Providing internship opportunities to accounting students
By Floyd Paguio
"It is the local community that needs to own the commitment to education." - Adam Braun
THE National Association of CPAs in Education (Nacpae) held its 28th Accounting Teachers' Conference last
May 26 to 28. Itsvenue this year was Tacloban City, but due to the pandemic, it was a virtual one. Organized
by Nacpae officers headed by its president, Flong Tugas, and conference chairman Allan Frank Silva, the annual
event was very well-organized and fulfilling, and as proof more than 500 accounting teachers attended nationwide.
The Acpapp and the Nacpae have long been working hand in hand to advance the plight of accountants. As a
testament of this partnership, the Acpapp was invited by Nacpae to a roundtable discussion about the
internship program of accounting students. The Acpapp, headed by its president, Willie Baltazar, took the
lead in the roundtable discussion together with directors Cesar Faustino Ravalo Jr. and Renan Piamonte, Julie
Mate, and yours truly, as panelists with Chris Abelinde as moderator.
Based on experience, program deans/chairs consider and prefer auditing firms for the on-the-job training, or
internship, of their students and in the course of the roundtable discussion, several salient points were raised.
On the effect of pandemic in internship programs for accounting students:
Some auditing firms did not hire interns due to the limitations on monitoring, review and client confidentiality; and
A more extensive training program, orientation and monitoring was implemented given the prohibition on physical presence. (In the words of Patricia Empleo, University of Santo Tomas dean, when we were finalizing our memorandum of agreement for the internship: "Bawal papuntahin sa opisina ang mga interns kahit anong mangyari (Interns should not be allowed to go to the office under any circumstance)."
Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero de Vera, meanwhile, has said: "From now on, flexible learning will be the norm. There's no going back to the traditional full-packed face-to-face classrooms. The commission has adopted the policy that flexible learning will continue in school year 2021 and thereafter." This means:
Auditing firms will need to adapt to the new normal, which will be the case even after the pandemic;
The work from home setup will remain with auditing firms even after pandemic and internship programs are conducted in the same way that employees perform their services; and
Auditing firms should start crafting policies and procedures that will lead to the achievement of goals both for the auditing firms and the interns.
As a resolution, the Acpapp expressly made the following commitments:
Acpapp member firms will continuously support the internship program of schools by allowing interns to experience real world work environment in auditing firms (not just make coffee or photocopies);
The Acpapp and the Nacpae will enter into a memorandum of agreement in order to introduce other Acpapp member auditing firms since its membership is nationwide, which could add more venues available for interns, especially those in the provinces;
The development of internship programs that will cater to the needs of both accounting firms and interns; and
The Acpapp will offer free continuing professional development seminars (CPD) and training to accounting teachers to keep them abreast of the latest regulations, especially those matters that will be part of the licensure exam for CPAs and in order to subsidize the cost of CPD trainings to encourage more accounting teachers to get accredited with the Board of Accountancy.
The roundtable discussion was fruitful and it was a great experience to contribute to the education sector of the CPA association. I personally thank the Acpapp headed by our president, Willie Baltazar, for the above-mentioned initiatives and commitments. The realization of these commitments and initiatives will further strengthen the Acpapp's relationship with the Nacpae and extend assistance to our accounting teachers. Also, please allow me to extend my warmest appreciation to these accounting teachers: Mark Vincent Bendo, Nacpae director and my former reviewee who in turn became my MBA professor, for the insights and suggestions before the said roundtable opportunity and experience; and to former PUP deans Nenita Robles and Ma. Cecilia Mercado, who remain an inspiration to me on dedicated service to accounting students.
Mabuhay ang Nacpae! Mabuhay ang Acpapp! (Long live the Nacpae and the Acpapp)!
Floyd C. Paguio, CPA, MBA, is the chairman and CEO of Paguio, Dumayas & Associates, CPAs (PrimeGlobal Philippines),
and a member of the Acpapp board of directors. The opinion of the writer does not
reflect in any way the opinion of these institutions.