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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.
Every year, Lent — which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Black Saturday — is observed by Christians all over the country. For many devout Christians, the season of Lent is a time for repentance, prayer, and self-reflection to strengthen one’s relationship with God.
April 15, Holy Monday, was also the last day of filing the Annual Income Tax Return (ITR). It was also a good opportunity for us taxpayers to spend the time reflecting on this year’s ITR filing.
TAXING AUTHORITY
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) consistently rolls out a national campaign to remind taxpayers to file and pay their taxes on time and to avoid the rush of filing on the last day. The BIR’s regional offices typically set up tax filing assistance centers to help taxpayers with ITR-related concerns.
One of the significant changes this year is how the BIR implemented the simplification of preparing and filing the tax returns, anchored on the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. ITR forms were reduced from 13 to four pages. Taxpayers very well know the difficulty of preparing the ITR. Hence, lessening the required information and number of pages is a big help. Taxpayers would further appreciate if the improved tax return features automatic computation, minimizing manual errors in calculating and extending the amounts on the forms.
The BIR recently issued several Revenue Memorandum Circulars (RMCs) to prescribe the use of the revised January 2018 BIR Forms, as follows:
Unfortunately, the forms above are mostly not yet available at the time of filing through the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) and Electronic Bureau of Internal Revenue Forms (eBIR Forms). In effect, taxpayers are still redirected to the old forms. Taxpayers did not enjoy the benefit of tax return simplification. Given this predicament, we hope that electronic tax returns are soon available on the BIR platforms for taxpayers who will be filing for their fiscal years.
The other challenge is the use of the eFPS. Taxpayers expect to use this facility conveniently and seamlessly. However, access to the eFPS is intermittent. The slow connection adds stress and pressure to taxpayers who are already having a difficult time accessing the BIR portal when filing and paying online. It is a burden for taxpayers to always keep an eye on when the system is finally up.
We acknowledge that the BIR advises the public on the unavailability of the eFPS and its proposed work-around procedures, i.e., using offline eBIR forms and proceeding with manual filing and payment at the bank. However, preparing the check for some taxpayers is not easily done, as it would require a number of signatures before the check can be released.
The intermittent connection to the eFPS during filing season is always a recurring concern. We hope that the BIR can address the system issues so taxpayers are encouraged to shift from manual filing to eFPS.
AUTHORIZED AGENT BANKS
We should not discount the participation of the Authorized Agent Banks (AABs) in tax filing. AABs receive tax payments on behalf of the BIR both for manual and eFPS filers. I cannot imagine the number of people that would congest the AAB and BIR premises if all taxpayers are filing and paying their tax returns manually.
An additional challenge facing taxpayers was when one of the country’s largest banks performed its major system upgrade that lasted days during the height of filing season. This resulted in is an additional burden, as taxpayers were redirected to pay manually with the AABs within the jurisdiction of the RDO or the National Office. System upgrades should be completed on a timely basis, either a month before or after the filing season date, rather than during the tax filing season, if possible.
TAXPAYERS
The man of the hour is the taxpayer who manages to beat the deadline for filing and paying, despite the challenges.
In 2019, taxpayers were faced with challenges in preparing their ITR as the result of the adoption of new accounting standards. How would Philippine Financial Reporting Standards 15 (Revenue from contracts with customers), PRFS 9 (Financial Instruments), and PFRS 16 (Leases) affect the calculation of tax due?
On the other hand, there are taxpayers who like to stretch their preparation and filing to the last day. This habitual practice, however, has its risks. Taxpayers who rush may possibly overlook important details that may lead to errors if there is no allocated time to review.
We hope that taxpayers consider planning their ITR preparation and filing and acting on those plans accordingly. Taxpayers should always keep in mind that the annual ITR is one of the source documents used by the BIR in conducting audits. Hence, it is important that taxpayers have considered preparing and reviewing the reconciliation of the income and expenses reported in the financial statements and other tax returns.
On a final note, we hope that all sacrifices made and lessons learned from the 2019 tax filing season will make us more aware of how we can further improve the yearly tax filing season.
Happy Easter!
Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.
Richard R. Ibarra is a senior manager from the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
As published in BusinessWorld, dated 23 April 2019