It’s an exciting time for the practice of accountancy in the Philippines!
For the past six months, the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), the national organization of CPAs in the Philippines, have slowly but surely re-established its status as one of the global leaders in the accountancy profession.
Ms. Gladeys Jill A. Santos, the former President of Association of CPAs in Public Practice, has been appointed as member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Professional Accountancy Organization Development and Advisory Group (PAODAG). The PAODAG focuses on raising awareness on professional accountancy organization’s development of best practices, facilitating adoption and implementation of knowledge sharing, and empowering PAO with guidance, leadership and technical assistance.
In a significant stride towards advancing the field of accountancy and fostering regional cooperation, Dr. Erwin Vincent G. Alcala, the immediate past National President of PICPA, has been appointed as a distinguished member of the ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA) Working Committee 3 on Professional Accounting Organization Capacity Building. This appointment places Dr. Alcala at the forefront of initiatives dedicated to fortifying the professional accounting landscape in the ASEAN region.
And yours truly, Atty. Randy Blanza, the current national President of PICPA, was elected as one of the Board Members of Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA). The CAPA is a regional organization representing 33 national professional accountancy organization (PAO) operating in the Asia and Pacific. These CAPA members represent close to 2 million accountants across the region. The elected CAPA Board of Directors are from India, South Korea, Australia, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka and USA.
Exchanges of Draft Memorandum of Understanding with Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) and the Association of International Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Certified Global Management Accountants (CGMA), have been in process, and when agreed and signed, these partnerships will open more opportunities to Filipino CPAs to practice their profession in international markets such as Asia Pacific, the USA, Australia, Singapore and other international territories.
In addition, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) have reached out to PICPA for possible partnership with the organization in the conduct of Uniform CPA Examination in the Philippines. The CPA Exam is one of the “Three Es” (Education, Examination and Experience), that is required for licensure as a CPA in the U.S. The successful completion of the Uniform CPA Exam is a requirement in all 55 jurisdictions; where Education and Experience requirements may vary for each state or jurisdiction. Many jurisdictions also require an additional exam in ethics in order to obtain a license (sometimes referred to as the fourth “E”). At present, the Uniform CPA Examination conducted in the Asian region are those in Japan and South Korea.
With these developments, going global practice means that our CPAs should likewise be capable to meet the expectations of the global market. The challenge now for us is to how to prepare and keep abreast to the latest international standards, that would keep our practice at par with the international practices.
As the national organization of Certified Public Accountants, PICPA will be at the forefront of these innovations and adoption of best practices to make sure that Filipino CPAs will truly shine in the global arena.
To all the students who are still undecided what course to pursue in college, you can choose Accountancy. The future of the Filipino accountants is beaming with manifold opportunities.
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Atty. Randy B. Blanza is 2023-2024 National President
of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants