Board of Accountancy

History
Although accounting has been practiced in the Philippines since the Spanish period and possibly even
before, the seeds of Philippine accountancy as a recognized profession were planted on March 17, 1928,
when Act No. 3105 was approved by the Sixth Legislature. Entitled 'An Act Regulating the Practice of
Public Accounting; Creating the Board of Accountancy; Providing for Examination, for the Granting of
Certificates, and the Registration of Certified Public Accountants; for the Suspension or Revocation of
Certificates; and for Other Purposes,' the law paved the way for local accountants to do the work which,
up to that time was performed by foreign accountants in the country. Since then, both the profession and
the body that directly regulates it have grown rapidly.

From 43 registered accountants in 1923, the number of CPAs has grown to over 100,689 by 1999. Many
of these professionals have distinguished themselves not only in the field of accountancy itself but in
many other areas of human endeavor. To the roster of Philippine CPAs belong such luminaries, past and
present, as Jaime Hernandez and Paciano Dizon, the first and second Filipino Auditor Generals of the
Commission on Audit; Manuel Villar, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Washington SyCip, past
president of the International Federation of Accountants, the only Asian who has held the position and
Founder and Chairman of SGV & Co., the leading accountancy firm in the country; Jose W. Diokno,
former Senator of the Philippines and Secretary of Justice; Wenceslao Lagumbay and Alberto Romulo,
former senators; and Andres Soriano, founder of one of the country’s leading conglomerates. Many
others have been cabinet members, heads of government agencies, chairmen and members of
corporations and institutions, heads and professors in the academe, and entrepreneurs.

Local accounting firms and partnerships have likewise entered the mainstream of international practice,
establishing tie-ups with the Big Five of the accounting world, namely, Arthur Andersen, Price
Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Deloitte Tohmatsu International. The biggest of the
local firms, SGV & Co., was the first to offer services outside the country and initiated the establishment
of The SGV Group composed of leading national accounting firms in East and Southeast Asia.

The increasing complexity of professional regulation and the developments in the practice of the
profession have occasioned the expansion of the Board of Accountancy – from three members (president
and two members) under Act No. 3105 in 1923, through six (chairman and five members) under Republic
Act No. 5166 ('The Accountancy Act of 1967') in 1967, to seven (chairman and six members) under
Presidential Decree No. 692 (The Revised Accountancy Law) in 1975. Under the stewardship of the PRC,
the Board of Accountancy discharges its mandate of supervising, controlling and regulating the practice
of accountancy with authority and distinction. But over and above its regular functions of standardizing
and regulating accounting education, conducting examinations for registering CPAs, and maintaining the
rules of the practice, the Board has taken the lead in raising the standards of the profession to a very
high level of excellence, as evidenced by the following developments:

1. Full computerization of the CPA licensure examinations. The accounting profession was the first among
the professions to achieve this, paving the way for the current record two-day release of examination
results.
2. Upgrading of the quality of accounting education. With the PRC, the Board made representations with the
DECS for the adoption of standards for the organization and operation of professional accounting
programs leading to the prescription of a common baccalaureate degree – Bachelor of Science in
Accountancy. The Board periodically reviews school curricula and syllabi to maintain their relevance,
particularly in the area of information technology. It also initiated the continued monitoring of schools’
performance in the CPA examinations and the recommendation of corrective measures, as necessary.
3. Regulation of CPA firms and partnerships. To assure compliance of their staff and partners with standards
and regulations of the practice, the Board moved for the registration of firms or partnerships of CPAs with
both the PRC and the Board of Accountancy.
4. Requirement of CPAs in civil service. The Board made representations with the Civil Service Commission
to require that only CPAs be appointed as accountants and auditors or to hold allied positions in
government.

In 1975, with the accreditation by the PRC of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants
(PICPA) as the bona fide professional organization representing CPAs in the country, the Board has
coordinated with PICPA to further strengthen the profession. With PICPA, it has worked for the passage
of The Accountancy Act of 1967; the issuance of the Code of Professional Ethics in 1978; the issuance of
guidelines in 1987 for the mandatory continuing professional education (CPE) program for CPAs; the
integration of the accounting profession completed in 1987; the biennial oathtaking of new CPAs;
standards setting for the profession through membership in the Accounting Standards Council and the
Auditing Standards Practices Council; and the declaration of the Accountancy Week.

As the global professional environment unfolds, with the onset of the 21st century, accountancy
continues its trailblazing efforts. It is the first among the Philippine professions to be included under the
World Trade Organization’s (WTO) policy of liberalization of services. This means that Philippine
accountants will be freely competing with in the global playing field against accountants from other parts
of the world and will be able to hold their own. This is due, in no small measure, to the long and
distinguished careers of the country’s accountants, to the linkages that local firms have forged with the
world’s biggest accounting firms, and to the integrity with which the Board of Accountancy and the
Professional Regulation Commission are now administering a profession that has acquired a global
perspective.

Visit webpage of other Boards

-- Select board --

TRANSPARENCY SEAL


PRC HOTLINE


310 0026
310 1047
 Like us on Facebook!

Follow us

Prc.gov.ph – PRC Official websiteSeptember 2016 Special Professional

Licensure Board Examination for Environmental Planners results
released
Posted on 10/3/2016

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 45 out of 130 passed the Environmental
Planner Licensure Examination given by the Board of Environmental Planning in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates; Al-Khobar, Jeddah and Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Doha, Qatar and in Kuwait last
September 2016.

The members of the Board of Environmental Planning who gave the licensure examination are Josefina
M. Ramos, Chairman; Lirio T. Abuyuan and Dolores A. Endriga, Members.

Related Downloads
 Full text of the Official Result
 Performance of Schools
 List of Successful Examinees

Email Print

OTHER NEWS

 September 2016 Special Professional Licensure Board Examination for Environmental Planners results
released (10/3/2016)

 September 2016 Librarian Licensure Examination results released in three (3) working
days (9/26/2016)

 September 2016 Physician Licensure Examination Results released in three (3) working
days (9/21/2016)

 Extension for the Filing of Applications for Repeaters for the October 2016 Licensure Examination for
Criminologists (9/21/2016)

 Approved Applicants for Registration without Examination as Chemist and Chemical

Technicians (9/21/2016)

 PRC Service Centers at Robinsons Malls (9/21/2016)

 September 2016 Licensure Examination for Foresters results released in two (2) working
days (9/16/2016)

 Invitation to Public Consultation on Philippine Pharmacy Act (9/16/2016)

 Suspension of Requirements for the Renewal of the Professional ID Cards (PIC) of PMEs, MEs and
CPMs (9/13/2016)

 Announcement for the applicants of October 2016 CPA and Criminologist Board Licensure
Examinations (9/13/2016)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... >>

This page only shows news articles that have been published during the year. If you are looking for
older articles, please visit the News Archive.
 TRANSPARENCY SEAL


PRC HOTLINE


310 0026
310 1047

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us