Registration of

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Registration of Public Accountants

Presentation by Miss Shirlynn Loo Head, Public
Accountants Registration Division
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Public Accountants Oversight Committee (PAOC)

• Established under the Accountants Act
• Authority to approve
• - Public Accountants
• - Public Accounting Firms
• - Public Accounting Corporations and
• - Accounting LLPs.

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Composition of PAOC

• Chairman PAOC Mr Thean Lip Ping (Consultant,
  KhattarWong)
• Members
• -Ms Chua Geok Wah (Accountant-General)
• -Dr Ernest Kan (Vice President ICPAS, Partner,
  Deloitte Touche)
• -Prof. Gillian Yeo (Exec. Vice Dean, Nanyang
  Business School, Dean (Degree of Programs), NTU)
• -Mr Quek See Tiat (Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
  )

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Criteria for Registration as a Public Accountant

• - Has attained the age of 21 years and
• Satisfies the prescribed requirements relating to
  
• (i) qualifications (ii) practical
  experience and (iii) membership in ICPAS.
• - Acquired 40 hours of pre-application
  Continuing Professional Education.

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Professional Examination - Local

• (i) the Singapore Polytechnic - professional
  dip., Deg (Acc) for the years 1961 to 1969
• (ii) the University of Singapore Deg (Acc)
• (iii) the Nanyang University of Singapore -
  Degree of Bachelor of Commerce (Accountancy) or
  Deg (Acc)
• (iv) the National University of Singapore Deg
  (Acc)
• (v) the Nanyang Technological Institute Deg
  (Acc)
• (vi) the ICPASACCA UK Joint Scheme
• (vii) the Nanyang Technological University Deg
  (Acc) or MBA (Acc)
• (viii) ICPAS Professional Examination
• (ix) Singapore Management University Deg (Acc)

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Professional Examination- Foreign

• (i) Institute of Chartered Accountants of
  Scotland (ICAS)(ii) Institute of Chartered
  Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)(iii)
  Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
  (ICAI) (iv) Association of Chartered Certified
  Accountants (ACCA)(v) Institute of Chartered
  Accountants in Australia (ICAA)(vi) CPA
  Australia (vii) Institute of Chartered
  Accountants of New Zealand (ICANZ) (viii) the
  Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
  (CICA)(ix) the American Institute of Certified
  Public Accountants (AICPA)
• (x) the Chartered Institute of Management
  Accountants of the United Kingdom (CIMA)

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Practical Experience

• Applicants who passed final exams on/after 1 Apr
  04
• (a) at least 3 years of practical experience
  consisting of
• (i) at least one year of structured
  practical experience acquired before passing the
  final examination(ii) at least one year of
  structured practical experience acquired after
  passing the final examination and(iii) at least
  one additional year of practical experience
  (whether structured or unstructured) acquired
  after passing the final examination or
• (b) at least 3 years of practical experience
  consisting of
• (i) at least 2 years of structured
  practical experience acquired after passing the
  final examination and (ii) at least one
  additional year of practical experience (whether
  structured or unstructured) acquired after
  passing the final examination.

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Renewal of Public Accountants Registration

• A public accountant shall not be entitled to
  have his certificate of registration renewed if
  he has failed
• (a) to pass any practice review conducted under
  the Accountants Act or comply with any order or
  requirement under section 38 (1) (a)(b) to meet
  the required standard of professional conduct or
  practice as determined by ACRA or(c) to comply
  with the prescribed requirements relating to
  continuing professional education (CPE).

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Continuing Professional Requirement (CPE)

• In 2004, PAOC approved the syllabus for the CPE
  requirements under the Second and Third Schedule
  to the Accountants (Public Accountants) Rules
  2004, for the following
• (a) Renewal of the certificate of registration
  and
• (b) Application for registration as a public
  accountant.

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CPE Requirements

• Public Accountant Competency Map
• A. Core Expertise
• A1 Financial and Statutory Reporting Standards,
  Accounting Auditing Standards Pronouncements
• A2 Assurance
• A3 Corporate Governance
• A4 Statutes Regulations
• A5 Ethics Professionalism

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CPE Requirements

• Public Accountant Competency Map
• B. Related Expertise
• B1 Finance
• B2 Information and IT
• B3 Organisational Effectiveness, Control Risk
  Management
• B4 Performance Management
• B5 Performance Improvement
• B6 Corporate Finance
• B7 Due Diligence
• B8 Insolvency Restructuring
• B9 Investigation Forensic Accounting
• B10 Taxation
• B11 Other Relevant areas in this category

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CPE Requirements

• Public Accountant Competency Map
• C. Other Expertise
• C1 Leadership Competencies
• C2 Cross-cultural Knowledge
• C3 Innovative/Creative Thinking
• C4 Project Management Skills
• C5 Public Speaking Communication
• C6 Other relevant areas in this category

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CPE Requirements

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PA Online

• E-filing of
• Renewal application Phase 1 (23 Nov 05)
• Registration, Change in Particulars,
  Cancellation, Reinstatement of Public
  Accountants Phase 2A (16 Mar 06)
• Registration, Change in Particulars, Termination
  of PACs/PAFs Mid-2006

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More Details on Registration

• PA Online (Phase 2A) User Guides
• http//appiqs.acra.gov.sg/ops/reg/reg01a.asp?id28
  6
• ACRAs Practice Direction No. 1 of 2005
• http//www.acra.gov.sg/legislation/practice1803.ht
  ml
• Guidelines on Applications
• http//www.acra.gov.sg/accounting/applications1.ht
  ml1

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More Details on Renewal

• Practice Direction No. 4 of 2004
• http//www.acra.gov.sg/legislation/practice0511.ht
  ml

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More Details on PAOCCPE Syllabus

• Practice Direction No. 2 of 2004
• http//www.acra.gov.sg/legislation/practice1608.ht
  ml
• CPE Syllabus
• http//www.acra.gov.sg/legislation/Annex_A.pdf

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• THE END