THE Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) is hoping that the Government will alleviate the full movement control order (FMCO) conditions by allowing accountancy firms to operate with compliance to strict standard operating procedures (SOPs).
According to MICPA’s CEO Novie Tajuddin, accountants are an essential part of the business ecosystem as they represent financial frontliners in the provision of services to the business community, such as audit, tax and accounting services.
“With the implementation of the FMCO not allowing practitioners to work from the office, it becomes a major problem as many are unable to continue their work at home due to lack of appropriate facilities and the inability of their clients to produce necessary accounting records needed for audit purposes,” Tajuddin explained.
“In addition to that, all of them are incurring heavy staff costs and overheads but are facing challenges in collecting their fees from clients due to the FMCO,” he added.
Currently, representations have been made to relevant Government authorities for approval of accountancy services to be treated as essential services.
However, Tajuddin notes that the process is difficult with too many ministries being involved, causing a straightforward approval to be dragged on for almost a month.
“The situation is urgent as many practitioners are seeing their cashflow being choked despite the need to cough up enough money to pay the staff’s salaries,” he commented.
MICPA therefore urges the Government to expedite the approval for accountancy firms to reopen as an essential service sector, to allow them to carry out their duties that have a direct impact on the nation’s economy. – July 14, 2021
