The Acute Shortage of Accountants in China - Essay Example

 Already a heavy burden to the world’s fourth largest economy, the acute shortage of accountants in China is getting worse. The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants counted 140,000 licensed accountants in China in 2004. (http://www.cicpa.org.cn/English/news_alert/200804/t20080428_4193.htm, accessed December 6, 2008). Former Premier Zhu Rongji indicated as far back as 2005 that more than 300,000 will be required, more than all the licensed accountants in Britain and Ireland combined. (Skills Shortage, June 23, 2005, http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/features/2139081/work-progress, accessed December 6, 2008) The need to train more would continue because China would be relentless in pursuing economic reforms. The pursuit would attract more foreign investments and encourage more Chinese companies to expand overseas. China President Hu Jintao indicated that there will be no turnabout from the economic reforms and opening – up in the past three decades that made China achieve “the historic transformation from a highly-centralized planned economy to a robust socialist market economy and from a closed and semi-closed society to one that fully embraces the world.” President Jintao spoke before the 13th economic leaders meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Peru in November 2008. “We are keenly aware that China remains the largest developing country in the world,” Jintao said, “and the difficulties and problems we face in the course of development are rarely seen elsewhere in terms of both their scale and complexity." (Xinhua, http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6538647.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) Rapid economic growth would require companies to hire external auditors, financial consultants, tax experts and their own internal accounting staff. Training more accountancy manpower would be part of the financial infrastructures of corporations, said Cui Jianmin, president of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (2004). “As China adopts a more pro-active approach to attracting foreign investment, there will be a need for auditing, asset valuation and financial advisory services. As China adopts international practice in the field of banking, securities and insurance, it will lead to an increase in demand for accounting firms with a competitive edge. And as China's capital market and bank loans market for small- and medium-sized enterprises also develops, there will be a need for more auditing, capital verification, asset valuation and consulting services. “ (Cui Jianmin, interviewed, April – June 2004, Australian CPA Network, , http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/cps/rde/xbcr/SID-3F57FECB-A56CA432/cpa/network_cui.pdf, p. 18 – 19, accessed December 6, 2008) The importance of training more accountants is illustrated in China’s stock exchanges. Listed companies need accountants who can render credible financial information and disclosures for the use of investors and not for taxation authorities. Until 2007 when government mandated new accounting rules, accountants were influenced by tax regulations designed to make sure corporate taxpayers would not minimize their tax payables. Consequently, according to the International Finance Corp. in a study, incomes were overstated and allowable deductions were disallowed. “This explains the apparent paradox that despite a rigid accounting system, enterprises have strong incentives to use loopholes in the system to meet profit targets,” the IFC reported. (IFC, Role of Stock Markets and Information Disclosure in the Corporate Governance of Listed Companies http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/publications.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/CorpGovernanceinChinaChp5/$FILE/CGinChina_Chp.5.pdf, p. 14, accessed December 6, 2008) A broker, interviewed by the Financial Times, complained about the low quality of financial information available to investors. "The level of disclosure is not good," said Neil Juggins, Shanghai-based head of research at Evolution Securities China, a UK broker. "The information you get is not very helpful when you need to do a proper job as an analyst. Since disclosure is poor, you have to ask the company and base your investment decision on what they say. You are effectively playing it on trust." (Jopson, Barney, After the Abacus: China's Accounting Switch Holds Perils As Well As Promise, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e92cd50-0af9-11db-b595-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1, accessed December 6, 2008) Chinese companies going global through mergers and acquisitions would need competent accountants, too. The 2006 / 2007 Salary Survey Finance and Accounting stated that China’s international business – more than 30,000 Chinese companies are operating abroad -- created urgent demand in the specialized accounting areas of internal audit / internal controls, mergers and acquisitions / business development, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and initial public offerings (IPOs). (2006 / 2007 Salary Survey Finance and Accounting, quoted in http://cpacareers.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/SID-3F57FECB-D013661D/careers/site/867_ENA_HTML.