Philippines

Head of State :
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte

Capital :
Manila

Language(s) :
Filipino, English, Spanish

Currency :
Peso

ASEAN CPA

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Profile of the Country

Information of The Country

Professional Associations

The Philippine Institute of Certified Accountants (PICPA) which was founded in November 1929 is a voluntary organization by its members. PICPA has the mission to promote, uphold, and maintain high standards in the accountancy profession; to serve the best interest of the members and the stakeholders; and to contribute to the attainment of the national and global goals. As of this date, PICPA is considered as the Accredited Professional Organization (APO) of all CPAs in compliance to Section 30, R.A. No. 9298 and its implementing rules. However, it is not mandatory for all registered CPAs to become members of PICPA.

The ob to promote and maintain high professional and ethical standards among accountants;

to advance the science of accounting;
to develop and improve accountancy education;
to encourage cordial relations among accountants, and
to protect the Certificate of CPA granted by the Republic of the Philippines.

PICPA carried out the integration of the accountancy profession (under PRC Resolution No. 106 dated July 12, 1984 as amended by Resolution No. 142 dated March 4, 1987). In compliance with the said Resolution, PICPA revised its By-laws, and thereafter elected its new set of Board of Directors and Officers on December 2, 1988. Since then, PICPA has also amended its By-laws to be in line with any new laws introduced in the Philippine, latest update was to reflect the changes according to the Accountancy Act of 2004 (Republic Act No. 9298) such as on Continuing Professional Education, sectors and geographical areas.

The PICPA organization consists of the National Office (supported by a national secretariat), the geographical areas, regions, the chapters and the general membership. The National Office is under the management of officers elected by the members of the Board themselves, i.e. the President, the Executive Vice President, the Vice President for Commerce and Industry, Education, Government and Public Practice, the Vice President for Operations, the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer. There are twenty one (21) members in the Board (from the nine (9) regions and four (4) from the sectors). The National Office concentrates its efforts on general management, policy formulation, overall direction and coordination, consolidating financial reports, representation before government and other accounting bodies, and addressing national issues. Other that the Annual National Convention (ANC) and Annual Business Meeting, the National Office does not hold events requiring general membership attendance.

Qualifying as an Accountants

Setting Up an Accountancy Practice

Under the law, the practice of accountancy shall include, but not limited to, the following:

Practice of Public Accountancy - shall constitute in a person, be it his/her individual capacity, or as a staff member in an accounting or auditing firm, holding out himself/ herself as one skilled in the knowledge, science and practice of accounting, and as a qualified person to render professional services as a certified public accountant; or offering or rendering, or both or more than one client on a fee basis or otherwise, services as such as:
1. the audit or verification of financial transaction and accounting records; or
2. the preparation, signing, or certification for clients of reports of audit, balance sheet, and other financial, accounting and related schedules, exhibits, statements or reports which are to be used by stockholders or for publication or for credit purposes, or to be filed with a court or government agency, or to be used for any other purpose; or
3. the design, installation, and revision of accounting systems and controls; or
4. the preparation of income tax returns when related to accounting and auditing procedures; or
5. when he/she represent clients before government agencies on tax and other matters relating to accounting or renders professional assistance in matters relating to accounting procedures and the recording and presentation of financial facts or data.

Practice in Commerce and Industry - shall constitute in a person involved in decision making requiring professional knowledge in the science of accounting, as well as the accounting aspects of finance and taxation, or when such employment or position requires that the holder thereof must be a CPA.
Practice in Education/Academe - shall constitute in a person in an educational institution which involve teaching of accounting, auditing, management advisory services, accounting aspect of finance, business law, taxation and other technically related subject: provided, that members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines may be allowed to teach business law and taxation subjects. Provided, further, that the position of either the dean or the department chairman or its equivalent that supervises the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy program of an educational institution is deemed to be in practice of accountancy in the academe/education and therefore must be occupied only by a duly registered CPA.
Practice in Government - shall constitute in a person who holds, or is appointed to, a position in an accounting professional group in government or in an government-owned and/or controlled corporation, including those performing proprietary functions, where decision making requires professional knowledge in the science of accounting, or where a civil service eligibility as a certified public accountant is a prerequisite.

