If you are a Philippine CPA, did you know that you may now apply for the ACPA (Asean Chartered Professional Accountant) title? Jun Cuaresma writes, in The Manila Times article, “And the Asean CPA is born . . .”
To get the ACPA title, the provisions of the recognition agreement state that Filipino CPAs have to undergo initial qualification and eligibility screenings through the local Board of Accountancy (BoA) and/or the Philippine Institute of CPAs and then the ACPA Coordinating Committee would make the final approval.
Upon successful approval, the Filipino CPA will acquire the ACPA title and be accorded as a Registered Foreign Professional Accountant (RFPA) who then can, in all other nine Asean member states: (1) work as consultant or employee of commercial, industrial or educational entities, or (2) work as external auditor but in collaboration with designated external auditing firms in the host country.
Currently, Filipino CPAs can already work as accountants, auditors, consultants, etc., in countries among the Asean member countries and beyond, even without the ACPA title. Thus, I can’t imagine how this title can enhance one’s résumé.
So, unless a new and separate governing body is tasked to conduct qualifying exams (board exams) in lieu of the PRC (Professional Regulation Commission), I can’t see how else Filipino accountants will flock to acquire this title.