By Joel L. Tan-Torres, CPA
Former Chairman, Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy
The luminaries and the stakeholders of the Philippine accountancy profession trooped to the Manila Hotel to hold the grand celebration of the centenary, or 100 years, of the profession in the Philippines. A century ago on March 17, 1923, Republic Act 3105 was promulgated to create the Board of Accountancy (BoA), and the beginning of the professionalization of the profession with BoA tasked to administer the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) licensure examinations. The theme for the centenary celebration is “Celebrating the Past, Transforming the Present, Shaping the Future.” This is a very apt message that the leaders and stakeholders of the profession should heed since a serious look at the present state of affairs and the imperatives of the future is a must to have a truly meaningful 100th-year celebration.
As part of the celebration, the BoA, together with the various professional accounting organizations, conferred on March 17, the “Accountancy Centenary Award of Excellence” to 100 CPAs who “have proven themselves worthy of honor and emulation.” According to the BoA, these individuals are “the Filipino CPAs who demonstrated unquestionable integrity, contributed immensely in the advancement of the accountancy profession, and participated remarkably in national development.” I was informed that 48 of these Filipino CPAs will be awarded posthumously, while 52 will join their fellow CPAs and loved ones in the conferment ceremonies in Manila Hotel.
I am one of the awardees. I am extremely thankful for this honor bestowed by my colleagues in the profession. This recognition by my peers is a tribute to their appreciation of my contribution to my profession. I have exerted all my efforts in making a difference in my various roles and engagements in the past. It is a blessing that I was and am still involved in the various sectors of the accountancy discipline, including government, commerce and industry, public professional practice, education, and even global engagements. My appreciation extends to our All Mighty, my family, mentors, and all of you out there who one way or another was a part of my journey in the accountancy landscape. A big thank you to all of you.
I will continue my advocacies to make CPA Philippines a recognized global brand. I reiterate my call for action. As a professional, the Filipino CPA should be concerned with the pressing needs of the times. These include, among others, the effective role of the various professional accounting organizations, the need for lifelong learning or continuing professional development and training, the enhancement of accounting education, and the evolution of the licensure examinations. These should also include the consolidation of small audit practices, the eradication of the “notarial CPAs,” the use of modern technology tools, and data analytics in the profession. There should be attention to the full implementation of the Quality Review mandate and the continued improvement of the regulatory and business ecosystem involving accountancy. There should be a focus on ESG and Sustainability Reporting, the amendment of the Accountancy Law that was long passed in 2004, and the not-so-talked-about nurturing of a prominent CPA Philippines brand. The last suggestion brings to mind the initiative of institutionalizing the professional title “Acct” for CPAs, which I started when I was the chairman of the BoA from 2014 to 2018.
I also think that the centennial period should be an excellent time to build an Accounting Museum that will gather important memorabilia and curated articles and information about the Philippine accounting profession and its many achievements and personalities.
Overall, the stakeholders and leaders of the profession must convene a summit to critically assess the imperatives for the accountancy profession today and moving forward. This is essential with the onset of radical technologies, such as artificial intelligence, that may imperil the future of the Filipino CPA and the profession.
In the meantime, we can set these somber thoughts aside and have the grand centenary celebration that we all deserve.
Mabuhay and happy 100th year, CPA Philippines.
Joel L. Tan-Torres was the former Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. He is now back to his tax and consultancy practice and can be contacted at joeltantorress@yahoo.com and his firm JL2T Consultancy.
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