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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. A team-based approach defined by dedication to partner involvement in all engagements—that’s our service commitment locally and globally. An organization’s financial statements are a reference of choice for a variety of users who are required to make decisions. Whether it is a financial institution, a government agency, creditors, shareholders, or potential buyers, every one of your partners requires financial information that accurately reflects the soundness of your organization.
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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. Participants are entitled to credited units for Continuing Professional Education (CPE), which are required by the Board of Accountancy. CPE is indicative of an individual’s genuine concern for his or her continued growth as a professional. Our team can help in achieving that.
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Tax advisory
Assistance during tax audit/contesting an assessment We assist clients in handling audits by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Customs (BOC) and local government units (LGUs) in a systematic and efficient manner. We help evaluate the validity of assessments, determine the appropriate documents and analyses to be submitted, prepare protests, and represent clients in meetings and discussions with government agencies. With our knowledge of tax laws and audit procedures, we help safeguard the substantive and procedural rights of taxpayers and prevent unwarranted assessments. Tax opinion and studies We conduct tax studies and provide advice to clients on the tax implications of specific transactions based on relevant laws, regulations, court decisions, rulings, and other relevant issuances. We likewise provide recommendations to address or mitigate tax issues arising from said transactions. Application for tax refund/credit We help clients recover taxes that have been erroneously or excessively paid or withheld through applications for refund or tax credit certificates (TCCs). Applications for refunds or TCCs are recommended for companies that have excess income taxes paid or unutilized creditable withholding taxes as reflected in the final income tax return (ITR), excess unutilized VAT input taxes arising from zero-rated transactions or change in VAT status, unutilized advanced VAT, excise taxes paid on petroleum products sold to tax-exempt entities and international carriers, other national or local taxes erroneously or excessively paid, or penalties imposed without authority.
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Tax compliance
Tax review We evaluate clients’ overall level of compliance with existing laws and regulations; caution them on procedures and practices that expose them to potential tax liabilities; quantify tax exposures, risks and penalties; and advise them on proper course of action and alternative tax-efficient policies and procedures. Tax due diligence review is particularly recommended for companies that are contemplating expansion, mergers and consolidation, acquisitions, change in ownership, or public listing. Expatriate tax services We ensure the proper and efficient compliance of expatriates with their Philippine income tax obligations. Our services include registration and application for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), preparation and filing of annual Philippine income tax return, and payment of tax due in the proper venue and within the allowed period. As a value-added service, we respond to Correspondence Audits/Inquiries by the BIR regarding information declared in the tax return. If desired by clients, we also conduct arrival or departure briefings and interviews to apprise the expatriate of his Philippine tax liabilities. Upon a company’s request, we can compute, on an annualized basis, the total withholding tax due from its expatriate during the taxable year and prepare tax equalization and reimbursement calculations in accordance with company policies.
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Corporate services
Assistance for incentives availment We help clients evaluate their qualification for incentives under the Board of Investments, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority or other special laws. If clients are qualified, we assist them in applying with the concerned government agency for such incentives. Our assistance covers filing of the application and supporting documents, monitoring the progress of the application, meeting/discussion issues, if any, with regulatory authorities, and securing the approval for such incentives. At the clients’ request, we may also assist in ascertaining their compliance with regulatory requirements (to ensure the continued entitlement to incentives), or in justifying the entitlement to such incentives in the event of a challenge by the BIR or other regulatory agencies. Corporate organization and registration 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. We help set up the business and register it with concerned government regulatory agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Local Government Unit, the Social Security System and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. We also assist in notifying and/or securing necessary approvals from government regulatory agencies when there are changes in business activities, business status, or tax-type registration.
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Tax education and advocacy
Tax advocacy We actively participate in consultation and public hearings conducted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue on proposed tax rules and regulations, serving as a bridge between our clients and the BIR. Our advocacy work focuses on clarifying the interpretation of laws and regulations, suggesting measures to increasingly ease tax compliance, and protecting taxpayer’s rights. Tax seminars and training We offer seminars and training on tax-related developments and special issues of interest to taxpayers. Upon request, we provide customized in-house tax training – designed jointly by P&A and the client – that directly addresses the specific issues of the client’s industry and the training needs of its personnel.
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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. We can also take over your IA function altogether or work alongside you to create more value for your organization. On a higher level, our Enterprise Risk Management methodology can help your organization identify vital strategies and action plans that address key business risks, thereby enabling you to achieve your overall objective of value creation for stakeholders.
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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 efficiencies, and beef up controls. This can include analyzing your information technology (IT) applications and infrastructure in order to improve IT governance and strategy, strengthen security, and/or assess business risks and controls related to the use of IT.
