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Audit approach overview
Our audit approach will allow our client's accounting personnel to make the maximum contribution to the audit effort without compromising their ongoing responsibilities
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Annual and short period audit
At P&A Grant Thornton, we provide annual and short period financial statement audit services that go beyond the normal expectations of our clients. We believe strongly that our best work comes from combining outstanding technical expertise, knowledge and ability with exceptional client-focused service.
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Review engagement
A review involves limited investigation with a narrower scope than an audit, and is undertaken for the purpose of providing limited assurance that the management’s representations are in accordance with identified financial reporting standards. Our professionals recognize that in order to conduct a quality financial statement review, it is important to look beyond the accounting entries to the underlying activities and operations that give rise to them.
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Other Related Services
We make it a point to keep our clients abreast of the developments and updates relating to the growing complexities in the accounting world. We offer seminars and trainings on audit- and tax-related matters, such as updates on Accounting Standards, new pronouncements and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issuances, as well as other developments that affect our clients’ businesses.
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Tax advisory
With our knowledge of tax laws and audit procedures, we help safeguard the substantive and procedural rights of taxpayers and prevent unwarranted assessments.
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Tax compliance
We aim to minimize the impact of taxation, enabling you to maximize your potential savings and to expand your business.
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Corporate services
For clients that want to do business in the Philippines, we assist in determining the appropriate and tax-efficient operating business or investment vehicle and structure to address the objectives of the investor, as well as related incorporation issues.
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Tax education and advocacy
Our advocacy work focuses on clarifying the interpretation of laws and regulations, suggesting measures to increasingly ease tax compliance, and protecting taxpayer’s rights.
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Business risk services
Our business risk services cover a wide range of solutions that assist you in identifying, addressing and monitoring risks in your business. Such solutions include external quality assessments of your Internal Audit activities' conformance with standards as well as evaluating its readiness for such an external assessment.
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Business consulting services
Our business consulting services are aimed at addressing concerns in your operations, processes and systems. Using our extensive knowledge of various industries, we can take a close look at your business processes as we create solutions that can help you mitigate risks to meet your objectives, promote efficiency, and beef up controls.
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Transaction services
Transaction advisory includes all of our services specifically directed at assisting in investment, mergers and acquisitions, and financing transactions between and among businesses, lenders and governments. Such services include, among others, due diligence reviews, project feasibility studies, financial modelling, model audits and valuation.
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Forensic advisory
Our forensic advisory services include assessing your vulnerability to fraud and identifying fraud risk factors, and recommending practical solutions to eliminate the gaps. We also provide investigative services to detect and quantify fraud and corruption and to trace assets and data that may have been lost in a fraud event.
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Cyber advisory
Our focus is to help you identify and manage the cyber risks you might be facing within your organization. Our team can provide detailed, actionable insight that incorporates industry best practices and standards to strengthen your cybersecurity position and help you make informed decisions.
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ProActive Hotline
Providing support in preventing and detecting fraud by creating a safe and secure whistleblowing system to promote integrity and honesty in the organisation.
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Accounting services
At P&A Grant Thornton, we handle accounting services for several companies from a wide range of industries. Our approach is highly flexible. You may opt to outsource all your accounting functions, or pass on to us choice activities.
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Staff augmentation services
We offer Staff Augmentation services where our staff, under the direction and supervision of the company’s officers, perform accounting and accounting-related work.
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Payroll Processing
Payroll processing services are provided by P&A Grant Thornton Outsourcing Inc. More and more companies are beginning to realize the benefits of outsourcing their noncore activities, and the first to be outsourced is usually the payroll function. Payroll is easy to carve out from the rest of the business since it is usually independent of the other activities or functions within the Accounting Department.
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Our values
Grant Thornton prides itself on being a values-driven organisation and we have more than 38,500 people in over 130 countries who are passionately committed to these values.
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Global culture
Our people tell us that our global culture is one of the biggest attractions of a career with Grant Thornton.
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Learning & development
At Grant Thornton we believe learning and development opportunities allow you to perform at your best every day. And when you are at your best, we are the best at serving our clients
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Global talent mobility
One of the biggest attractions of a career with Grant Thornton is the opportunity to work on cross-border projects all over the world.
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Diversity
Diversity helps us meet the demands of a changing world. We value the fact that our people come from all walks of life and that this diversity of experience and perspective makes our organisation stronger as a result.
