Registered Foreign Professional Accountant (RFPA) is essentially an ASEAN Chartered Professional Accountant (ASEAN CPA) who has successfully applied to a participating National Accountancy Body (NAB) or Professional Regulatory Authority (PRA) in another ASEAN country to provide non-regulated professional accountancy services in that ASEAN country.

Your journey as a RFPA starts with holding a valid ASEAN CPA title. Please visit http://aseancpa.org/ to find out how to apply to become an ASEAN CPA.

Example *

Nguyen is a Vietnamese and holds a valid ASEAN CPA title registered with the relevant body (either a National Accountancy Body or Professional Regulatory Authority) in Vietnam. He is keen to provide non-regulated professional accountancy services in Indonesia but does not want to undergo extensive re-training or re-qualification procedures in order to qualify as an accountant in Indonesia. With the valid ASEAN CPA title in hand, Nguyen should register himself as a RFPA with Indonesia in order to effectively cross borders and provide non-regulated professional accountancy services in Indonesia.

*Note: This is an illustrative example to facilitate your understanding. Please check the RFPA registration process with the respective authorities of the ASEAN country which you are interested in.

Holders of the ASEAN Chartered Professional Accountant (ASEAN CPA) title who are not ISCA members and wish to provide non-regulated professional accountancy services in Singapore should register as a RFPA with ISCA.

Example*

Wijaya is an Indonesian and holds a valid ASEAN CPA title registered with the relevant body (either a National Accountancy Body or Professional Regulatory Authority) in Indonesia. He is not an ISCA member and has secured a job as an accountant in Singapore. Wijaya should register as a RFPA with ISCA before starting work.

 *Note: This is an illustrative example to facilitate your understanding. Please check the RFPA registration process with the respective authorities of the ASEAN country which you are interested in.

A RFPA registered with ISCA has the following obligations:

(i)               Bound by local and international codes of professional conduct in accordance with the policy on ethics and conduct established and enforced by the National Accountancy Body (NAB) / Professional Regulatory Authority (PRA) which the ASEAN CPA is registered with.

(ii)              Bound by domestic regulations (eg. immigration policies) of Singapore.

(iii)            Work in collaboration with a local professional accountancy firm or employed by  a company or organisation registered in Singapore

A RFPA registered with ISCA shall conduct himself in a manner consistent with the good reputation of the accountancy profession and refrain from any act or default, which is likely to bring discredit to the profession or to himself.

In the event that a RFPA registered with ISCA breaches the above obligations, ISCA will inform the National Accountancy Body (NAB) / Professional Regulatory Authority (PRA) which the ASEAN CPA is registered with for an investigation and disciplinary process to be initiated.  

Please refer to this flowchart which explains the registration process for RFPA:

 The RFPA title is open to only ASEAN nationals. This is because the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreement on Accountancy Services (MRAA) was an agreement to enhance cooperation in services amongst ASEAN Member States. 

Yes.

Click here to apply.

 (i) No, you should not register as RFPA with ISCA. You should register to be RFPA in the other ASEAN country/(ies) excluding Singapore,  which you are interested to provide non-regulated professional accountancy services.

(ii) Assuming that you hold a valid ASEAN CPA title registered with ISCA, you should register to be RFPA with another participating ASEAN country (other than Singapore). See example below.

 Please click here to view the RFPA registration details (for eg. registration fee, duration of the application process, etc.) for the respective ASEAN markets.

Example*

Harry is a Singaporean and an ISCA member. He holds a valid ASEAN CPA title registered with ISCA. He is keen to provide non-regulated professional accountancy services in Myanmar but does not want to undergo extensive re-training or re-qualification procedures in order to qualify as an accountant in Myanmar. With the valid ASEAN CPA title in hand, Harry should register himself as a RFPA with the relevant body in Myanmar in order to effectively cross borders and provide non-regulated professional accountancy services in Myanmar.

*Note: This is an illustrative example to facilitate your understanding. Please check the RFPA registration process with the respective authorities of the ASEAN country which you are interested in.

Under the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Accountancy Services (MRAA), you shall be permitted to provide accounting services excluding signing off of independent auditor’s report and other regulated accountancy services that require domestic licensing in the said ASEAN market, (i.e. “non-regulated professional accountancy services”).

To view the full list of regulated and non-regulated professional accountancy services in ASEAN, please click here. 

 Under the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Accountancy Services (MRAA), you shall be permitted to provide accountancy services excluding signing off of independent auditor’s report and other regulated professional accountancy services that require a license from Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) or any other relevant authorities in Singapore, (ie “non-regulated professional accountancy services”).

To view the full list of regulated and non-regulated professional accountancy services in Singapore, please click here. 

The application fee is SGD$250 (including GST).

In the event that your application does not meet the eligibility criteria, there is no refund of the application fee paid. 

 The application process will take approximately twelve weeks. We will send you a notification of your application outcome via e-mail.

RFPA title registered with ISCA is valid for one year upon approval from Singapore Monitoring Committee.

RFPAs have to renew their RFPA title annually and the renewal fee is SGD$250 (including GST).  Please note that the fee for RFPA is a different and separate fee from the ASEAN CPA fees.

No, work permits are subject to approval by Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).  

No, you cannot be an ISCA member with the RFPA title. To become an ISCA member, you will need to fulfil the membership requirements for the respective membership pathways.

To find out more about the Institute’s memberships, please click here.