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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. We are one of the few companies accredited by the Philippine Stock Exchange for the conduct of valuation and issuance of fairness opinions. Our consortium with another Grant Thornton office and a Philippine law office is also one of the fourteen (14) members of the panel of transaction advisers of the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines.
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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
Accounting services Many multinational companies are setting up their accounting offices in the Philippines. These businesses realize that accounting functions can be standardized across companies around the world and handled by an office halfway across the globe for a fraction of the amount needed to maintain an in-house accounting division. 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, such as
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Staff augmentation services
Staff Augmentation Services It is a familiar enough scenario: A company suddenly has an urgent need for personnel on a short term, project basis to do accounting or accounting-related work. Considering the short-term nature of the work, it becomes very difficult to find interested candidates. Moreover, companies do not need just anybody, but people with sufficient technical accounting skills. P&A Grant Thornton has a pool of skilled accounting specialists who can fill the gap for companies in such situations. We offer Staff Augmentation services where our staff, under the direction and supervision of the company’s officers, perform accounting and accounting-related work. We have a long list of clients that have benefited from our assistance with the following activities: · Migration from one accounting system to another accounting system · Bank reconciliation for several bank accounts that have not been reconciled for years · Data cleansing, such as reconciliation of balances in subsidiary ledgers of receivables and payables with the general ledger balances · Physical counts of inventories and reconciling the results of the physical count with the accounting records · Count of property and equipment; tagging and reconciliation of the count with the accounting records; and properly setting up the property ledgers · Preparation of schedules and documentary supports and requirements during audits by internal and external parties, including government agencies · Preparation of statements of accounts for certain customers · Acting as accounting personnel while regular accounting staff are on leave This is just a sampling of the services we offer, and we can provide more short-term accounting services on short notice. We can adjust the schedules of our people to fit your work hours and we guarantee high-quality service: Our team is made up of technically competent and properly trained people who are prepared to handle your needs.
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Payroll Processing
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. Payroll processing may look simple, but the process can get complicated, especially as a business expands its manpower. A payroll accountant has to make sure that correct taxes as well as loans of their employees are properly deducted, update the tax status of employees (single, married, no. of dependents, etc.) on a regular basis; monitor work activities during the payroll period (overtimes, sick leaves, vacation leaves, etc.); know which income accounts are taxable or not (de minimis, bonuses within the P82,000 limit, etc.); know the rules and regulations and the latest updates of relevant government agencies (BIR, SSS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, etc.); and ensure that payroll processing and payouts are done on time to avoid employee complaints or dissatisfaction. In addition, the payroll accountant has to ensure that contributions to various government agencies are properly posted to the accounts of the employees. In some companies, payroll processing consumes a significant part of management time: The highest finance or HR officer in the company oftentimes handles management or executive payroll. If payroll is outsourced, the executive officer has better use of his or her time than reviewing or processing the payroll. Moreover, there is the issue of confidentiality – some employees may inadvertently gain access to confidential payroll information when data are lying around during the payroll processing period. Another issue that business owners must watch out for with regard to payroll is fraud. Since the processing of payroll is handled by just one or two trusted persons, oversight may be lax and review may not always be conducted thoroughly, thus fraud happens. P&A Grant Thornton can handle your payroll processing needs so that your management team can focus on your core competencies, enabling you to concentrate on what’s really important to your business . Our team of well-experienced and properly trained professionals can handle your payroll requirements whether you have 10 or 10,000 personnel. In addition to the computation of employees’ pay, P&A Grant Thornton can also provide the following functions under our payroll processing services: Maintain bank accounts exclusively for payroll and payroll-related disbursements Prepare schedules of statutory and internal contributions and obligations File and pay statutory contributions and obligations, manually or electronically Annualize employees’ income tax Provide secure online payslips through our ePayroll facility Handle administration of benefits that needs coordination with government agencies
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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.
Ho Ho Ho! CREATE is coming to town
15 Dec 2020For Filipinos, Christmas is the most anticipated event of the year. Preparation for the festivities starts as early as September with Christmas celebrations lasting until January of the following year. While this year’s festivities will inevitably be different due to restrictions on gatherings, Filipinos can undoubtedly make the most of the situation and make the Christmas spirit come alive.
Known for our resilience, we usually rebound from setbacks, rise above the challenges, and recover. Even the pandemic and recent typhoons are unable to dampen the Filipino spirit. For us, Christmas must go on, and so will the CREATE bill, which aims to help enterprises bounce back from the pandemic, thereby create ripple effects to boost economic recovery.
The Senate version of the measure was approved on Nov. 26. On Dec. 7, the Committee on Ways and Means recommended to the Speaker of the House of Representatives the acceptance of the amendments introduced under Senate Bill 1357 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE). The House still has to act on the recommendation. It is hoped that the bill will be signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte before the year ends particularly as some provisions have retroactive effect.
