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Audit approach overview
Our audit approach will allow our client's accounting personnel to make the maximum contribution to the audit effort without compromising their ongoing responsibilities
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Annual and short period audit
At P&A Grant Thornton, we provide annual and short period financial statement audit services that go beyond the normal expectations of our clients. We believe strongly that our best work comes from combining outstanding technical expertise, knowledge and ability with exceptional client-focused service.
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Review engagement
A review involves limited investigation with a narrower scope than an audit, and is undertaken for the purpose of providing limited assurance that the management’s representations are in accordance with identified financial reporting standards. Our professionals recognize that in order to conduct a quality financial statement review, it is important to look beyond the accounting entries to the underlying activities and operations that give rise to them.
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Other Related Services
We make it a point to keep our clients abreast of the developments and updates relating to the growing complexities in the accounting world. We offer seminars and trainings on audit- and tax-related matters, such as updates on Accounting Standards, new pronouncements and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issuances, as well as other developments that affect our clients’ businesses.
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Tax advisory
With our knowledge of tax laws and audit procedures, we help safeguard the substantive and procedural rights of taxpayers and prevent unwarranted assessments.
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Tax compliance
We aim to minimize the impact of taxation, enabling you to maximize your potential savings and to expand your business.
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Corporate services
For clients that want to do business in the Philippines, we assist in determining the appropriate and tax-efficient operating business or investment vehicle and structure to address the objectives of the investor, as well as related incorporation issues.
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Tax education and advocacy
Our advocacy work focuses on clarifying the interpretation of laws and regulations, suggesting measures to increasingly ease tax compliance, and protecting taxpayer’s rights.
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Business risk services
Our business risk services cover a wide range of solutions that assist you in identifying, addressing and monitoring risks in your business. Such solutions include external quality assessments of your Internal Audit activities' conformance with standards as well as evaluating its readiness for such an external assessment.
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Business consulting services
Our business consulting services are aimed at addressing concerns in your operations, processes and systems. Using our extensive knowledge of various industries, we can take a close look at your business processes as we create solutions that can help you mitigate risks to meet your objectives, promote efficiency, and beef up controls.
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Transaction services
Transaction advisory includes all of our services specifically directed at assisting in investment, mergers and acquisitions, and financing transactions between and among businesses, lenders and governments. Such services include, among others, due diligence reviews, project feasibility studies, financial modelling, model audits and valuation.
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Forensic advisory
Our forensic advisory services include assessing your vulnerability to fraud and identifying fraud risk factors, and recommending practical solutions to eliminate the gaps. We also provide investigative services to detect and quantify fraud and corruption and to trace assets and data that may have been lost in a fraud event.
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Cyber advisory
Our focus is to help you identify and manage the cyber risks you might be facing within your organization. Our team can provide detailed, actionable insight that incorporates industry best practices and standards to strengthen your cybersecurity position and help you make informed decisions.
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ProActive Hotline
Providing support in preventing and detecting fraud by creating a safe and secure whistleblowing system to promote integrity and honesty in the organisation.
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Accounting services
At P&A Grant Thornton, we handle accounting services for several companies from a wide range of industries. Our approach is highly flexible. You may opt to outsource all your accounting functions, or pass on to us choice activities.
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Staff augmentation services
We offer Staff Augmentation services where our staff, under the direction and supervision of the company’s officers, perform accounting and accounting-related work.
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Payroll Processing
Payroll processing services are provided by P&A Grant Thornton Outsourcing Inc. More and more companies are beginning to realize the benefits of outsourcing their noncore activities, and the first to be outsourced is usually the payroll function. Payroll is easy to carve out from the rest of the business since it is usually independent of the other activities or functions within the Accounting Department.
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Our values
Grant Thornton prides itself on being a values-driven organisation and we have more than 38,500 people in over 130 countries who are passionately committed to these values.
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Global culture
Our people tell us that our global culture is one of the biggest attractions of a career with Grant Thornton.
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Learning & development
At Grant Thornton we believe learning and development opportunities allow you to perform at your best every day. And when you are at your best, we are the best at serving our clients
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Global talent mobility
One of the biggest attractions of a career with Grant Thornton is the opportunity to work on cross-border projects all over the world.
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Diversity
Diversity helps us meet the demands of a changing world. We value the fact that our people come from all walks of life and that this diversity of experience and perspective makes our organisation stronger as a result.
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In the community
Many Grant Thornton member firms provide a range of inspirational and generous services to the communities they serve.
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Behind the Numbers: People of P&A Grant Thornton
Discover the inspiring stories of the individuals who make up our vibrant community. From seasoned veterans to fresh faces, the Purple Tribe is a diverse team united by a shared passion.
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Fresh Graduates
Fresh Graduates
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Students
Whether you are starting your career as a graduate or school leaver, P&A Grant Thornton can give you a flying start. We are ambitious. Take the fact that we’re the world’s fastest-growing global accountancy organisation. For our people, that means access to a global organisation and the chance to collaborate with more than 40,000 colleagues around the world. And potentially work in different countries and experience other cultures.
