Singapore- Holds Good News for Foreign Accounting and Finance Professionals
Singapore's accounting sector grew by an annual 6.5 per cent in the last three years, nearly twice as fast compared with the growth rate in the past decade
The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) did a study that revealed that nearly 73 per cent of public accounting firms are now operating below their ideal capacity, while nearly 67 per cent of them said they are sourcing for audit staff from overseas. The numbers showed that the majority of accounting firms are running 24 per cent below capacity due to a shortage of talent.
Earlier in June, global recruitment agency Robert Half International published its findings on the global accounting industry. The findings reveal that Singapore’s non-banking financial sector is still buoyant, with many companies keen to hire over the next six months. Robert Half also found that finance professionals in Singapore have the biggest salary packages when compared with their global peers in 17 other markets, including Australia, Canada, France and the United States.
The Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Singapore’s corporate regulator as well as the independent regulator for public accountants, has observed that Singapore’s accounting sector grew by an annual 6.5 per cent in the last three years, nearly twice as fast compared with the growth rate in the past decade. The Singapore accounting industry comprises of the Big Four, which are Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, seven medium-sized and 571 small accounting firms.
In view of the growing accounting sector and the severe talent crunch the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) said it hopes to ease the talent squeeze by opening more talent streams. It has also revealed intentions to review its regulatory framework of registration and entry, to ease barriers for entry into the profession and encourage expertise to flow into the profession.
Currently the regulations of ACRA require overseas auditors to stay two years in the city-state before they can obtain a license to practice as a public accountant. ACRA will soon change this and it is also looking to review the qualifications for those wanting to join the auditing profession, this will attract new pool of talent to this profession.
Welcoming ACRA’s measures to ease the talent crunch Ms. Ragini Dhanvantray of Rikvin consultancy says,
“Globalization in its true sense must cut across all barriers not only for trading but also for talent, Singapore is aspiring to live up to the true sense of the term by easing out its markets for professional talents as well. The city state is capable of building its internal talent pool but nevertheless remains receptive to foreign talent so as to abate the talent crunch instantaneously while fostering a globalized society. These preemptive measures will bring in good economics of operation, and prevent unwarranted wage spiraling thus contributing to the bottom line of the small players in the industry.”
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