Individual (local)

In order to be qualified as having passed the licensure examination for accountants, a candidate must:

obtain a general average of seventy five percent (75%), with no grade lower than sixty-five percent (65%) in any given subject.
in the event a candidate obtains the rating of seventy-five percent (75%) and above in at least a majority of subjects as provided for in this Act, he/she shall receive a conditional credit for the subjects passed: provided, that a candidate shall take an examination in the remaining subjects within two (2) years from preceding examination: provided, further, that if the candidate fails to obtain at least a general average of seventy-five percent (75%) and a rating of at least sixty-five percent (65%) in each of the subjects re-examined, he/she shall be considered as failed in the entire examination.

A certificate of registration shall be issued to examinees who pass the licensure examination subject to payment of fees prescribed by the PRC, indicating that the person named therein is entitled to the practice of the profession with all the privileges appurtenant thereto. A Professional Identification Card bearing the registration number date of issuance, expiry date, duly signed by the chairperson of the PRC, shall likewise be issued to every registrant renewable every three (3) years.

No person shall practice accountancy, or use the title “Certified Public Accountant”, (“CPA”) or display or use any title, sign, card, advertisement or other device to indicate such person practices or offers to practice accountancy, or is a certified public accountant, unless such person shall have received from the Board a certificate of registration/Professional license and be issued a professional identification card or a valid temporary/special permit duly issued to him/her by the Board and the PRC.

All certified public accountants shall abide by the requirements, rules and regulations on continuing professional education to be promulgated by the Board, subject to the approval of the PRC, in coordination with the accredited national professional organization of certified public accountants or any duly accredited educational institutional. For this purpose, a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Council is hereby created to implement the CPD program.

Total CPD credit units required for CPA for practice of public accountancy and accounting education is 60 for three years.. 59 in 2012.

Individual (Foreigner)

Subject or citizen of foreign countries may be allowed to practice accountancy in the Philippines in accordance with the provisions of existing laws, international treaty obligations including mutual recognition agreement entered into by the Philippines government with other countries. A person who is not a citizen of the Philippines shall not be allowed to practice accountancy in the Philippines unless he/she can prove, in the manner provided by the Rules of Court that, specific provision of law country of which he/she is a citizen, subject or national admits citizens of the Philippines to the practice of the same profession without restriction. However, as of today, no countries have included Philippines CPA in their approved list of qualification.

Professional practice of foreigners is subject to the PRC law, Section 7(j) of RA No. 8981, and specific provisions of respective professions, namely Section 35 of RA 9298. Special/

temporary permit may be issued by the Board subject to the approval of the Commission and payment of the fees the latter has prescribed and charged thereof to the following persons:

A foreign certified public accountant called for consultation or for specific purpose which, in the judgment of the Board, is essential for the development of the country: Provided, that his/her practice shall be limited only for the particular work that he/she is being engaged: Provided, further, That there is no Filipino certified public accountant qualified for such consultation or specific purposes;
A foreign certified public accountant engaged as professor, lecturer or critic in fields essential to accountancy education in the Philippines and his/her engagement is confined to teaching only; and
A foreign certified public accountant who is an internationally recognized expert or with specialization in any branch of accountancy and his/her service is essential for the advancement of accountancy in the Philippines.

Public Accounting firm

Single practitioners and partnerships for the practice of public accountancy shall be registered certified public accountants in the Philippines provided, that from the effective date of RA 9298, a certificate of accreditation shall be issued to the certified public accountant in public practice only upon showing, in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the Board and approved by the PRC, that such registrant has acquired a minimum of three (3) years meaningful experience in any of the areas of public practice including taxation: provided, further, that this requirement shall not apply to those already granted a certificate of accreditation prior to the effectivity of RA 9298. The implementing rules and regulations of RA 9298 provides that meaningful experience shall be considered as satisfactory compliance with the requirements of the law if it is earned in commerce and industry, education, government, as well as public accounting. The Security and Exchange Commission shall not register any public accounting corporation and limited liability partnership for the practice of public accountancy.

Individual practitioners and firms or partnerships in public accountancy, including their partners and staff, are required to be accredited by the PRC and the BOA every three years.