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) The need for 300,000 accountants familiar with internationally – accepted accounting standards was an accepted estimate in finance departments in firms and in government. But the shortage could be more. “Widen that to finance departments in general and some say the number is near to three million,” wrote Damian Wild, editor of Accountancy Age. (Wild, Damian, Skills Shortage, June 23, 2005, http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/features/2139081/work-progress, accessed December 6, 2008) Stephen Chipman, partner and CEO of Grant Thornton Management China, shared Wild’s observation: “The shortage of qualified accountants in China is acute and has been estimated at 300,000, a figure almost certain to be conservative.” (Chipman, Stephen, December 2007, Accounting Exec Improve Chinese Accounting Ranks, Financial Executive, p. 17, accessed December 6, 2008) Jiang Zemin, the country's former president, has said China needs 300,000 CPAs. If it had the same number per head of population as the UK there would be 5.3m, said the Financial Times. (Jopson, Barney, After The Abacus: China's Accounting Switch Holds Perils As Well As Promise, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e92cd50-0af9-11db-b595-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1, accessed December 6, 2008) “There are simply not enough Chinese-speaking accountants to meet the needs of every listed state-owned enterprise; accounting firms cannot hire and train people fast enough,” according to James Ahn and David Cogman of McKinsey & Co. (James Ahn and David Cogman, McKinsey Quarterly, July 2007, http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/A_quiet_revolution_in_Chinas_capital_markets_2016, accessed December 6,2008) The shortage of accountants could put a brake to China’s rapid growth. “Without appropriate accounting and auditing standards, and the ability of corporations to consistently apply them, and without an independent auditing profession to examine their application, further reform of China's financial and capital markets may stall or indeed never get started,” according to Chipman. (Chipman, Stephen, December 2007, Accounting Exec Improve Chinese Accounting Ranks, Financial Executive, p. 17) Stephen Taylor, a partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Hong Kong, said: "We are having to turn work away because we just don't have enough people. For IPOs and M&A we're not hungry for the work, so we can be a bit more selective." (Jopson, Barney, July 6, 2006, Big Four Accountants in Frantic China Hirings, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19377391-36375,00. accessed December 6, 2008) To catch up, China has been graduating students in universities. Batches from the inventory of 140,000 CPAs are undergoing training at three locations of the National Accounting Institute since 2001. The Big 4 are importing talent. Indicative of the acute shortage was the recruitment of foreign CPAs by the Big 4. In 2007, Deloitte planned to increase its China staff from over 6,000 to 10,000 by 2010. KPMG, which has 5,000 employees in China, was recruiting 1,600 staffers to complete a staff of 10,000. But “even that won’t be enough” said Jason Chang, Australia-based partner for KPMG. The Big 4 was also losing people to clients. (Durfee,Don, The Great Experiment, http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200705-02.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) The tight supply was reflected in the increase in the market value for accounting services in China. The value grew by 20.4 per cent in 2007 to $3.3 billion, according to Datamonitor, a business information company. The increase was from $2.8 billion in 2006. The compound annual growth rate of the market in 2003-2007 was 18.2%. In comparison, the Japanese and Indian markets grew with CAGRs of 1.5% and 25.5%, respectively, over the same period, to reach respective values of $2.6 billion and $1.9 billion in 2007. (Datamonitor, Accountancy in China, Industry Profile, p. 8, New York) Datamonitor, a business information company specialising in industry analysis, estimated that by 2012 the forecast market value would be $6.3 billion, an increase of 87.5 per cent from 2007. Accountants became rate due to the purges in the Cultural Revolution. China's accounting profession was effectively disbanded from1949 until the late 1990s, (Chipman, Stephen, December 2007, Accounting Exec Improve Chinese Accounting Ranks, p.17, Financial Executive ). Schools and colleges were closed, leading to a generation that was inadequately schooled. (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cultural_revolution.