Common use of Setting-up accountancy practice Clause in Contracts

Setting-up accountancy practice. Public Accounting Firm Only a public accountant may apply to set up a public accounting firm to provide his public accountancy services to the public. The following requirements will be necessary: a. one of the primary objects of the proposed firm must be to provide public accountancy services (audit and reporting on financial statements that are required by any written law to be done by a public accountant); b. if the public accounting firm is a partnership, at least two-thirds of the partners in the firm must be public accountants. For partnership with only two partners, one of them must be a public accountant; and c. the business of the partnership, as far as it relates to the supply of public accountancy services in Singapore will be under the control and management of one or more partners who are public accountants ordinarily resident in Singapore. Public Accounting Corporation Only a public accountant may apply to set up a public accounting corporation to provide his public accountancy services to the public. A public accounting corporation, apart from being registered under the Accountants Act, is also registered as a company under the Companies Act. The requirements for the approval of accounting corporations in the Accountants Act are as follows: a. one of the primary objects of the company or proposed company is to provide public accountancy services; b. the share capital of the company or proposed company that is paid up or to be paid up is not less than $50,000 or such other sum as may be prescribed; c. the articles of association of the company or proposed company provide that- i. not less than two-thirds, or such other proportion as may be prescribed, of the directors (including the chairman) shall be public accountants, or if the company or proposed company has only one director, that that director shall be a public accountant; ii. or if the company or proposed company has only 2 directors, that one of those directors shall be a public accountant; iii. not less than two-thirds, or such other proportion as may be prescribed, of the voting shares of the company or proposed company shall be owned by corporate practitioners; and iv. only natural persons may own any shares of the company or proposed company; d. the business of the company or proposed company, so far as it relates to the provision of public accountancy services in Singapore, will be under the control and management of one or more directors of the company who are public accountants ordinarily resident in Singapore; and e. the company or proposed company is or will be covered by professional indemnity insurance in accordance with section 28 of the Accountants Act and the prescribed requirements. Accounting Limited Liability Partnership To be an accounting LLP, the entity would have to be registered as an LLP under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act and obtain approval to be an accounting LLP under the Accountants Act. The requirements are as follows: a. One of the primary objects of the limited liability partnership, or proposed limited liability partnership, is to provide public accountancy services; b. The capital of the limited liability partnership, or proposed limited liability partnership, that is paid up, or to be paid up, is not less than $50,000; c. At least two-thirds of the partners are public accountants, or if the partnership has only two partners, one of those partners is a public accountant; d. The accounting LLP or proposed accounting LLP is, or will be, covered by professional indemnity insurance in accordance with section 28 of the Accountants Act. Specifically, every accounting LLP shall be covered by professional indemnity insurance of not less than one of the following amounts, whichever is the highest: i. $1 million; ii. a sum equal to the total of $500,000 for every corporate practitioner in the accounting LLP; iii. where applicable, a sum equal to two and a half times the gross income of the accounting LLP in the last completed financial year of the accounting LLP, subject to a maximum sum of $50 million. e. The business of the accounting LLP, so far as it relates to the supply of public accountancy services in Singapore, will be under the control and management of one or more partners who are public accountants ordinarily resident in Singapore.