Dear Members,
The consultation on the proposed framework for the one member one vote election of the President and Vice-Presidents continues until the end of May. In March we held two briefing sessions on the consultation, and the recordings of these are available via the consultation’s webpage. The webpage also contains the message from the Leadership Team, covering letter from the Council, the consultation paper and details on how to respond, including a link to an online questionnaire designed to easily collect your feedback.
On behalf of the Leadership Team, I urge my fellow members to read the paper and accompanying material and share your views with us. This is an important governance activity for our Institute, and we can best serve you by hearing your views.
During the month I was asked by media about the proposed changes to access to Companies Registry data. The restrictions may affect our ability to carry out thorough verifications, and lead to an efficiency decline. The Institute is currently gathering the views of practitioners to determine the impact on the profession, and will liaise with the government in due course.
It’s exciting to see that the CPA Virtual Run 2021 is so popular with members. The enrolment filled up very quickly, and I hope that if you’re one of the lucky participants, you are also preparing to record a personal or team best time to compete for the trophies, bragging rights as the fastest virtual CPAs, and prizes. If you’ve signed up as a way to improve your fitness we have two articles in this month’s issue that can help you, check out “How to improve your performance for the CPA Virtual Run 2021” and this month’s member engagement, “Racing against time,” featuring three fellow members discussing why they like to lace up their trainers and hit the track alone and with their families.
The Council has approved the formation of the final two groups I promised to set up when inaugurated as President.
The Digitalization Committee will provide support to members in identifying and evaluating the latest digital technology in audit and practice management. Supporting our members’ adoption of new technologies is how we can ensure that our practices are future-ready.
The Long Working Hours Steering Group will assess and evaluate working conditions of accountants in firms and corporate practices and address related issues within the industry. We must work to ensure that the profession remains attractive to future generations. The new Qualification Programme, and the improvements it introduces to the training of future CPAs, is one part of enhancing the attractiveness of the profession. As I am sure many of us know from our own personal experiences, the practical experience gained in the first few years of a career is important for shaping us into effective CPAs. While we must ensure that future CPAs continue to gain this experience, it is important to consider how they gain it, and how they are supported.
Another way we support our practising members is through the dedicated work of the Small and Medium Practices (SMP) Committee. Members of the committee held a roundtable this month for A Plus. You can read how they help our practitioners to work effectively in the article “Meeting the needs of SMPs.” There is also an upcoming Members-Help-Members session scheduled for June, where members of the committee’s Working Group on Technical Issues will answer questions about issues raised by SMPs. The working group is now seeking your questions for discussion at the event, more details are available on the Members-Help-Members webpage.
Finally, the expansion of the Return2hk Travel Scheme to all Mainland provinces from 29 April allows our members to begin to consider travelling back to the Mainland for work. Not having to quarantine both ways makes the prospect of travel much easier. The relationships we have with our counterparts in the Mainland are key for many of our businesses, and I’m sure many of us are looking forward to being able to travel to meet them again.
Raymond Cheng
President
“As I am sure many of us know from our own personal experiences, the practical experience gained in the first few years of a career is important for shaping us into effective CPAs.”
