Building Stronger Bonds with the Business Community

Expedition Log: Act 3

The accountancy profession has a symbiotic relationship with the business community.

Businesses rely on chartered accountants to navigate complex financial landscapes, make informed decisions, and optimise their fiscal performance. Besides providing financial insights, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring compliance with regulations, chartered accountants contribute significantly to fostering transparency and trust while promoting the financial stability and growth of businesses.

Hence, deepening our connections with the business community and our industry partners is a key priority in our plan to advance ISCA. We have made much progress through our partnerships with key industry stakeholders to create more opportunities and resources for the accountancy profession and generate synergies among the stakeholders in the business community.

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To catalyse greater collaboration among professional accountancy and business services organisations, ISCA joined forces with 13 other organisations to form the Professional Accountancy Hub (PA Hub).

The PA Hub will enable a thriving and inclusive eco-system for the accountancy profession and the wider business community through strengthened collaborations between professional accountants, valuers, internal auditors, chartered secretaries, investors, and executives of listed companies.

The 14 Founding Members of the PA Hub:
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
  • Association of Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA-CIMA)
  • Association of Singapore Listed Companies (SGListCos)
  • Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ)
  • Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI)
  • CPA Australia
  • Chartered Secretaries Institute of Singapore (CSIS)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
  • Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA)
  • Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS)
  • Institute of Internal Auditors Singapore (IIA Singapore)
  • Institute of Valuers and Appraisers Singapore (IVAS)

With the resources, expertise, and networks of each partner, the PA Hub will create synergy, enable knowledge sharing through research and thought leadership, facilitate dialogues on matters pertaining to the profession, and complement each institute’s efforts to foster the talent pipeline, benefiting not just ISCA’s members but also the accountancy profession and business community.

ISCA held the 14th edition of its Pre-Budget 2023 Roundtable, themed “Stepping Forward amid Megatrends”, on 19 January 2023.

The Roundtable was co-chaired by Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Trade & Industry, and Mr Don Wee, ISCA Council Member. It brought together leaders of trade associations and chambers (TACs) and accounting firms to discuss three megatrends – Sustainability, Digitalisation, and Diversification – that are impacting Singapore businesses.

Insights and recommendations gathered from the Roundtable as well as Pre-Budget focus group discussions were submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consideration in its preparation of the Singapore Budget 2023.
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MOU with Institution of Engineers, Singapore - Incubator & Accelerator (IES-INCA)

ISCA signed an MOU with the IES-INCA on 2 August 2023, to promote interaction between accountancy and engineering professionals, fostering collaboration and exploring synergies in areas such as sustainability and technology. IES-INCA and ISCA will also support the Investor Network and organise networking events.

Programme to help charities strengthen accounting and finance processes
On 10 October, ISCA, in collaboration with the office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) launched a new programme to support charities in digitalising their accounting and finance processes.

Driven by the ISCA Charity Accounting Committee and chaired by Professor Ang Hak Seng, the programme aims to accelerate the digital transformation of smaller charities. This is done with the help of experienced members who will support charities in the implementation of accounting software and improve their processes and controls.
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ISCA x SGListCo Connects

At the ISCA x SGListCos networking session on 6 September 2023, members from both organisations connected to explore areas of collaboration, including board appointment opportunities. The members also gained insights from a panel discussion on “Journeying into the Centre of Emerging Economies”.

ISCA x SMF x SICC Networking Event

At the panel discussion “Sustainability in Manufacturing”, panellists Dr Bicky Bhangu, Mr Clement Teo and Mr Nigel Lee shared insights on the pillars of an effective sustainability journey in manufacturing, as well as its opportunities and challenges. The panel was moderated by Mr Koh Wee Kwang, ISCA Council Member.

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Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) Connect

To create a vibrant accountancy ecosystem and explore collaboration opportunities, we gathered the representatives from fellow professional accountancy bodies with a presence in Singapore, namely, ACCA, CA ANZ, CPA Australia, ICAEW and ICAI Singapore Chapter, to connect and kickstart conversations at PAOs Connect.

ISCA Gatecrash Series
ISCA kickstarted ISCA Gatecrash – a series of employer outreach activities where we visited the offices of various organisations to engage with their staff members from diverse roles such as financial reporting, tax, external and internal audit and consulting.

Our goal was to bring these employers and their staff closer to the accountancy community through the sharing about our various initiatives and professional pathways.

Over 20 employer engagements were conducted in 2023 across multinational corporations, large local enterprises to accounting firms.
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Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) 2023

ISCA once again joined the Singapore Institute of Directors and The Business Times to co-organise SCA 2023, supported by ACRA and SGX. The award categories included Best Annual Report and Best Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The diverse judging panel included practitioners, academia and investors. Judging for the Best CFO Award was notably held at ISCA House on 23 June 2023, where they deliberated on finalists across three categories – large, mid and small capitalization companies.

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C-Suite Network

The C-Suite Network, formed in 2022, expanded to over 70 members in 2023. Comprising a community of senior business leaders from more than 13 industries, the network gathered over the year to share business insights and enhance its breadth of knowledge and diversity of expertise.

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Public Interest Entity (PIE) Firms Network
Members of the PIE Firms Network, which comprises leaders of the top 20 firms that audit public interest entities, took part in the following events during the year:
The C-Suite and PIE Firms Network also collaborated to bring together leaders from diverse backgrounds to foster the rich exchange of ideas and perspectives as well as provide valuable networking opportunities.
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