions and requirement of sole proprietorship must be met as follow:

Registered with Ministry of Commerce then submit the latest memorandum of article of association and certificate of incorporation to KICPAA;
Contact tax department to get Value Added Tax (VAT) and Patent; then submit to KICPAA;
Owner must be active member of KICPAA; and
The company is recognised as being authorised to practice the profession of public accountant by KICPAA.

The conditions and requirement of Partnership Company must be met as follow:

Registered with Ministry of Commerce then submit the latest memorandum of article of association and certificate of incorporation to KICPAA;
Contact tax department to get VAT and Patent; then submit to KICPAA;
The majority of partners are active members of KICPAA and hold majority of the share capital;
Chairman, executive director, managers or delegated officers shall be selected among the partners who are active member of KICPAA;
It is not directly or indirectly under the controlled of any person or group of enterprises whose company objective is not related to accounting; and
It does not directly or indirectly hold any financial share in industrial enterprises, commercial, agricultural or civil society businesses except for company whose objective related to accounting.

In case of a share company, further conditions shall apply as follows:

Has the list of the partners and the admission of any new partners shall be subject to prior authorisation from either the board of directors of the company or from the majority of the shareholders; and
It conveys to the Governing Council of KICPAA the list of the partners as any change to such list, and retains this information similarly available to the public authorities and all concerned third parties.

All types of the company are required to apply for permission from the Ministry of Economy and Finance before practicing auditing services in Cambodia

Law and Regulations on Accountancy Practice

The National Accounting Council (NAC) was established by Law on Corporate Accounts, Their Audit and Accounting profession promulgated by Royal Kram dated on 08 July 2002. The operation of the law is managed and supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).

NAC is a Cambodian accounting standard setter body which has functions as below:

To review and provide opinion on all draft laws and regulations relating to accounting work for all enterprises or economic activities;
To develop the conceptual framework and the accounting standards;
To propose measures for the improvement of accounting techniques;
To represent the Cambodia at international organisations’ forum and meetings on accounting;
To provide temporary authorisation to auditing firms on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Specific Regulation

In order to conduct the audit of banks, microfinance institutions and insurance companies, an auditor requires a special approval from the National Bank of Cambodia (the Central Bank) and Financial Industry General Department of Ministry of Economy and Finance. For the audit of public listed companies, a special approval is needed from Security and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC).

As of March 2013, only Active Members of KICPAA are authorised to act as approved tax agents. Other members are not allowed to act and practice tax compliance work in Cambodia except the companies which have received tax agent certificates from the General Department of Taxation, MEF.

The NAC is also responsible to develop accounting standards in Cambodia, whilst KICPAA is responsible to monitor the implementations of those standards. Cambodia has adopted full IFRS and IFRS for SMEs for companies in Cambodia since 08 January 2009.

Under the new drafted law called “Law on Accounting and Auditing” the NAC will play a role as not only standard setter but also monitoring institution on the implementation of the set IFRS and IFRS for SMEs.

The accounting records, i.e. financial statements, the corresponding ledgers (include a general journal, accounting ledger and inventory book) and documentary evidence, shall be prepared in the Khmer language and expressed in Riels. Foreign enterprises may be authorised to prepare accounting records in English and/or in a currency other than Riels (only in USD) along with the accounting records in the Khmer language and Khmer Riels. However, the financial statements (balance sheet, the income statement, cash flow statement and explanatory notes) shall be prepared in the Khmer language and in Riels.

Monitoring Committee

H.E. Bou Tharin
Chairman
Ms. Hangsophath Molyzana
Vice Chairman
Mr. Seng Tola
Member
Mr. Chen Phat
Member
Ms. Nean Bony
Member
Mr. Sim Chankiriroth
Member
Ms. Savuth Daly
Member

Regulated Accounting Services

Auditing as a Public Practice

NAB Membership and/or PRA Registration

NAB Requirement :

Yes, must be an active member of KICPAA.

PRA Requirement :

Yes. Auditing service is required to have practicing license from NAC/MEF.

NAB Membership and/or PRA Registration Requirement
(such as examination, test, recognised qualifications, etc)

NAB Requirement :

To be an active member of KICPAA that individual require:

Be of Cambodian nationality;
Be more than twenty five (25) years old on the day of admission as a member of the Institute;
Be in full possession of civil rights;
Not have been found guilty for any crime or offence witnessed by a clean record delivered by the relevant authorities;
Hold the certified public accountant diploma or a diploma deemed equivalent by the Registration Committee of certified public accountants and statutory auditors.
Have at least 3 year experience in the accounting or auditing area in accounting or auditing firm.
Hold practising certificate (for auditing service)
Be a good standing member of the institute of CPA
Work permit from Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (only for foreigner)

In addition, currently, for foreigners, who are qualified and admitted as KICPAA members, are also required to pass exam on Cambodian Taxation and Cambodian Business Law after 2 years of admission date.

PRA requirement :

All audit firms which are admitted as active members of KICPAA are required to submit their requests for practising authorization from the National Accounting Council.

Citizenship Requirement

Yes, only for Cambodian Citizens.
(For Foreigners, special temporary permits must be secured from the NAC)

Eligibility Requirement, Where Applicable (ASEAN CPA/RFPA)

Open to Registered Foreign Professional Accountant (RFPA)
(Subject to review in 2019)

Accountancy Services

NAB Membership and/or PRA Registration

NAB Requirement :

Yes, must be an active member of KICPAA.

PRA Requirement :

No practising license is required for accounting service.

NAB Membership and/or PRA Registration Requirement
(such as examination, test, recognised qualifications, etc)

NAB Requirement :

To be an active member of KICPAA that individual require:

Be of Cambodian nationality;
Be more than twenty five (25) years old on the day of admission as a member of the Institute;
Be in full possession of civil rights;
Not have been found guilty for any crime or offence witnessed by a clean record delivered by the relevant authorities;
Hold the certified public accountant diploma or a diploma deemed equivalent by the Registration Committee of certified public accountants and statutory auditors.
Have at least 3 year experience in the accounting or auditing area in accounting or auditing firm.
Hold practising certificate (for auditing service)
Be a good standing member of the institute of CPA
Work permit from Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (only for foreigner)

Citizenship Requirement

Yes, for Cambodian Citizens and Foreigners.
(For foreigners, special temporary permits must be secured from the NAC)

Eligibility Requirement, Where Applicable

Open to Registered Foreign Professional Accountant (RFPA)
(Subject to review in 2019)