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) In the 1990s, professional staffs in Chinese accounting firms were either in their 70s or in their 20s. (Chipman, Stephen, December 2007, Accounting Exec Improve Chinese Accounting Ranks, p. 17, Financial Executive) China needed also to train more accountants to improve their skills quality. Jen Renqing, the Minister of Finance (February 2006), indicated that the sought-for accountants are “high-calibre accounting and auditing personnel, who are familiar with international practices, equipped with international perspective, proficient in accounting and auditing profession, and capable of exploring the international market. (Jin Renqing, February 2006, http://www.acga-asia.org/public/files/China_New_Accounting_System_Feb06.pdf, accessed December 6, 2008) The training in market-oriented accountancy was part of the efforts by the China’s hierarchy to restore public trust in the country’s financial reporting. Harmonizing with internationally accepted standards for financial information was an element of corporate governance. Various stakeholders from senior management, investors, bankers, market regulators in domestic and international business communities had been alarmed by reports by the National Audit Office and the media of incidents of collusion among corporate executives and several CPA firms to cover up fraud. An example was the auditing scam involving China Life. Investigation by the National Audit Office exposed fraud involving about $652 million following its US$3.5 billion stock issuance in December 2003. In another scandal known as "China's Enron", the CFOs of Yinguangxia, a Shenzhen-listed company based in Yinchuan, and subsidiary Tianjin Guangxia, resulted in the jailing of executives for, among other things, conniving with the companies' auditors. (Auditing China’s Auditors, CFO http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200502-05.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) Cases of below-par quality of audit were also affirmed. Katrina Tai, director in Standard & Poor’s governance services group, reported that in December 2001, China’s National Audit Office randomly checked the auditing work of 16 CPA firms. Of 32 audit reports examined, 21 were from local listed companies. Of this 32 checked, 23 reports issued by 14 CPA firms were found to contain seriously inconsistent facts. The total fabricated amounts or discrepancies contained in these 23 financial reports reached as high as approximately $860 million. In this investigation, 72 per cent of financial reports, 86 per cent of the CPA firms’ audit engagements, and 41 accountants were involved in fabrication of financial statements. “These figures directly point to the urgency for improving governance standards among the corporate and professional firms. It also sent a strong message to the regulators for a more strict compliance requirement,” she said. (Tai, Katrina, 2004, Corporate Governance and Risk: an analytical handbook for Investors, Managers, Directors & Stakeholders, pp. 455-456, McGraw-Hill; 1st edition (January 21, 2004) ) In 2002 in an address in an accountants’ meeting in Hong Kong, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongii expressed concern about the connivance of audit firms with domestic listed companies. In remarks at the National Accounting Institute, Zhu said. "We have paid particular attention to the cultivation of professional ethics among accountants and stepped up supervision and management accordingly. They should strictly observe the principles of independence, impartiality and fairness and never succumb to pressure or unwarranted demands." (China's Accounting To Be More Open – Premier, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2002-11/19/content_144480.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) Zheng Zhaohi, an auditor and a lecturer at China’s National Accounting Institute, told CFO magazine that “The reputation of the accounting profession is not good. Sometimes I went out to dinner with company bosses. They really thought poorly of auditors. They felt the accounting profession did not have an awful lot of ethics.” Zheng had also questioned the financial statements of more than 30 public companies. (Auditing China’s Auditors, CFO http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200502-05.htm) A 2005 survey by CFO of 378 clients who hired China auditors disclosed that the public held the auditing profession in low esteem. Most respondents, according to the survey, thought that their auditor would change its opinion if offered more fees. A quarter of the respondents graded the levels of integrity in China's auditing as unsatisfactory or poor. More than half ranked the auditing industry's integrity as average. Some saw the profession as open to corruption. "I am surprised and disappointed," says Kenneth McKelvie, chairman of accounting firm DTT China. "However, I think this is more public perception than a reflection of facts." He added: "In the past few years, the reputation of the profession was destroyed. However, major accounting firms including DTT have taken measures to improve the credibility of the profession." To be fair, the CFO magazine said, the China survey showed that the problem - perception or reality - did not lie exclusively with the auditors. Their CFO clients frankly said that "integrity" meant very little to them when they selected an accounting firm to audit. But Chinese accounting firms were not the only ones faulted for bending professional ethics. A case citied was that of Ernst & Young. It had withdrawn a report a report on the lending books of China’s big banks. The Big Four firm had estimated that the level of non-performing loans in China was much higher than the official estimate. The central bank complained. Ernst & Young withdrew its report, denied giving in to pressure, and asserted that its report contained errors. (Durfee, Don, May 2007, The Great Experiment, http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200705-02.htm) As part of integrating China with the world economy, the National People’s Congress passed the “CPA Law” in October 1993 to overhaul the Chinese accounting