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In the community
Many Grant Thornton member firms provide a range of inspirational and generous services to the communities they serve.
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Fresh Graduates
Fresh Graduates
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Students
Whether you are starting your career as a graduate or school leaver, P&A Grant Thornton can give you a flying start. We are ambitious. Take the fact that we’re the world’s fastest-growing global accountancy organisation. For our people, that means access to a global organisation and the chance to collaborate with more than 40,000 colleagues around the world. And potentially work in different countries and experience other cultures.
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Experienced hires
P&A Grant Thornton offers something you can't find anywhere else. This is the opportunity to develop your ideas and thinking while having your efforts recognised from day one. We value the skills and knowledge you bring to Grant Thornton as an experienced professional and look forward to supporting you as you grow you career with our organisation.
The importance of due process
07 Feb 2017It is axiomatic in a democratic society that no one should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, i.e., to be given a chance to heard and present a case according to the rules set forth by the authorities before any action can be taken. Failing this, any action of the government to take one’s life, liberty or property is void and of no effect.
In a recent decision promulgated by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) in Mannasoft Technology Corp. vs. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, CTA Case no. 8745 dated Jan. 13, 2017, the CTA Third Division reiterated the importance of strictly adhering to the rules set by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in conducting tax assessments.
In the said case, the taxpayer was assessed for income tax, VAT and expanded withholding tax deficiencies for the taxable year 2008. The Letter of Authority (LOA), Notice of Informal Conference (NIC), Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN), as well as the Final Assessment Notice (FAN) was personally served at the office of the taxpayer. In fact, the taxpayer was able to file a protest over the FAN. Nonetheless, no Final Decision on Disputed Assessment (FDDA) was issued to the taxpayer but instead a warrant of distraint and levy was received by the taxpayer. This prompted the taxpayer to file a request for reinvestigation but the BIR issued a letter denying the request. Thus, the filing of the case with the CTA. In its petition, the taxpayer alleged that the BIR violated its right to due process by failing to follow BIR Revenue Regulation (RR) 12-99 on service of NIC, PAN and FAN.
The CTA ruled in favor of the taxpayer and held that the assessment is void for failure to serve the NIC and PAN to the taxpayer, a violation of the taxpayer’s right to due process. This fatal defect in the service of notices necessarily makes the FAN issued void. In this case, while the BIR was able to prove that NIC, PAN and FAN was personally served at the taxpayer’s office, it failed to establish that said notices were served to the taxpayer or authorized representative of the taxpayer. In fact, as admitted by the BIR, NIC and PAN was received by the receptionist of the company while the FAN was received by the security guard. The BIR failed to establish that the persons who received the notices were authorized persons to receive such and or even connected to the taxpayer. Hence, it is a clear violation of Section 3 of RR 12-99.
Section 3 of RR 12-99 provides for the due process requirement in the issuance of deficiency tax assessments. It prescribes the mode of procedure for service of the notices, specifically Section 3.1.4 of the said regulation provides that if FAN was served by personal delivery, the taxpayer or his duly authorized representative shall acknowledge receipt thereof in the duplicate copy of the letter of demand showing his name, signature, designation and authority to act for and in behalf of the taxpayer, if acknowledged received by a person other than the taxpayer himself, and date of receipt thereof. Considering that the BIR has miserably failed to discharge its burden of proving that the notices was duly served on the taxpayer’s duly authorized representatives, it is thus a necessary conclusion that the said assessment is not validly issued, therefore is void.
The importance of service of tax assessments is emphasized in this case since, only when taxpayers are duly informed of the alleged tax deficiency and were given the opportunity to contest the assessment can the government validly proceed to collect on the tax due. As laid out in CIR vs. Metro Star Superama, Inc., GR No. 185371 dated Dec. 8, 2010, while “taxes are the lifeblood of the government,” the power to tax has its limits, in spite of all its plenitude. In other words, while the BIR may have a legal right to assess the taxpayers, it must be done in accordance with the rules, otherwise, any government action is void and of no effect.
All in all, the taxpayers and the government must be mindful of the observance of the due process of law in order to be well equipped in protecting their respective rights. A violation of due process makes the actions of the government invalid and gives the taxpayers an added legal basis to request the cancellation of the assessment.
Jennylyn V. Reyes is a manager with the Tax Advisory and Compliance division of Punongbayan & Araullo.
As published in Business World, dated 7 February 2017