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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.
Feeling gREITful
28 Jan 2020Today, I celebrate my one-year anniversary working at Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A). In the past 12 months, my life has changed, and my priorities have transformed in ways I could never have imagined. It’s challenging, but these challenges were just one of many things that helped me grow and develop my professional work opportunities.
In 2009, Republic Act (RA) No. 9856, otherwise known as The Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Act of 2009, was passed by Congress. A REIT is a stock corporation established in accordance with the Corporation Code and rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its primary purpose is to own income-generating real estate assets. Investment in the REIT shall be by way of subscription to or purchase of shares of stock of the REIT. With this, the public may invest in the real estate sector by merely owning shares, without the need to directly own the asset itself.
Although a REIT is subject to the regular corporate income tax, every REIT may benefit from the several tax incentives as provided in the REIT Law.
One of the major benefits of investing in a REIT is that, it is mandated to distribute at least 90% of its distributable income as dividends to its shareholders. Although generally, dividends distributed out of the retained earnings of a corporation are non-deductible, the REIT Law seems to provide an exception — such dividend distribution may be deducted from the REIT’s taxable income. Likewise, income payments to a REIT shall be subject to a lower creditable withholding tax of 1%.
The law has also provided for certain requirements, such as but not limited to the following: (a) it must be a public company; (b) it must have a minimum paid-up capital of P300 million; (c) must be listed in and maintain its listing status with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE); (d) at least 75% of its assets must be property and must be income-generating. Moreover, in order to be considered a public company, a REIT must, upon and after listing, have at least 1,000 public shareholders, each owning at least 50 shares of any class, who in the aggregate, own at least one-third of the outstanding capital stock of the REIT.
With the promising effects of the REIT Law, there were regulatory issues that need to be addressed before the public and the property developers can truly experience the benefits of the law.
Some of the issues encountered during the time were the following:
(1) Imposition of VAT on the transfer of real property;
(2) Imposition of the minimum public ownership rule 67%; and the
(3) The requirement of putting the tax benefits/savings in escrow
But with the continuous developments in the field of taxation, these issues were gradually resolved.
With the passage of the TRAIN Law, and issuance of the Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 13-2018, which implements the provisions of the TRAIN especially on VAT, transfers of property under Section (40)(C)(2) are now exempt from VAT. Hence, REIT sponsors or promoters will not be burdened with huge cash outs for VAT payments when they contribute their real properties to set up the REIT.
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued SEC Memorandum Circular No. 1, Series of 2020, or the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of the REIT Act.
This is indeed a great development for the public and property developers, especially that the MPO at 67% which was deemed burdensome to them, has been lowered to 33% under the revised IRR. The SEC has also inserted a provision on reinvestment requirement for any sponsor/promoter, which is in line with the policy to promote the development of the capital markets and Filipino participation in the real estate industry, democratizing wealth by broadening the participation of Filipinos in the ownership of real estate, and using the capital markets as an instrument to help finance and develop infrastructure projects.
To safeguard the interests of investors, the SEC has also required that for related-party transactions, there must be a related-party transactions committee, where the majority of the members are independent directors who must vote unanimously in approving such transactions. Also, the SEC requires the REITs to comply with the SEC Memorandum Circular No. 10, Series of 2010, specifically, the requirement for publicly-listed companies to disclose their respective policies on material related party transactions and report such dealings within three days from their execution.
The requirement in the original IRR to put the tax savings in escrow no longer appears in the revised IRR.
With these notable amendments, the SEC hopes to develop a viable REIT market that will unlock a deep source of funding for more infrastructure projects along with a lucrative investment opportunity for Filipinos.
Now that I am starting another year at P&A, I know that my professional work opportunities would continue to develop as I go along, in as much as I am truly grateful to see another year with the firm.
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.
Ma. Jessica A. Guevarra is tax associate of Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
As published in BusinessWorld, dated 28 January 2020