system. China was to adopt a new accounting system and discard the old planned economy accounting practice. (Xin Shiming, Accounting Body Benefits From Helping China, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-10/13/content_7100937.htm,. Accessed December 6, 2008) In 2007, the Ministry of Finance enforced the revised system, the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises. The new accounting standards converged with the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). The shift triggered the need to transfer new knowledge to accountants. China had been using the Soviet-style bookkeeping for centrally-planned economies. The Soviet methodologies reported on production targets and statistics. However, they did not report on the value creation by an enterprise in a free market. Modern accounting analyses the financial health of a company to allocate funds and other resources to its various departments. The Chinese system compiled assets owned. But there was no record of debts owed. There was no measure of profit and loss. Managers could not determine from where the firm was losing money. (China Accounting Standards, http://www.chinaorbit.com/china-economy/chinese-accounting-standards.html) According to Vice Minister of Finance Wang Jun, the new system would upgrade the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises through more transparent and valuable fiscal reports. He was addressing a training class for accountants. Ha Jiming, an economist with the China International Capital Corporation Limited, said more transparency would allow investors and the public to better know the true financial picture of companies and, in turn, reward enterprises with funds.  (China Issues Guidelines for New Accounting Standards (Xinhua), 2006 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-11/08/content_727854.htm) The convergence involved a wholesale change in mind set. “Big improvements for the investor include an investor/creditor focus, more relevance (including more recognition of current values), international comparability, fewer off-balance-sheet items, more disclosures and consolidated financial statements,” said Paul Pacter, director of Standards for Small and Medium-Sized Entities (SMEs) at the International Accounting Standards Board in London and director in the Global IFRS Office of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Hong Kong. “With a few exceptions, the standards are substantially in line with IFRS, This means much more measurement at fair value than in the old CAS, and much more of an investor-creditor reporting focus — that is, a focus on providing information for capital markets.” (Paul Pacter, p. 15-17, An Accounting Revolution is Brewing in China, December 2007, Financial Executive) Harmonizing with the IFRS signaled the growing importance of global standards to Chinese companies as recipients of overseas cash but also as international investors themselves. “The Chinese are keen to be part of the [accounting standards] convergence process,” said Stephen Taylor, a partner with Deloitte and the leader of a World Bank-funded project to help China revise its rules. “My impression is that they are trying to do the right thing.” (Durfee, Don, The Great Experiment, http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200705-02.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) “We should never forget why we need high standards of financial reporting and auditing: that transparency for and accountability to investors is key," said Graham Ward, president, International Federation of accountants. “(The high standards are) guiding the actions of all in the financial reporting supply chain in building an investment climate of trust. Investors’ actions affect all citizens, through, for example, the capital allocation to business, and, therefore, jobs.” He spoke in Beijing last Feb. 15, 2006, at the release ceremony for Chinese accounting standards system for business enterprises and Chinese Auditing Standards System. (http://www.cicpa.org.cn/English/news_alert/200804/t20080428_4193.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) The new accounting rules, however, also meant the companies would compete for the limited pool of accountants who could work with the revised rules. Local audit firms needed to be drilled in the new standards. “The local firms won’t be able to help listed companies interpret the standards and won’t be able to implement them very well,” said TJ Wong, an accounting professor at Hong Kong University. (Durfee,Don, The Great Experiment, http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200705-02.htm, accessed December 6, 2008) The training of accountants at the National Accounting Institute and in China’s universities would need include also effective supervision by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Ministry of Finance, This was the view of IFRS-oriented professionals like Practer and Chipman. “The main uncertainties are implementation and enforcement,” said Practer. Chipman said: “The point goes beyond the appropriateness of the accounting standards. What use are progressive standards without sufficient qualified and experienced accountants to apply them and trained auditors to examine their application? (Chipman, Stephen, p. 17, Accounting Exec Improve Chinese Accounting Ranks, December 2007, Financial Executive) A similar view was expressed by Ahn and