Ever since our first year in college, we had been taught of the definition of our course
and how it affects the society as a whole. Accountancy had been around for a long time and the
passers of the licensure board examination for certified public accountants had become sought
after in the different fields, i.e. the government, the academe, the industry, and the public.
Being such, we are already being practiced to become ethical employees in the future inside the
classroom by following the Code of Ethics and the laws and regulations which are connected to
our future employment. We are also taught to become knowledgeable in our field and that is
why we have to study hard. And so whilst I was outlining Chapter one of the Auditing Theory
authored by Ma.E. B. Cabrera, I was not surprised to read that those were there being the
characteristics of an ideal profession.
Aside from those previously mentioned, there are other things that I was not surprised
to find out was written in the book like the scope of R.A. 9298, otherwise known as the
“Philippine Accountancy Act of 2004”. Although it only mentions up until the issuance of
professional identification card by the Professional Regulations Commission, it still served to be
a review on the law which regulates the practice of accountancy in the Philippines. What was
new, though, was the mention of the CPA Horizons 2025: A Road Map for the Future. It was
stated in the book that it was a research conducted by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants in 2011 but it was only until now that I saw it. Indicated in that research
are the profession’s core purpose, core values, core competencies, and the diversification of
services offered by CPAs.
There are 10 highlighted insights for the CPA Horizons 2025 and the impacts of those
highlights were also explained. After reading it, I realized that being in the field of accountancy
requires skill, knowledge, time, patience, understanding, integrity, and objectivity wherein
some are part of the fundamental principles in the Code of Ethics. Having being able to learn
the Code of Ethics before reading the research makes me understand further why one should
be careful in making decisions or conclusions. There are many things to consider while in the
process of making decisions because of the possible threats that may arise before, during, or
even after making a decision. It is not only the decision we need to look out to. We should also
know what we are doing. Since the services offered by a CPA is diverse or varies depending on
what the customer seeks, there should be continuous education on the part of the practitioner.
As a student, learning and internalizing everything being taught to us in school is the first step
in achieving the knowledge required in the field of accountancy.
The core values and competencies mentioned in the research are somewhat of common
knowledge but were still repeatedly said throughout the coverage of the chapter and were also
extended until chapter five where the Code of Ethics was discussed in depth. Not all people are
knowledgeable in using the current technology that is being brought out to the modern world
right now. This might be the reason why computer lessons were included as part of the
curriculum. This will also help in the competency part where it is a combination of human
skills and technology.
Chapter two of the book talks about the practice of public accountancy. As usual, the
mention of R.A. 9298 and its scope is from the after passing the licensure board examination to
the practice of accountancy in the Philippines. Since we had already discussed chapter four of
the book which contains the law governing the practice of accountancy in the Philippines, it
was easy to understand what the beginning of chapter two was talking about.
Also discussed in chapter two are the types of services of a professional accountant in
public practice which are the Assurance Engagements and Non-assurance Engagements. Both
involve giving conclusions to assert credibility but the former is by an auditor and the latter is
by an accountant. It was confusing at first but it hit me while I read it again that the difference
between the two is the person giving the opinion.
Like any other profession, there are also challenges being confronted by the public
accounting profession most especially that there is a wide variety scope of Accountancy and
that there are constant changes in the principles being taught to us. Since there is a movement
toward standardization by the Board of Accountancy in the Philippines, principles and
concepts continue to change and these changes may cause confusions for those who are
affected by these changes. Basically, the diversification and globalization poses as the major
threat in the practice of public accounting. That is the reason why continuous input of
knowledge is needed. Fraud is also one of the major threats in the accountancy profession.
There are many who are blinded by money and greed but as future accountants, we should
learn to control these types of characteristics and learn to be honest at all times even when it
hurts. As future auditors, we should practice to be prudent and objective as early as now.
Losing your credibility as a Certified Public Accountant is hurting, what more if you lost
your credibility as a person? The gap between auditors and users is called expectation gap.
This is the result when the users of the financial statements anticipated for results which are
not the conclusion of the auditor. To address such issue, public regulations and regulations
within the firm have been adopted. This will lessen the probability of losing the CPAs
credibility.
There are many other things that are discussed in chapter one and two but since we
had learned the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and the Regulation of the Practice
of Public Accountancy, going over it was easier despite the author’s wordiness.