Law and Regulations on Accountancy Practice

The law governing the practice of accountancy in the Philippine is Republic Act No. 9298 (“Act”) dated 13 May 2004 otherwise known as Philippine Accountancy Act of 2004. The Act mainly provides and governs:

The standardization and regulation of accounting education;
The examination for registration of certified public accountants; and
The supervision, control, and regulation of the practice of accountancy in the Philippines.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has also issued the following:

Resolution No. 71 Series of 2004 covering the Rules and Regulations Implementing RA 9298 otherwise known as “The Philippine Accountancy Act of 2004”,among others provides for the details of the specific Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements as amended by Resolution 59 Series of 2012;
Resolution No. 59 Series of2012 clarifying and amending the rules and regulations on continuing professional education and accreditation of CPAs in public accountancy and accounting education; and
Resolution No. 668 Series of 2012 providing guidelines in implementing section 7, paragraph (j), (l) and section 16 of the Republic Act no. 8981, known as “PRC Modernization Act of 2000”, and the pertinent provisions of the Professional Regulatory Laws, the General Agreement on Trade in Services and other International Agreements on the Practice of Foreign Professionals in the Philippines.

A Resolution No. 2013-774 (Series 2013) known as the Revised Guidelines on the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program for all registered and licence professionals (with Annexes) was approved on 25 July 2013 to provide more detail information and approach on the continuing professional development program for all registered and licensed professionals such as accreditation process of CPD program and for CPD provider.

Under the law, PRC shall form a Board known as The Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy consisting of a Chairman and six (6) members to be appointed by the President of the Philippines from a list of three (3) recommendees for each position and ranked by the Commission from a list of five (5) nominees for each position submitted by the accredited national professional organization of certified public accountants. The Board shall elect a vice-chairman from among its members for a term of one (1) year.

To be qualified as a member of the Board, the person shall possess the following qualifications:

must be a natural-born citizen and a resident of the Philippines;
must be a duly registered Certified Public Accountant with at least ten (10) years of work experience in any scope of practice of accountancy;
must be a good moral character and must not have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude; and
must not have any pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in any school, college, university or institution conferring an academic degree necessary for admission to the practice of accountancy or where review classes in preparation for the licensure examination are being offered or conducted, nor shall he/she be a member of the faculty or administration thereof at a time of his/her appointment to the Board.

The powers, functions and responsibilities of the Board are:

to prescribe and adopt the rules and regulations necessary for carrying out the provisions of RA 9298t;
to supervise the registration, licensure and practice of accountancy in the Philippines;
to administer oaths in connection with the administration of RA 9298;
to issue, suspend, revoke, reinstate the Certificate of Registration for the practice of the accountancy profession;
to adopt an official seal of the Board;
to prescribe and/or adopt a Code of Ethics for the practice of accountancy;
to monitor the conditions affecting the practice of accountancy and adopt such measures, including promulgation of accounting and auditing standards, rules and regulations and best practices as may be deemed proper for the enhancement and maintenance of high professional, ethical, accounting and auditing standards: That domestic accounting and auditing standards rules and regulations shall include the international accounting and auditing standards, and generally accepted best practices;
to conduct an oversight into the quality of audits of financial statements though a review of the quality control measures instituted by auditors in order to ensure compliance with the accounting and auditing standards and practices;
to investigate violations of this act and the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder and for the purpose, to issue summons, subpoena and subpoena ad testificandum and subpoena duces tecum to violator or witness thereof and compel their documents in connection therewith: provided, that the Board upon approval of the Commission may, subject to such rules and regulations that may be promulgated to implement this section, delegate the fact-finding aspect of such investigations to the accredited national professional organization of certified public accountant: Provided, further, That the Board and/or the Commission may adopt their findings of fact as may be seems fit;
the Board may, mutopropio in its discretion, may such investigations as it deem necessary to determine whether any person has violated any provisions of this law, any accounting or auditing standard or rules duly promulgated by the Board as part of the rules governing the practice of accountancy;
to issue a cease or desist order to any person, associations, partnership or corporation engaged in violation of any provision of RA 9298t, any accounting or auditing standards or rules of duly promulgated by the Board as part of the rules governing the practice of accountancy in the Philippines;
to punish for contempt of the Board, both direct and indirect, in accordance with the pertinent provision of and penalties prescribed by the Rules of Court;
to prepare, adopt, issue or amend the syllabi of the subjects for examinations in consultation with the academe, determine and prepare questions for the licensure examination which shall strictly be within the scope of the syllabi of the subjects for examinations as well as administer, correct and release the result of the licensure examinations;
to ensure the coordination with the Commission of the Higher Education (CHED) or other authorized government offices that all higher educational instruction and offering of accountancy comply with the policies, standards and requirements of the course prescribed by the CHED or other authorized government offices in the areas of curriculum, faculty, library and facilities; and
to exercise such other powers as may be provided by law as well as those which may be implied from, or which are necessary or incidental to the carrying out of, the express powers granted to the Board to achieve the objectives and purposes of RA 9298t.