Cogman of McKinsey: “Similarly, although the legal framework is well designed, enforcement and support—courts, arbitration procedures, experienced lawyers—are still lacking or inconsistent. “ (Ahn, James, and Cogman, July 2007, David, McKinsey Quarterly, http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/A_quiet_revolution_in_China’s_capital_markets_2016, accessed December 6,2008) Said Holly Zhang, financial controller with German transport equipment maker Voith Turbo Technology System (Shanghai): "The legal environment in China is loose, and there are many artificial factors in punishing the guilty. For example, big companies are protected." (http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200502-05.htm) “”Rules, regulations, laws, concepts, structures, processes, best practices, and the most progressive use of technology cannot ensue transparency and accountability,” said Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., CEO of Pricewaterhouse Corp., and Robert G. Eccles, president of Advisory Capital Partners. “This can only come about when individuals of integrity are trying to ‘do the right thing,’ not what is expedient or even necessarily what is permissible….Doing the right thing cannot be compromised, especially through actions that purport to create value for shareholders, but which ultimately betray them.” (DiPiazza, Jr., Samuel A., and Eccles, Robert G., p. 6, Building Public Trust, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002, New York) The National Accounting Institutes, put up in 2001 and located in three universities, have signed agreements with international CPA organizations to help in the training of more accountants for the future. The training also included refreshers on professional ethics. – end - References After The Abacus: China's Accounting Switch Holds Perils As Well As Promise, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e92cd50-0af9-11db-b595-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1 Ahn, James, and Cogman, David, July 2007, McKinsey Quarterly, http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/A_quiet_revolution_in_Chinas_capital_markets_2016, accessed December 6,2008 Auditing China’s Auditors, CFO http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200502-05.htm China Issues Guidelines for New Accounting Standards Xinhua, 2006 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-11/08/content_727854.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 China's Accounting To Be More Open – Premier, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2002-11/19/content_144480.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 China Accounting Standards, http://www.chinaorbit.com/china-economy/chinese-accounting-standards.html Chipman, Stephen, December 2007, Accounting Exec Improve Chinese Accounting Ranks, , Financial Executive, p. 17 Cui Jianmin, interviewed, April-June 2004, Australian CPA Network, p. 18 – 19, http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/cps/rde/xbcr/SID-3F57FECB-A56CA432/cpa/network_cui.pdf Datamonitor, p. 8, Accountancy in China, Industry Profile, New York DiPiazza, Jr., Samuel A., and Eccles, Robert G., 2002, p. 6, Building Public Trust, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York Durfee, Don, May 2007, The Great Experiment, http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200705-02.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 IFC, p. 14, Role of Stock Markets and Information Disclosure in the Corporate Governance of Listed Companies, http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/publications.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/CorpGovernanceinChinaC hp5/$FILE/CGinChina_Chp.5.pdf Jin Renqing, February 2006, http://www.acga-asia.org/public/files/China_New_Accounting_System_Feb06.pdf, accessed December 6, 2008 Jopson, Barney, After the abacus: China's accounting switch holds perils as well as promise, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e92cd50-0af9-11db-b595-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1, accessed December 6, 2008 Paul Pacter, December 2007, An Accounting Revolution is Brewing in China, p. 15 – 17, Financial Executive Tai, Katrina, p. 455-456, Corporate Governance and Risk: an analytical handbook for Investors, Managers, Directors & Stakeholders, McGraw-Hill; 1 edition 2004 Xin Shiming, Accounting Body Benefits From Helping ?China, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-10/13/content_7100937.htm,. accessed December 6, 2008 Wild, Damian, Skills Shortage, June 23, 2005, http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/features/2139081/work-progress, accessed December 6, 2008 2006 / 2007 Salary Survey Finance and Accounting, quoted in http://cpacareers.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/SID-3F57FECB-D013661D/careers/site/867_ENA_HTML.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/features/2139081/work-progress, accessed December 6, 2008 http://www.cicpa.org.cn/English/news_alert/200804/t20080428_4193.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 http://www.cicpa.org.cn/English/news_alert/200804/t20080428_4193.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200502-05.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6538647.html, accessed December 6, 2008 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cultural_revolution.htm, accessed December 6, 2008 Read More