Strengthening Oversight : Improving the Quality of Statutory Audits in the Philippines

Strengthening Oversight : Improving the Quality of Statutory Audits in the Philippines

Since 2003, the Philippines have been striving to implement reforms aimed at improving audit quality. Oversight of the audit profession is a key control over the financial reporting architecture of a country’s private sector. A Quality Assurance...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	World Bank Group
Format:	Report
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2016
Subjects:	INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES GOOD PRACTICE DISCUSSION FINANCIAL SERVICES COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE WORKFORCE AWARENESS ACCOUNTING FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT SECURITIES REGULATORS SALES INTEREST QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES AUDITING PRINCIPLES EXCHANGE INFORMATION COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER FISCAL POLICY REGULATOR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS BRANCH OFFICES INFORMATION SHARING CAPACITY BUILDING FINANCIAL STATEMENT CONTENT TAX LEADING QUALITY REPORTING AUDITS REGULATORY AUTHORITIES CENTRAL BANK COLLABORATION JURISDICTIONS COMMUNICATIONS DATA TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE EXCHANGE COMMISSION MARKET DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS AUDITORS’ REPORTS PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS PRODUCTIVITY EXPERTS IDEAS CRITERIA FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS DEBT DOCUMENTS FINANCIAL REPORTING COMPETENCIES CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK CAPITAL ASSETS PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROCESS CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS PRACTICE ACCOUNT LEGAL FRAMEWORK EFFICIENCY RESOURCES INVESTORS BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS REGULATORY AGENCIES AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS COMPETENCY JURISDICTION ACCOUNTANTS AUDITORS DISCUSSIONS TRANSPARENCY SMALL ENTERPRISES MARKET CAPITALIZATION BEST PRACTICES PARTICIPATION BOUNDARIES QUALITY AUDITS CONFLICTS OF INTEREST PROCESSES ACCOUNTANCY DECISION-MAKING COST JOB CREATION AUDIT ENGAGEMENTS AUDIT REPORTS FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS FOREIGN EXCHANGE CONFIDENTIALITY DYNAMIC ECONOMIES QUALITY CONTROL SECURITIES ADMINISTRATION GOVERNANCE ENFORCEMENT INSURANCE INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE INTERESTS MUTUAL RECOGNITION INVESTOR SECURITIES REGULATION ACCOUNTING STANDARDS FINANCIAL MARKET BUSINESS INVESTMENT FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES SHARE INVESTOR PROTECTION INTERNAL AUDIT INVESTMENT CLIMATE SECURITIES REGULATOR FINANCIAL MARKETS MARKET DEMAND COOPERATIVES REGULATORS PRACTITIONERS COMMUNICATION QUALITY ASSURANCE SHAREHOLDER AUDIT AUDITING STANDARDS EXCHANGE RATE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY PRIVATE SECTOR GROWTH DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY AUDITING PROFESSION FINANCIAL SECTOR CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS IMPLEMENTATION AUDITING INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/05/26408211/philippines-strengthening-oversight-improving-quality-statutory-audits-philippines http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24723

Description
Summary:	Since 2003, the Philippines have been striving to implement reforms aimed at improving audit quality. Oversight of the audit profession is a key control over the financial reporting architecture of a country’s private sector. A Quality Assurance Review system over audit practitioners is a subset of oversight which serves as a key monitoring control over the integrity of financial reporting. In keeping with the country’s strategic priority of boosting private sector development by improving the investment climate for firms of all sizes, including greater access to finance, legislation was enacted to support the objective of increasing the integrity of private sector financial reporting through improved audit quality. Accordingly, the Board of Accountancy was mandated with the power to conduct oversight into the quality of audits of financial statements through a review of the quality control measures instituted by auditors in order to ensure compliance with the accounting and auditing standards and practices. . However, the injunction remains in place and, accordingly, implementation of the mandated Quality Assurance Review Program may not move forward. Several concrete steps should be taken in order to effectively move forward with the rollout of a comprehensive system of public oversight including audit quality assurance in the Philippines. These include (1) reforming the legal framework to establish an effective audit oversight system with sufficient legal power and authority (2) rationalizing the statutory audit threshold to minimize the conditions contributing to low quality audits, (3) building support among key stakeholder groups by properly addressing their concerns to the extent possible, (4) ensuring coordination of efforts among regulators to eliminate gaps and overlaps and foster collaboration among the group, and (5) establishing a dedicated Project Management Office to oversee the rollout of a Quality Assurance Review Program over audit practitioners.