Among the indispensable features of the CREATE bill is the rationalization of the fiscal incentives system. For years, various reforms have been undertaken to improve the management and provision of tax incentives.
The Philippines has been very generous in granting tax incentives with neither time limits nor thorough cost-benefit analyses. With CREATE, tax incentives will be performance-based, targeted, time-bound and transparent to ensure that every peso granted as a tax incentive yields a positive benefit to the country.
Under CREATE, a Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) is to be formulated every three years to identify priority projects and activities that will receive incentives, taking into account the size of the investment being contemplated, employment generation prospects especially in less developed areas, the potential for export, and the introduction of innovative processes and technologies.
The Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB), or the investment promotion agencies (IPAs) under a delegated authority from the FIRB, are authorized to grant incentives pursuant to the Tax Code only to the extent of their approved registered project or activity under the SIPP. Approval of registered projects or activities of P1 billion pesos and below is to be delegated by the FIRB to the IPAs. To compel efficient processing, all applications for tax incentives are to be deemed approved if not acted upon within 20 days.
To qualify for the fiscal incentives, registered business enterprises must comply with the following: (i) they must be engaged in an activity included in the SIPP; (ii) they must meet the target performance metrics after an agreed time period; (iii) they must install adequate accounting systems that can identify the investments, revenue, costs and profits for each activity or establish a separate corporation for each registered project or activity; (iv) they must comply with e-receipting and e-sales requirement; and (v) they must submit annual reports of beneficial ownership of the organization and related parties.
Although some enterprises may find it challenging to comply with some of the foregoing conditions, particularly having a computerized accounting system with e-receipting, which will entail extra costs and resources, still these conditions are reasonably necessary if we are to implement a system to assess the net benefits of incentive granted to Philippine economy.
The income tax incentives under CREATE are as follows: (i) income tax holiday (ITH) for four to seven years followed by special corporate income tax (SCIT) of 5% based on gross income earned, in lieu of all taxes for 10 years; or (ii) regular corporate income tax (CIT) with enhanced deductions for 14 to 17 years. Thus, enhanced deductions can in no case be granted simultaneously with the SCIT. Enhanced deductions include additional deductions for depreciation, labor, training, research and development, domestic input expense, power expense, investment allowance and claiming of NOLCO for next 5 years.
The fiscal incentives are also available to projects or activities that were registered prior to effectivity of CREATE Bill. Firms enjoying ITH may continue to enjoy the same within the remaining ITH period. On the other hand, firms enjoying ITH and 5% gross income tax (GIT) after the ITH or enjoying 5% GIT only, may continue to enjoy these for 10 years. Qualified expansions or entirely new projects or activities may also qualify for a new set of incentives.
CREATE offers a total period of incentive availment of up to 17 years. The duration of income tax incentives depends on the category (basic, enhanced, advances, superior), which in turn is based on location and industry priorities.
Other fiscal incentives under CREATE are: (i) exemption from customs duties on imports of capital equipment, raw materials, spare parts or accessories directly and exclusively used in the registered project or activity, which are not produced or manufactured domestically in sufficient quantity at reasonable prices; and (ii) a VAT exemption on imports and VAT zero-rating on local purchases of goods and services directly and exclusively used in the registered project or activity by a registered enterprise located inside an ecozone or freeport.
CREATE also gives the President the flexibility to modify the mix, period or manner of availment of incentives for a highly desirable project involving a minimum investment P50 billion, or those that generate employment of at least 10,000, subject to certain conditions and the recommendation of the FIRB. In such cases the ITH is not to exceed eight years; thereafter, a 5% SCIT may be granted, provided that the total period of availment not exceed 40 years. Further, the President may also grant non-fiscal support incentives such as facilitation of registration and certification requirements from government agencies, logistical support, training support, product testing and certification with the recommendation of the FIRB.
As in any other grant of incentives, the grantee-enterprise should meet the reporting requirements, specifically: (i) the use of electronic systems for filing and payment with the BIR; and (ii) filing with the respective IPA and with the FIRB a complete annual tax incentives report and an annual benefits report within 30 calendar days from the statutory deadline for filing of returns and payment of taxes.
Non-compliance with reporting requirements and failure to use the electronic system for filing and payment of taxes to the BIR makes the investor liable for penalties (first offense — P100,000; second offense — P500,000). On third offense, the fiscal incentives are to be canceled.
Our resiliency has been tested many times, in many ways. Despite the lingering uncertainty brought by the pandemic, Filipinos’ high hopes for a better life have never wavered. As we usher in a new decade, Filipinos are eager for better times. With CREATE, it is hoped that the long-overdue fiscal incentives reform will bring a much-needed recovery boost which will allow us to thrive in a post-pandemic environment.
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.
Farrah Andres-Neagoe is a senior manager of Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
As published in BusinessWorld, dated 15 December 2020
