ISCA Viewpoint
ICPAS President’s Greetings for the New Year
29 Dec 2010
My fellow professionals and CPAs Singapore, As the year draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the key milestones ICPAS has attained in 2010. In order to serve you better, and fulfill our mission to lead, support and develop the accountancy profession, we have made continuous progress and launched several new initiatives. Over the course of the year, ICPAS:
• Organised the Pre- and Post-Budget Roundtables , featuring leaders in business and government, to provide thought leadership on Budget 2010;
• Collaborated with People’s Association to encourage volunteerism among ICPAS members. To date, about 200 members have signed up as volunteers with grassroots organisations, an encouraging development;
• Through the Clarity Project mandated by IAASB of IFAC, issued the final set of the clarified Singapore Standards on Auditing (SSAs). The Clarified SSAsprovide enhanced guidance to strengthen audit quality, thus contributing to a more robust financial reporting process.
• Remained committed to our Council renewal process with the appointment of Ms Jeann Low, Group CFO of SingTel, and Mr R. Dhinakaran, Managing Director of the Jay Gee Group of Companies, as new Council Members.
• Created Online Knowledge Centres to equip members with timely resources related to business and accountancy. Beginning with the launch of four microsites in April 2010, we have since added a fifth site – Centre for Auditing and Assurance.
• Started Singapore’s first accreditation body for tax professionals – the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (SIATP), in partnership with Tax Academy of Singapore. Despite being launched only in May 2010, SIATP has since attracted close to 1,800 applicants.
• Partnered global financial recruitment firm Robert Half to launch the2010/2011 Asia-Pacific Finance & Accounting Salary Guide.
• Increased the frequency of our members’ journal from bi-monthly to monthly from January 2010 and gave the journal a revamp from July 2010. The CPA Singapore journal has new sections, an expanded lifestyle segment and a more sophisticated look and feel.
• Collaborated with ACRA to launch the Public Practice Programmefor aspiring public accountants. The PPP aims to prepare prospective public accountants to successfully take on the responsibilities of public practice and is a mandatory requirement for registration as a public accountant.
• Rolled out our brand campaign to promote the CPA Singapore designation as the designation of choice for accounting and business professionals and attract talent into the accountancy sector.
• Organised the inaugural Singapore Accountancy Convention, which brought together thought leaders and industry experts from around the world for an exchange of views on the most topical issues impacting the profession. More than 1,200 participants attended the convention and the gala dinner, making it one of ICPAS’ most successful events.
• Inked an MOU with Singapore Management University’s School of Accountancy Research (SOAR) to collaborate on accounting, business, professional and thought-leadership research and activities to contribute to Singapore’s vision of becoming “a leading global accountancy hub.
None of this would have been possible without you – our members. Your support is the catalyst for our continued success. I am deeply moved as many of you have stepped forward to contribute your time in helping to shape the Institute, and many others have given very encouraging feedback. I wish to offer you my deepest appreciation and gratitude. I am confident that together, we can make 2011 an even more memorable year of significant milestones.
On behalf of the ICPAS Council, with a heart filled with gratitude I would like to wish you and your families good health, and may your 2011 be filled with delight.
Ernest Kan, FCPA Singapore, PBM
President
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