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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.
Of extensions and lockdowns
24 Mar 2020It has been a week since the government imposed the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and stringent social distancing measures over the entire region of Luzon. This has resulted in the suspension of classes, public transportation, and travel by land, air, and sea. Strict home quarantine is being imposed and public gatherings are prohibited. Most business establishments, except for those that provide basic necessities, such as public markets, supermarkets, hospitals, pharmacies, banks and public utility (e.g., power, water and telecommunications facilities) companies, remain open. To ensure the continuity of government services, work from home and skeleton workforce arrangements are being implemented in the executive branch, except for the PNP, AFP, PCG, and health and emergency frontline services, border control and other critical services.
In compliance with the government’s directive, our firm has, likewise, adopted a work from home policy.
As a tax practitioner, I am concerned about the incoming deadline for filing not only of the returns (income, value-added tax, and withholding), but also the replies, protest letters, and additional documents related to assessment cases. Fortunately, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) Nos. 27-2020, 28-2020, and 29-2020, all of which extend the deadlines for submitting tax returns and other filings.
RMC No. 27-2020 extends to 30 April 2020 the deadline for filing of value-added tax (VAT) refund applications covering the quarter ending 31 March 2018. RMC No. 27-2020 also suspends the counting of the 90-day period for processing: (1) those claims that are currently being evaluated; and (2) those that may be received from 16 March to 14 April 2020. The counting of the number of processing days shall resume after the lifting of the community quarantine.
On another hand, RMC No. 28-2020, which amends RMC No. 25-2020, provides that the deadline for filing and submission of the 2019 annual income tax return (AITR) has been extended from 15 April 2020 to 15 May 2020 without the imposition of penalties to taxpayers. RMC No. 28-2020 also allows taxpayers to file and pay taxes due to any Authorized Agent Banks (ABB) nearest to the location of the taxpayer or to any Revenue Collection Officer under the Revenue District Office. It should be noted however, that RMC No. 28-2020 is silent on whether the required attachments (e.g., Audited Financial Statements, Statement of Management Responsibility) may also be filed until 15 June 2020 without penalties.
Lastly, RMC No. 29-2020 extends the deadlines for the filing and payment of certain returns (e.g., BIR Form No. 1702Q for the fiscal quarter ending January, BIR Form No. 2000 and 200-OT for March 2020, and BIR Form No. 1601C for March 2020) by 30 days from the due date. Visit our website for details on the deadlines. In addition, all ONETT (One-Time Transaction) transactions (BIR Form Nos. 1706, 1707, 1800, 1801, and 1606) for which the due date of payment falls within the enhanced quarantine period shall be extended by 30 calendar days from the said due date.
However, there seems to be an oversight on the deadlines provided under RMC No. 29-2020 for BIR Form Nos. 1601C (withholding tax on compensation), 0619E (expanded withholding tax), and 0619F (final withholding tax) for February 2020, since the dates for filing pertains to the deadline for the monthly VAT returns.
While the recently issued RMCs resolved the issues on the filing and payment of tax returns, what about the filing of protest letters and the submission of documents the due date of which would fall within the enhanced community quarantine? Will there also be an extension for the filing of protest letters and submission of documents?
Filing protests, reconciliations, and/or supporting documents is very crucial, as this may result in significant tax liabilities. As much as taxpayers would like to comply, there are various challenges that hinder them in doing so, especially since the quarantine was unplanned. Moreover, taxpayers may not have their documents available with the sudden announcement of the ECQ. The ECQ, which was announced late in the evening of 16 March 2020, took effect at 12 midnight of 17 March 2020.
While taxpayers are willing to comply, challenges may hinder them in meeting the deadline, significantly affecting its ongoing assessment cases. If taxpayers wait for the suspension of the ECQ to file or submit documents, their filings may be considered late or, in a worst case scenario, may not be considered at all. This will burden taxpayers, as late filing will incur additional interest and penalties. Fortunately, the BIR issued RMC No. 31-2020 provides an extension of 30 days from the date of lifting of the ECQ for the submission and filing of letter answer, protest letters and related documents and other similar correspondences related to assessment cases (e.g. Notice of Informal Conference, Preliminary Assessment Notice, Final Assessment Notice)
These extensions are something taxpayers would greatly appreciate, and this will also ensure the health and safety of both taxpayers and BIR personnel. More importantly, I hope and pray that everyone will take the ECQ seriously to finally put an end to this pandemic.
(Note that the BIR issued on 23 March 2020 RMC No. 31-2020 which extends the period of submission/filing of documents and correspondences related to assessment cases and RMC No. 30-2020 which clarifies the extension of filing deadlines)
Anthony Joseph A. Cometa is a 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 24 March 2020