Reflections from our President

Our members are the lifeblood of our community, and we are extremely thankful for the continued strong support from our 39,000-strong who have shown up for close to 150 events held last year. I am also glad to hear that our initiatives have been highly rated by 94% of our members, marking a 5%-point increase from 2023. We also ended the year with a 98.3% membership retention rate, which is the highest retention rate in 10 years. This is undeniably a testament to the belief and value that our members see in the Institute.

We are deeply appreciative and heartened to know that we have played a positive role in community building as well as contributing to our members’ professional development. We look forward to creating more value for our members, and fostering an even stronger and tightly-knit accountancy community. This year, we will build on the momentum of 2024, creating more networking and collaboration opportunities, a larger variety of options for professional development, and avenues for our members to be advocates for ISCA and the accountancy profession.

As the national accountancy body of Singapore, our responsibility is to not only foster a thriving community of accounting professionals, but to also shepherd the profession to even greater heights. In 2024, we issued 30 technical articles, comment letters, and research guidance reports, to contribute to thought leadership and guide our profession in accordance with internationally-recognised standards. Many of these were published in partnership with other agencies from both the accounting sector as well as wider business ecosystem and academia, and we are pleased to collaborate with them to elevate the quality of our profession.

Speaking of partnerships, 2024 was also the year where we harnessed the power of teamwork to unlock synergies and drive impactful outcomes for the profession. We signed eight Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with various professional bodies, institutes of higher learning and government agencies to collaborate on various areas, such as: (1) creating opportunities for local and international students to enrol in the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification (SCAQ) programme; (2) fostering international collaboration and professional excellence within the accountancy profession; and (3) advancing the professional development of public service officers.

Of course, the continuity of our profession is only possible if we have a robust pool of accounting talent, both in Singapore and abroad. Hence, strengthening the accountancy talent pipeline continues to be one of our strategic priorities. It is our duty as the current generation of the profession, to chart the future for subsequent generations and ensure their success. At the start of 2024, ISCA took over the administration of the SCAQ programme. Since then, we have greatly enhanced its accessibility and market value, and I am pleased to share with you that we have made significant strides in this area, to shape the future of Singapore’s accountancy landscape. 

We first introduced the Accelerated Pathway Programme (APP) in April 2024 to sponsor university students pursuing the SCAQ, and later expanded this to include the Polytechnic Pathway Programme (PPP) in January 2025. Beyond holding over 160 school outreaches and student engagement sessions, we now have a physical presence at six universities and polytechnics, known as ISCA’s Campus Enterprise Hubs.

Our efforts have certainly yielded results; at the end of 2024, we saw a 47% increase in SCAQ candidates, bringing the total number of current active candidates to over 4,200. Our twice-yearly exams also saw a 22% increase in enrolments, and we are beginning to see encouraging signs of more non-accountancy graduates signing up for the SCAQ.

ISCA is not just for the accounting profession alone. We aim to be a world-class professional accountancy organisation that plays an integral role in Singapore’s success as a global financial hub, by contributing to the wider business ecosystem. To this end, we embarked on many notable endeavours.

One key initiative has been our Professional Accountancy Hub (PA Hub), which brings together 23 organisations from various sectors such as accountancy bodies, professional services, and trade associations & chambers. Collectively, we represent a combined membership of over 3.6 million professionals. With the PA Hub, there are more opportunities for those in the professional services ecosystem to work together, driving initiatives such as the Pre-Budget Roundtable, Global Talent Programme and conferences. ISCA is also a member of strategic consortiums such as the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SCCCI) Sustainability Alliance, a platform to accelerate sustainable practices and emissions reduction among businesses, and the National Council of Social Service’s (NCSS) Sustainable Philanthropy Framework, which helps businesses adopt philanthropic practices aligned with their corporate strategies.

As you may already know, ISCA is on an internationalisation journey, charting new territories to grow and expand ISCA’s presence around the world. In 2024, we amplified our efforts and reached major milestones in this journey.

We welcomed three new country managers in Malaysia, Vietnam and China, and now have 13 overseas staff. We also set up offices in Ho Chi Minh, Jakarta, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Nanjing to drive collaborations and open new markets for our offerings. For instance, our Board of Directors Masterclass Programme and Sustainability Professional Certifications are now available in countries such as Australia, Brunei, China, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the UK and Vietnam. 

It is important for us not just to do well, but also to do good. We are heartened by the impact we have made in the community, via our charity arm, ISCA Cares. 

In 2024, ISCA Cares broadened its scope by extending bursary support to ITE students pursuing accountancy studies and SCAQ candidates from financially vulnerable backgrounds. To date, ISCA Cares has awarded over $1.2 million in bursaries to students in need. We hope to continue this momentum as we celebrate ISCA Cares’ 10th anniversary in 2025.

To empower inmates, ex-offenders and their families, ISCA signed an MOU with Yellow Ribbon Singapore and Industrial and Services Co-operative Society Ltd to provide trainings and workshops on financial literacy, career counselling and job matching. 

If 2024 was remarkable, then 2025 promises to be an even more exciting year ahead. There is much to do, but I am confident that with your support, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish.

Aligned with the theme of our annual report, we are focused on expanding ISCA’s global presence by strengthening connections overseas and building a cohesive global network, with Singapore as the hub. In 2024, we reinforced our presence in these cities. From 2025 onwards, we aim to connect these overseas nodes to form a global network, to position ISCA as a truly global professional accountancy organisation that goes beyond our identity in accountancy, to be a key player in the global business ecosystem.

How can we realise our ambition? For a start, we will look to launch Professional Services Centres in key countries. Together with key partners, we will assemble the accountancy profession, other professional services, and trade associations and chambers together, to help businesses succeed overseas. We will also look to strategic investments into physical spaces and partners, to expand our market reach across various countries. Naturally, this will also involve more collaborations, and we will look to forming new partnerships and positioning ISCA and Singapore as a thought leader and key contributor.

Our ISCA Academy will also see significant changes as it embarks on its next stage of growth. What first started out as a small department in ISCA has grown to become a reputed and trusted training provider, and many professionals have gone through its doors to be equipped with skills and knowledge to help them in their careers. In its next phase of growth, I’m pleased to share that the Academy will undergo corporatisation, transforming into a full-fledged entity with an expanded team and an enhanced suite of offerings. In line with our strategy, we are also exploring purchasing a property to support this endeavour.

Our vision is to position ISCA Academy as a leading professional development organisation that is self-sustaining, while continuing to give back to our members and society. As a revenue driver for ISCA, the Academy will play a key role in supporting the Institute’s broader growth and expansion plans. In the same vein, we will continue to offer programmes that cater to all segments of professionals, and not necessarily limited to accountancy alone. For instance, we will look to expanding our flagship Board of Directors Masterclass Programme to cater to senior C-Suite leaders, as well as tailoring bespoke programmes for niche audiences such as Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) owners. Essentially, we aim to train and equip various segments of the business ecosystem, and holistically, uplift the entire sector to achieve growth for Singapore.