What Challenges Do Accountants In The Philippines Face?

Accounting remains one of the top choices for students for several reasons. We discussed this before, but here’s the summary.

One, there’s a high demand–be it overseas or local. This probably gives the impression that it is a stable profession. Two, there’s a variety of environments. Accountants are needed in every industry; hence, they can pick whichever suits their taste. Three, it is a high-paying job.

Nonetheless, this profession is not without challenges. We asked random accountants before and their sentiments seem to be the same.

Here is an excerpt of what they said, copied verbatim:

Kuripot at ayaw magbayad ng tamang tax na taxpayer

F.E.U.

Handling clients

J.B.

That you was hired as an accountant but at the end may others pala ( secretary, lawyer, collector, adviser)…hehehe ?

L.D.C.

Yung GM. kala nila pag may accountant ay madali ang “cooking of books” at wala na sabit sa BIR

G.A.

Maintaining Our Sworn Ethical Standards for Public Trust

F.L.

umuwi ng maaga

M.R.S

Yung lulutasin mo ang kalat at kapalpakan ng kahapon. Haha. Adjusting entries plus rationalizing the internal processes.

B.A.B

Ung ipaalala po sa clients na hindi po pwede hindi magbayad ng tax?‍♂️

A.F.

BiR and differing opinions about the their regulations

L.B.

Underpaid. 🙂

B.B.

Beating the April 15 deadline, and “still be composed”
habang paulit ulit na nag ha – hang at iikut- ikot lang sa BIR offline forms at EFPS, then pag di kinaya , ma shock ka sa 25 percent surcharge etc shocking sic, sic, sic..

G.J.

Over ang expectations but under ang bayad

C.A.S

Being unrecognized for your contributions to comply and protect the company’s assets 🙁

M.P.

Yung alam mo na maraming deficiency at noncompliance due to certain circumstances… but have no choice but make a way n hnd ito ma audit????

D.B.

Ang mkatulog ng 8hrs a day

J.E.D.

yung maninimbang ka between prinsipyo at conscience or gawin mo kung ano ang tama pero may kaagapay na matinding responsibilidad o pribeleheyo at pagkakataon kapalit ng pagkalimot mo ng paninindigan mo sa buhay ???

M.R.

loa from bir

L.A.

P&L resulted in Net Loss ,at ask ka bakit net loss para sa may ari kumikita sila

G.Y.

Note: Names are abbreviated to protect their privacy.

We tallied all the answers and here’s the summary:

From the comments above, we can conclude that accountants’ dilemmas can be summed up in the following:

• Ethics
• Work-life balance
• Uninformed boss/clients
• The Bureau
• Pay
• Policy

As shown in the charts, topping the list is client-related factors. These are the clients or bosses who don’t know the policies, late in submitting documents, ask their accountants to conceal irregularities, or unaware of the meanings of financial statements and thinking their accountants are doing something behind their back.

Next is workload-related. The factors under this category are too much workload forcing accountants to work overtime, tasks not related to the work description, and problems that are brought about by the previous system.

The third one concerns ethics. Most of the respondents are not specific about this one, but one commenter said “yung ginagawa kang doctor.”

BIR-related concerns refer to the allegedly inconsistent regulations in an RDO or among different RDOs. Policy-related refers to the continuing professional development (CPD) law. Lastly, pay-related concerns are mostly about being underpaid but overworked.

The population is relatively small, but just because it’s little doesn’t mean it is irrelevant. It is happening somewhere out there, and if it is bothersome, perhaps something can be done about it.

Inc. suggests several ways to voice concerns in the workplace without being negative (this may also apply to the people in The Bureau):

1. Choose the right time. If your boss or client is having a bad day, it’s probably not the best time to have “the talk,”
2. Be specific with your concerns. Don’t merely say, “I don’t think I’m paid enough.” Instead, tell them why. Let your client know that X is how much everyone else in the field is getting plus Y is the value you are adding to the company, so you think you should be paid Z. These are some steps to determine how much you should get paid for your services.
3. Stay unbiased. Yes, it bothers you, but do not let your emotions rule when airing your concerns. It may just aggravate the scenario.
4. Prepare a solution. If your client seems to be submitting documents late, which forces you to stay overtime on some days, tell them how you two can improve it. Let them know the possible negative impacts on his business (e.g. no time to recheck for errors).

For the work-life balance, make use of technology. It has been proven to improve accounting processes by a whole lot, leaving you more time to do something else. What’s more, the world is transitioning to everything digital, so you have to keep up.

Every industry has its own perks and drawbacks, that’s a given. But that doesn’t mean it should go on because it will also affect the future generation. Also, staying mum about these issues tells the client their practice is acceptable, which is not. It seems innocent, but it’s one of the mistakes we always do that hurt our practice.

If you’re on the other side of the coin (hi, boss), maybe it’s time for you to evaluate your relationship with your accountant. Listen to him (or her), and ask if there’s anything you can do to make the workload lighter. Accountants have a lot to offer your company.