The policies resolution, rules and regulations issued or promulgated by the Board shall be subject to review and approval of the PRC. However, the Board’s decisions, resolutions or orders rendered in the administrative cases shall be subject to review only if on appeal.

Presently, the Board has undertaken the “Expanding Horizons” initiative which comprises of several projects directed towards enhancing the practice of accountancy in the Philippines.

Specific Regulation

Monitoring Committee

Regulated Accounting Services

Compilation Services

Compilation Services on the Preparation of Financial Statutory Reports or Statements.

NAB Membership and/or PRA Registration

NAB Requirement :

For those in public practice, registration, or membership is required

PRA Requirement :

Yes

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

PRA Requirement :

Must be A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who passed the CPA licensure examination of the PRA and subsequently registered with and accredited by the PRA

In addition, for CPAs in auditing as a public practice, three years of meaningful work experience

In addition, for .CPAs who audit listed companies, banks, insurance companies, and cooperatives need to be accredited with the Securities & Exchange Commission , Bangkok Sentral ng Pilipinas , Insurance Commission,

Cooperative Development Authority, and the Energy Regulatory Authority, as the case maybe.

In addition, CPAs doing tax practice services for clients with the Bureau of Internal Revenue need to be registered BIR.

Citizenship Requirement

Yes, only for Filipinos

Remarks

Subject to domestic regulations. Professional Regulations Commission Department of Labor and Employment rules, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commission on Higher Education, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Insurance Commission, Cooperative Development Authority, Energy Regulatory Authority

Eligibility requirement, where applicable (ACPA/RFPA)

Applicable

Auditing as a Public Practice

Teaching of Accounting Subject

Non-Regulated Accounting Services

Professional Accountant in Business

Bookkeeping services
Business process outsourcing – finance and accounting processes
Internal Auditing
Risk Management
Controllership
Chief Financial Officer
Budget officer
Financial Analyst
Forensic Auditor
Management Accountant
Representation of the company in the Bureau of Internal Revenue
Due diligence

NAB Membership and/or PRA Registration

NAB Requirement:

PRA Requirement:

Yes

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

PRA Requirement:

For foreigners, Special Temporary Permits must be secured from the PRA pursuant to the Accountancy Law (Republic Act No. 9892) and its Implementing Regulations or Resolutions.

Other Requirements (from other regulator):

Please see “Remarks”

Citizenship Requirement

No.

Remarks

Subject to domestic regulations. Professional Regulations Commission Department of Labour and Employment rules, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission

Eligibility requirement, where applicable

1. Bookkeeping Services
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

2. Business process outsourcing – finance and accounting processes
ACPA : n/a
RFPA : a

3. Internal Auditing
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

4. Risk Management
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

5. Controllership
ACPA : n/a
RFPA : a

6. Chief Financial Officer
ACPA : n/a
RFPA : a

7. Budget Officer
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

8. Financial Analyst
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

9. Forensic Auditor
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

10. Management Accountant
ACPA / RFPA : a

11. Representation of the company in the Bureau of Internal Revenue
ACPA : n/a
RFPA : a

12. Due Dilligence
ACPA / RFPA : n/a

Download Documents

1. Assessment Statements
2. Assessment Statements Revisions
3. Accounting Services