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Welcome Address by Mr Lee Eng Kian, Deputy Chair, Public Accounting Practice Committee and Managing Partner, PKF-CAP LLP at the SMP Symposium on 6 July 2022

Distinguished speakers and panellists
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

A warm welcome to ISCA’s SMP Symposium, which is part of this year’s newly launched ISCA Mini Conference series. First and foremost, I would like to thank our presenters and panellists for making time to share your insights with us today.

The SMP Symposium is brought to you by the ISCA Public Accounting Practice Committee (or PAPC), which represents the needs of accounting practices and addresses issues faced by them.   The Committee identifies matters of interest, especially matters affecting SMPs, and helps drive and develop initiatives, programmes and resources to support the SMP community.

In keeping with the theme of “Audit Hot Spots 2022”, the SMP Symposium will delve into the latest happenings and trending industry topics relevant to SMPs. You will hear from various subject matter experts and fellow practitioners who will offer you deeper insights and updates on current practice-related topics pertinent to the profession.

Topics Covered at SMP Symposium

Firstly, as many of you know, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) will enhance its audit regulatory regime and introduce measures for better compliance with professional requirements and standards. This underscores the importance of promoting audit quality through better assurance of information available to investors and the public, upholding market confidence and reaffirming Singapore’s reputation as a trusted place for businesses. At today’s session, Mr Wong Kee Wei, Head of Accounting Policy Department of ACRA will discuss and share the feedback and responses received from the Public Consultation on the proposed amendments to the Accountants Act.

Next, as we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to the workforce can directly challenge the resiliency of organisations and business outcomes. In an increasingly dynamic and complex business and regulatory landscape, coupled with technology innovation and business environment changes, it is imperative that we build an accountancy profession that remains relevant, competitive, and ready for the future. Mr Germin Ong, Head of Strategy and Planning of The Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC) will share the pathways for employers to transform jobs, the requisite skills for accountants and new roles that accounting firms can take on. 

Another area that is placing new demands and challenges on the profession is the mandatory adoption of the new Quality Management standards that will come into effect on 15 December this year.  The new standards require firms to elevate audit quality through a risk-based approach focusing on proactively identifying and responding to quality risks. Firms will need to design and implement a system of quality management that is tailored to their individual circumstances and engagements. The panellists at the panel discussion this afternoon will discuss the new standards and share insights and practical tips on how firms can navigate their design and implementation journey.

Conclusion

In closing, ISCA will continue to roll out new initiatives as well as curate events like today’s SMP Symposium to support accounting practices in upholding high quality audits, and boosting their skills and digitalisation capabilities to seize opportunities for growth. I encourage the SMP community to utilise these initiatives. 

As part of our efforts to ensure the SMP community receives the latest practice-related news and updates, ISCA has recently set up a dedicated group for Practitioners via the messaging app Telegram. The ISCA Practitioners’ Connect Telegram group is where you can get first hand, bite-sized news on the profession. I encourage our SMPs to make the most of this channel specially created for Practitioners and join us on Telegram today. 

Once again, I would like to express my appreciation to ACRA, SAC, and our panellists for your support and contributions to the SMP Symposium.

On this note, I wish everyone an enjoyable and fruitful session ahead.

Thank you.