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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.
The TRAIN passes the bicam — what’s in and what’s out?
19 Dec 2017In the Philippines, the last major overhaul of the tax system came 20 years ago. But Filipinos may need not wait any longer. A few days ago, the Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report harmonizing the two chambers’ versions of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill. The final bill is now up for signing into law by the President and, once signed, is set to be implemented by next year. True enough, the TRAIN bill is now heading towards the finish line and appears to be the government’s signature legislative achievement so far.
What’s in and what’s out in the bicameral committee-approved TRAIN bill? Below are some of them.
Personal income tax. The most popular component of the bill is the part that changes the personal income tax system. Under the bicameral committee-approved bill, individual earnings of P250,000 or below per year are to be exempt from taxes. The excess over P250,000 will be subject to graduated tax rates of 20% to 35% percent until 2022, and 15% to 35% from 2023 onwards. The personal and additional exemptions are taken out, though. On the other hand, the non-taxable portion of 13th-month pay and other bonuses has been increased from P82,000 to P90,000.
On the part of employees, the above change will result in an increase in take-home pay, as the taxes that will be withheld by the employers will consequently reduce.
Passive income and other taxes. On cash and property dividend income, the good news on the part of affected individual stockholders is that the bicameral committee-approved bill retains the 10% tax rate. The previous proposal to double this tax rate was scrapped, lifting the anxiety among concerned individual stockholders and individual prospective investors.
For interest income on bank deposits, however, the taxes to be withheld on interest on foreign currency deposits doubled from 7.5% to 15%. Meanwhile, as regards the capital gains tax rate on capital gains from the sale of shares of stock not traded on the stock exchange, the rate will be a flat 15% on the net capital gain. The tax rate on capital gains from the sale of shares of stock not traded on the exchange is currently 5% (for the amount of gain not over P100,000) plus 10% (on the amount of gain in excess of P100,000). Interestingly, this could be a significant factor in considering future share sales, particularly for those involving millions or billions worth of capital gains.
Value-added tax (VAT). The VAT threshold was increased from P1,919,500 to P3,000,000 to provide relief to small and medium enterprises. There were also additions and subtractions from the list of VAT-exempt transactions.
A provision in the bill of which many are skeptical whether it will be implemented is the portion enhancing the VAT refund system. Under the bicam-approved measure, input VAT refunds shall be granted within 90 days from the submission of official receipts, invoices, and other documents. This appears to be promising. The bill further provides that a failure on the part of any official, agent, or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to act on the application within the 90-day period shall be punishable under the law. Taxpayers are hopeful that the implementation side would really give life to the VAT refund provisions of the bill.
Compliance requirements. There will also be reforms in tax administration and compliance. One of the most welcome changes is the proposed simplification of income tax returns (ITRs). The bicam version provides that the income tax return shall consist a maximum of four pages in paper or electronic form. This can be a huge relief on the part of the taxpayers. Taxpayers currently fill out 12- or eight-page returns when filing and paying for income tax. What a welcome development, indeed!
The above are just some of the many provisions in the bicam measure, and the bill is still subject to the approval of the President. While there are still some contentious provisions in the bill that many may not approve of, it is hoped the above measures on tax reform will generally improve the taxpayers’ trust in the Philippine tax system. Tax reform involves many trade-offs, as two interests should always be considered — the taxpayers’ and the government’s. As such, only the taxpayers and the government, in a give and take relationship, can make this tax reform work. This could be something that we can look forward to next year and in years to come.
Welcome aboard the TRAIN!
John Paulo D. Garcia is a senior of the Tax Advisory and Compliance of P&A Grant Thornton. P&A Grant Thornton is one of the leading audit, tax, advisory, and outsourcing services firms in the Philippines.
As published in BusinessWorld, dated 19 December 2017