$8m support package for accounting firms, professionals

Accounting firms and professionals here will soon be able to tap an $8 million support package to transform their businesses and cope with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (Isca) Support Fund will benefit mainly individual accountants and Small and Medium Practices (SMPs).

Isca president Kon Yin Tong told The Straits Times that more accounting firms are likely to feel the full impact of the coronavirus crisis this year. He said: "SMPs service mainly SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). When we performed our work last year, the full impact of Covid-19 had not hit our clients yet as businesses and SMEs were cushioned against it by government support."

Last year, Isca rolled out a similar support package of $3.6 million for the accountancy sector. Singapore had 701 public accounting firms and 1,155 public accountants as at March last year.

Of the $8 million Isca Support Fund, $3 million will be used to speed up SMPs' digital transformation and upskilling efforts, as well as provide working capital to firms affected by the pandemic.

Enterprise Singapore (ESG) will match $1 for every $2 contributed by Isca under ESG's SG Together Enhancing Enterprise Resilience programme, which supports funds set up by trade associations and chambers or industry groups.

Eligible SMPs will receive up to $10,000 each to fund business growth and upgrade their capabilities. The national accountancy body has identified potential high-growth areas that SMPs can enter, such as business compliance and advisory, to help firms diversify their services.

The institute said in a statement yesterday that it is also working with trainers to curate relevant programmes and roll out certification courses in these areas.

SMPs can also use the money to offset the cost of digital solutions, such as telecommuting tools.

Firms can visit the Isca-run online SMP Centre for more information.

Eligible SMPs facing cash flow issues will also get a working capital grant of $5,000 each.

Meanwhile, individual members facing financial difficulties will have their Isca membership fees waived so they can retain their professional credentials. The institute has set aside $2 million for this.

These members can also get 20 complimentary hours of continuing professional development training to pick up new skills.

The final $3 million in the package will go towards upskilling and reskilling the institute's more than 32,000 members.

Each member will receive a Continuous Professional Education voucher worth $100. They can use the voucher when they attend any of the 500 webinars and 400 courses the institute offers in its e-learning library.

ST understands that the support package will be rolled out by the third quarter of this year.

Mr Kon told ST that the pandemic has disrupted project workflows and created a manpower crunch as fewer foreign employees are now available.

"Another long-term challenge is, as SMP clients adopt tech, these clients are able to provide additional information and more granular data for service providers. Accountants can therefore play a more effective role in employing data analytics tools," he added.

Mr Michael Heng, managing partner of Heng Lee Seng LLP, said the firm hopes to tap the fund to introduce more digital cloud-based solutions and telecommuting tools to grow its workforce without incurring higher rental costs.

Ms Lynn Phang, senior director at Kreston Ardent CAtrust, said the company will focus more on data analytics tools to better serve businesses that are data-driven, and upskill its partners in advisory capabilities. "Other than the numeric part, we want partners to be able to do other sorts of business advisory with a qualitative angle - for example, in advisories related to regulatory areas," she said.