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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.
Urbanization: A challenging future
09 Jul 2019Having the opportunity to work and live in Manila has been a dream of many Filipinos. Many say there are better opportunities in the capital. For a probinsyanalike me who has found luck in the urbane, the big city opened my eyes to different things, people, behaviors, experiences, and learnings. Working in Manila has its ups and downs and its ins and outs. In the past 15 years of living in the capital, I believe I have learned and gone through so much — and I think many can relate.
Investors are attracted to Manila despite the risks, because there are opportunities to earn money. Investors and developers are drawn to cities that offer the best combination of scale, risk, and return. Over the years, urban centers continue to grow in numbers. In effect, we encounter problems and challenges in urban development.
CONGESTION
Traffic congestion plagues the streets of Metro Manila. On an average, commuters spend an hour or more on the road. In fact, the National Capital Region was once considered the metropolitan region with the heaviest traffic in Southeast Asia.
In effect, city dwellers struggle with longer commutes, wreaking havoc on productivity, wasting time, adding fuel expenses and, most of all, causing economic and competitive losses.
ECONOMIC CENTER OUTSIDE THE CITY
In an attempt to decongest the capital, developers are becoming more aggressive in expanding and integrating commercial, office, and residential developments outside major cities. While there are several developments underway, many locations are being built in emerging cities and regions.
There is also directive from the President that new Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) economic zones be approved within Mega Manila. Under the current administration’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) Program, several infrastructure and industrial projects are in place. Key infrastructure projects under the BBB Program include the development of the New Clark City. This planned development in Clark is envisioned to be the next growth driver in Luzon. New Clark City (NCC) is part of the Clark Special Economic Zone. The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) is the operating and implementing arm of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to manage the Clark Special Economic Zone and the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ).
BUSINESS INCENTIVES FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS
Enterprises inside these ecozones are entitled to incentives. The applicable incentives for registered special economic zone enterprises are granted under Republic Act No. 7227, otherwise known as The Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992.
The fiscal and non-fiscal incentives granted by either BCDA, SBMA, or CDC are essentially the same, as follows:
FISCAL INCENTIVES
a. Exemption from national and local taxes. A final tax of 5% on gross income earned is to be paid in lieu of all these taxes. (Gross income refers to gross sales or gross revenues derived from the business activity within the zone, net of sales discounts and sales returns and allowances and less cost of sales, cost of production, or direct cost of services).
b. Tax and duty-free importation of raw materials and capital equipment.
NON-FISCAL INCENTIVES
a. Permanent residency status for investors, their spouses, and dependent children under 21 years of age, provided that they have continuing investments of not less than $250,000.
b. Employment of foreign nationals.
Clark Freeport Zone, which is located in the portion of the Clark Special Economic Zone, enjoys the same tax privileges. The enterprises within these zones are entitled to the same favored rate, as well as duty- and tax-free imports of capital equipment and raw materials.
Aside from the Clark ecozones and providing incentives pursuant to RA No. 7227, several other special economic zones were established under separate laws. Special economic zones in various parts of the country are also entitled to benefits and privileges provided by the law.
With the delayed passage of Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities Bill or the so-called TRABAHO Bill that seeks the rationalization of tax incentives and lifting of some of the existing privileges, economic zone developers see expansion opportunities.
In the expectation of the non-passage of the TRABAHO bill, the government may wish to consider enhancing the existing incentives program. It also needs to improve the tax system to attract economic activity to develop new cities and regions into new logistics hubs and centers of trade, finance, or technology.
The challenge is clear: to meet the needs of the people, we need to extend opportunities throughout the region for a better Philippines.
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.
Maricel P. Katigbak 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 09 July 2019