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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.
Status quo on VAT zero-rating of sales to PEZA entities
20 Mar 2018The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) director-general announced that sales of goods and services to PEZA-registered entities shall continue to be subject to 0% VAT. This was issued following a clarification by the Department of Finance (DoF) that the TRAIN law did not amend or repeal the relevant provisions of the PEZA law.
As a recap, it took several decades of struggle for the Philippines to capture and persuade foreign investors to locate substantial operations in the country. To entice foreign investors, the Philippines granted tax incentives as a tool to stimulate economic growth, driven, among others, by foreign investment. These incentives were granted through special laws such as The Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 (RA 7916), as amended.
RA 7916, otherwise known as the PEZA law, provided the legal framework and mechanism for the creation, operation, administration and coordination of special economic zones (ecozones) in the Philippines. Exemptions from both direct and indirect taxes are granted to PEZA-registered entities operating within the ecozones. This means that indirect taxes, such as VAT, cannot be shifted to PEZA-registered entities operating exclusively within the ecozones.
Under the Destination Principle to which the Philippine VAT system adheres, goods and services are taxed only in the country where they are consumed. Thus, exports are zero-rated, while imports are subject to VAT. Pursuant to this principle, sales of goods and services made by local suppliers to PEZA-registered entities are treated by the Tax Code as VAT zero-rated sales because these are considered export sales and not destined for local consumption. They are treated as export sales following the ruling of the Supreme Court that, by a fiction of law, ecozones are separate customs territory and, hence, considered foreign territory.
Recent events made it a new ball game for PEZA-registered entities and their local suppliers. President Rodrigo R. Duterte vetoed certain items of the TRAIN law including a provision which expressly added the “zero-rating of sales of goods and services” to separate customs territory and tourism enterprise zones as provided under special laws.
The veto triggered uncertainty and serious concerns among PEZA-registered entities as to whether the said veto applies to PEZA locators/entities since local suppliers are already incorporating the VAT on their sales of goods and services to them.
To address the situation, PEZA, after consultation with the DoF, issued on March 12, Memorandum Circular No. 2018-003, declaring status quo on VAT zero-rating incentive on the sale of goods/services to separate customs territories.
The Memorandum Circular further states that Section 8 of the PEZA law, which provides that special economic zones are to be operated and managed as separate customs territory, was not amended or repealed by the TRAIN law. Consequently, until a law or revenue regulation is passed or issued contrary to or incompatible with the pronouncement by the DoF, the VAT zero-rating incentive being enjoyed by PEZA locators or entities shall remain in full force and effect.
In effect, suppliers of PEZA-registered entities are advised by PEZA to continue applying the 0% VAT on their qualified sales of goods and services to these entities. Taxpayers have interpreted the “status quo” advice to mean that no additional requirements shall be imposed for VAT zero-rating. Thus, PEZA-registered entities will continue to secure their VAT-zero rating certificates from PEZA and furnish a copy to their suppliers to enjoy the VAT zero-rating.
The BIR, on the other hand, has issued Revenue Regulations No. 13-2018 dated March 15, 2018, specific to the VAT provisions of the TRAIN law. The VAT regulations, likewise, did not impose additional requirements for the zero-rating of sales to PEZA-registered enterprises by VAT-registered suppliers. These issuances of the PEZA and the BIR are good news to PEZA-registered entities and their suppliers. Until a contrary regulation or circular is issued, taxpayers can follow the “status quo” advice and conduct their business as usual.
Marc Edwin S. Baesa is a tax associate of the Tax Advisory and Compliance of P&A Grant Thornton. P&A Grant Thornton is one of the leading audit, tax, advisory, and outsourcing services firms in the Philippines.
As published in BusinessWorld, dated 20 March 2018