Strengthening Singapore's Accountancy Workforce

Following the recommendations by the Accountancy Workforce Review Committee (AWRC) in May 2024, ACRA and ISCA have established the Implementation Committee for Accountancy Workforce Development (ICAWD), co-chaired by ACRA Chief Executive and ISCA President, to build a sustainable talent pool of accountancy talents.

The committee comprises members from various sectors in the accounting profession including the Big Four, Small and Medium Practices as well as from a cross-section of the business and academic community. (See Annex A for the members of ICAWD.)

In its report published in May, the AWRC outlined its recommendations to:

1)     Ensure good careers by reviewing compensation structures for accountancy roles; redesigning accountancy jobs to make work more purposeful; and providing opportunities for skills development and career growth. 

2)     Create quality pathways by streamlining the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification (SCAQ), our national accountancy qualification, for candidates of different educational backgrounds; enhancing work-study opportunities to allow students to gain early industry exposure; increasing exposure to accounting for non-accountancy undergraduates; and supporting mid-career switchers to an accountancy career. 

3)     Strengthen professional capabilities by improving the recognition and value of the Chartered Accountant (Singapore) designation; and equipping accountants with future-ready skills and exposure to emerging areas.

The AWRC Report can be found at go.gov.sg/awrc-report.

Several AWRC recommendations have already been implemented. They include:

1)     Redesigning the reward structure, where some of the major accounting firms such as Baker Tilly, BDO, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC and RSM have raised their starting salaries; [Ensure good careers]

2)     Broadening entry pathways to the SCAQ to allow polytechnic graduates from all disciplines to undertake the SCAQ; [Create quality pathways]

3)     Streamlining the SCAQ structure, where exemptions are granted for polytechnic graduates for the Foundation Programme’s Principles of Financial Reporting and Taxation modules if they have completed the equivalent modules during their studies; [Create quality pathways]

4)     Recognition of up to 18 months of prior practical experience (up from 12 months previously) for the fulfilment of the SCAQ practical experience; [Create quality pathways] and

5)     Strengthening work-study pathways through the introduction of NTU's Work-Study Bachelor of Accountancy (Sustainability Management and Analytics) Degree. This programme features an extensive 30-week internship, offering students invaluable real-world experience while providing a competitive stipend. The inaugural batch of candidates commenced their studies in August 2024.  More than 70 students have enrolled in the programme. [Strengthen professional capabilities]

ICAWD will further support the implementation of the AWRC’s recommendations to promote accountancy as a rewarding and dynamic career. These include:

1)     Developing and implementing outreach initiatives to increase the interest in the accountancy profession amongst students.

2)     Developing initiatives to improve employee and internship experiences.

3)     Developing and providing more support for non-accountancy graduates (NAGs) and career switchers to transition into the accountancy sector

4)     Improving the recognition and value of CA (Singapore) in in-house finance and accounting functions.   

Education and Career Guidance (ECG) Playbook for Accountancy

The Accountancy Education Career Guidance (ECG) Playbook is a key initiative under ICAWD. It is set to launch in 2025 to serve as a comprehensive guide for ECG counsellors to promote the accountancy profession to students and strengthen the sector’s appeal.

The Playbook aims to:

1)     Inform and Educate: It will offer detailed insights into various career pathways by clarifying the skills, qualifications, and job roles available. The Playbook gives information to counsellors on accountancy being a dynamic and viable career option.

2)     Dispel Myths and Highlight Benefits: The Playbook will address common misperceptions about the profession, such as of long working hours or limited career growth. It spotlights the competitive salaries, work-life balance improvements, and long-term growth potential in the profession.

3)     Inspire with Real Examples: Through real case studies, success stories, and testimonials from professionals in the field, the Playbook motivates students to see the meaningful roles that accountants play in business strategy, governance and assurance, climate reporting and fraud detection. 

Sustainability Reporting and Assurance Body of Knowledge (SRA BOK)

ACRA is developing a Sustainability Reporting and Assurance Body of Knowledge (SRA BOK) which will be launched in 2025. This SRA BOK articulates the knowledge competencies required for making climate-related disclosures.

In 2023, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore, established the Green Skills Committee to drive the development of green skills in Singapore. This committee created two sub-workgroups, one of which focuses on Sustainability Reporting and Assurance, while the other is on Energy.

The sustainability reporting and assurance sub-workgroup, co-chaired by ACRA, Enterprise Singapore, and City Developments Limited has identified and developed the job roles and skills content required.  The new job roles and skills content would supplement the existing list of sustainability-related competencies in SkillsFuture Singapore’s skills repository.

The workgroup has also gathered feedback on the current training landscape through industry engagement sessions, and noted that while numerous sustainability training programmes already exist, feedback indicates a shortage of advanced courses providing practical skills for sustainability reporting and assurance. The market is saturated with sustainability courses of differing standards and contents across different providers, and it is challenging for professionals to identify a suitable course.  For training providers, there is also the challenge of developing appropriate content for courses given the evolving landscape of sustainability reporting standards and knowledge required by professionals supporting different parts of the reporting process.

ACRA’s SRA BOK intends to address the current knowledge and skills gap in the profession. The SRA BOK will enable training providers to develop specialist programmes to address training needs to better prepare for climate-related disclosures taking effect from FY2025¹. The SRA BOK will outline essential knowledge areas, learning objectives, and learning outcomes for sustainability reporting and assurance.

With the SRA BOK enabling the development of robust training programmes, ACRA will be able to better support companies and accountants in meeting new sustainability requirements.

1

ACRA (Co-chair)

Mrs Chia-Tern Huey Min, Chief Executive

2

ISCA (Co-Chair)

Mr Teo Ser Luck, President

3a

Deloitte Singapore (1st year)

Mr Yang Chi Chih, Audit & Assurance Leader

4a

KPMG Singapore (1st year)

Ms Shelley Chan, Audit Partner

3b

EY Singapore (2nd year)²

Mr Lee Wei Hock, Deputy Assurance Leader

4b

PwC Singapore (2nd year)²

Mr Chua Chin San, Partner, Human Capital Leader

5

RSM Singapore

Mr Derek How, Partner and Head, CPA Practice

6

PKF-CAP Singapore

Mr Lee Eng Kian, Managing Partner and Head of Audit and Assurance

7

Philip Liew & Co

Ms Lisa Liew, Managing Partner

8

Nanyang Technological University

A/P Premila Gowri Shankar, Head, Division of Accounting, Nanyang Business School

9

Singapore Management University

Dr Gary Pan, Professor of Accounting (Education); Associate Dean (Undergraduate Admissions and Student Development); Academic Director (Lifelong Learning); Academic Director, Industry Practice Masters (IPM)

10

Singapore Institute of Technology

A/P Koh Sze Kee, Cluster Director, Business, Communication and Design

11

Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Mr William Lim, Director, School of Business & Accountancy

12

DBS Bank

Mr Lim Him Chuan, Group Head of Strategy, Transformation, Analytics & Research

13

MET Asia Energy

Mr Mo Hongrui, Chief Financial Officer

14

Singapore Institute of Directors

Mr Terence Quek, Chief Executive Officer