MARCH 17, 2022 marked the groundbreaking of the launch, preparation, and campaign for the grand celebration for the Centenary of Accounting Profession in the Philippines, exactly one year prior to the actual date of the Philippine Accountancy's mother-of-events in the past hundred years.
The theme: "Celebrating the Past, Transforming the Present. Shaping the Future."
Who else would be at the helm of this unprecedented event but the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PR-BoA), in cooperation with the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Picpa), the PRC Accredited Integrated Professional Organization (AIPO) of Filipino accountants, along with the four sectoral organizations for accountancy namely: Association of Certified Public Accountants for Commerce and Industry (ACPACI), Association of Certified Public Accountants for Public Practice (ACPAPP), the National Association of Certified Public Accountants in Education (nACPAE) and the Government Association of Certified Public Accountants (Gacpa).
One hundred years of the Accountancy Profession in the country, certainly, a big story worthy of the front page and center stage. All the milestone events for a hundred years, the changes and transformations, the growing statistics, the improving structures and the enhancement of tools of the profession, the improvement of system efficiency with the modernization and digitization of methods and standards, the introduction and immersion of the accounting students and professionals to new knowledge, skills and technologies, not to forget the long list of prominent figures and personalities who at some point within the centennial, have been given recognition for their contributions to the advancement of the profession and to the progress of our country. The exciting, exhilarating journey for a hundred years would indeed be a long but great story to tell.
Accounting is one such profession that spans most disciplines, as in the modern world, trade and cash flow is the bloodline of entities and industries, and where money and financial management is involved, accounting weaves the thread of the story. In our country, at the center of it all would be the powerhouse of the accountancy profession, the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, PR-BoA or simply BOA to accountants.
From the 1923 until the present, BoA's roles are defined in the laws promulgated by the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Act), the Congress (Republic Acts) or by the President (Presidential Decree during the Martial Law). In all of those promulgations, only one thing is consistent: the three main objectives of the accountancy law which are to provide for and to govern the standardization and regulation of (1) the accounting education; (2) the examination for registration of certified public accountants; and (3) the general supervision, control, and regulation of the practice of accountancy in the Philippines.
Relative to this, BoA is also in charge of promulgating Board Resolutions and implementing rules and regulations connected to the practice of accountancy, in accordance with PRC's resolutions and directives. Further, BoA also investigates violations of the Accountancy Laws and the Accountancy Code of Ethics currently in effect and, after due process, it may suspend, revoke or reissue the professional license of the concerned accounting professional.
Secondly, BoA ensures the level of competency of the accounting professionals and the quality of accounting education in the country is at par with the global standards, by prescribing and determining the minimum requirements for the CPA examination. The members of BoA formulate and prepare the questions in the CPA Licensure Examination (CPALE) which they administer face-to-face in Manila and other cities at least once every calendar year, except during the pandemic from 2020 to 2021, the CPALE was suspended for health and safety reasons.
Finally and holistically, BoA sets the direction and guides in shaping the future of the practice of the profession, particularly in embracing new trends and concepts like sustainability/ green accounting, ESG (environment, social and governance) factors, digitalization and digital explosion, and such others. The Board also weighs in on whether the changes could impact, affect, and or enhance the accountancy as a whole and finds ways on how the CPAs can adapt and thrive in the presence of these innovations.
Indeed, BoA is the law enfleshed, without which the legislative and institutional framework of the accountancy profession would never have materialized from the drawing board.
It is therefore but imperative to take a look closer at the changes in and developments of the laws that prescribed the existence and functions of BoA through the years, its roles and the milestones of its journey as the driver of the wagon in the one hundred years of the profession.
Accountancy in the Philippines, Pre-BoA Period
In the 1700s, the short British occupation of Manila between 1762 to 1764 brought to the Philippines public accountancy practice which was considerably a "level up" from the crude trading documentation tools and methods during the pre-Spanish and Spanish period. Thereafter, even after the British occupation when Manila was returned by England to the Spanish Crown, the foreign accountants contracted by the British stayed on to service foreign firms in the Manila, but still there was no local government agency that regulated their services and practices.
By the 1920s, the country started to have local accountants but not certified by or in the country as there still was no regulatory agency in place. Actually, the very first Filipino accountant, Vicente Fabella finished his Bachelor in Commerce at the Northwestern University and got his certification as a public accountant from the state of Wisconsin, USA in 1915. He returned to the Philippines in 1916, became an educator at University of the Philippines in accounting and auditing and in the same year, he opened his own accounting firm, the first Filipino Accounting Firm "Vicente Fabella and Company". In 1919, he founded and was President of the Far Eastern College of Accountants, Commerce and Finance which he renamed Jose Rizal College in 1922 until it was granted university status in 2000, so it is now known as the Jose Rizal University of Mandaluyong City.
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