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Experienced hires
P&A Grant Thornton offers something you can't find anywhere else. This is the opportunity to develop your ideas and thinking while having your efforts recognised from day one. We value the skills and knowledge you bring to Grant Thornton as an experienced professional and look forward to supporting you as you grow you career with our organisation.
Electronic Letter of Authority (eLA) right at your doorstep
20 Oct 2020It has been around 217 days or close to seven months, yet the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us in the form of quarantines and lockdowns of varying levels on most people except essential workers. Consequently, we have seen how operations have been disrupted for many businesses — a growing number of companies with office-based work, including our firm, have continued with and strengthened work-from-home (WFH) arrangements to keep things business as usual in these unusual times.
Because of fear of going out, most people have opted for online transactions. From the hype of 10.10 online shopping sales to the overwhelming options for door-to-door delivery of food, groceries, and packages — the goal is to bring people’s usual outdoor experience right to their homes.
This is nothing new for the BIR. In May 2019, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 40-2019 prescribing the procedures for the proper service of assessment notices with the provisions of Section 3.1.6 of Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 18-2013. However, the regulations only cover the service of assessment notices (i.e. PAN, FLD/FAN, and FDDA).
On Oct. 6, 2020, the BIR issued RMC No. 110-2020, which provides detailed guidelines on the proper modes of service of an electronic Letter of Authority (eLA).
A Letter of Authority (LoA) is the authority given to the appropriate revenue officer assigned to assess functions pursuant to Section 6(A) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended. Without the LoA, the examination or assessment can be nullified.
Thus, an eLA must be served to the concerned taxpayer by the Revenue Officers assigned or any BIR employee as duly authorized for this purpose by delivery of a notice through personal service to his registered or known address, or wherever the taxpayer may be found.
Taxpayers who are currently in a WFH setup might be wondering: “Can BIR serve the eLA at my residence or wherever I may be found in case our office is closed?”
Technically, the answer is yes: a known address refers to a place other than the registered address where business activities of the party are conducted or place of residence.
In cases where personal service is not possible, such as when the concerned taxpayer or his authorized representative, or authorized officer in case of a non-individual taxpayer, cannot be found in the registered address, the eLA may be served either by substituted service or by mail.
In substituted service, the eLA may be left at the taxpayer’s registered address or where the business activities are conducted with his clerk or with a person having charge thereof. However, if the known address is the place of residence, substituted service can be made by leaving the copy with a person of legal age residing therein.
If no person is found at the party’s registered or known address, or when a party is found but refuses to receive the eLA, the ROs are to bring a barangay official and two disinterested witnesses (i.e. persons of legal age other than employees of the BIR) so that they may personally observe and attest to such absence or refusal, as the case may be.
Service by mail is to be done by sending copy of the eLA through registered mail by the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhlPost) with an instruction to the postmaster to return the mail to the sender after 10 days, if undelivered; through a reputable professional courier company (PCC); or through ordinary mail, if no registry or reputable courier is available in the locality of the taxpayer.
For eLAs served through personal or substituted service, the date of receipt, name and signature of the person acknowledging receipt or barangay officials/witnesses, as applicable, need to be indicated on the back of the duplicate copy of the eLA.
Personal service will be deemed complete upon actual delivery of the eLA to the taxpayer or his representative. Service by registered mail is considered complete upon actual receipt by the taxpayer or after five days from the date of receipt of the first notice of the postmaster, whichever date is earlier. Service by ordinary mail is considered complete upon the expiration of 10 days after mailing.
Service to the tax agent/practitioner, who is appointed or authorized by the taxpayer, is deemed service to the taxpayer.
Interestingly, the BIR has not yet included electronic mail (e-mail) through the official government e-mail address of the RO as substituted service of eLAs and assessment notices.
With all the foregoing guidelines, we drill down to the question of how the BIR will determine the taxpayer’s known address or the authorized representative and its known address to deliver the eLA.
The Tax Code provides that officers required by law to file the returns for domestic corporations are the President, the Vice-President, or other principal officers. They are considered automatic authorized representatives and may give authorization to other personnel to act on the taxpayer’s behalf. For the known address, BIR may refer to the taxpayer’s GIS, ITR and By-laws to identify where the authorized representatives can be found.
Admittedly, servicing eLAs somewhere other than the registered business address is quite unlikely to most of us. In addition, while these WFH and door-to-door delivery schemes are primarily for the advantage of keeping up business continuity, the BIR reiterates its intentions on the proper and flexible ways of notifying the taxpayers about examinations and assessments especially in these unusual times.
At the end of the day, it is truly rewarding to know that any online orders have been shipped with minimal risk of infection when the shipment arrives. But as a taxpayer, would you feel the same way if a knock at your door turns out to be an eLA?
Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.
Gladys Mae M. Dimaya is a senior in charge of the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
As published in BusinessWorld, dated 20 October 2020