In partial fulfilment as one of the Requirements for BA 196
Submitted by:
Marie Elisabeth G. Labatos
2011-38997
Submitted to:
Atty. Christopher Honorario
SGV: A closer look
Originally established as W. Sycip & Co. in 1946, SGV is very much known as the largest multidisciplinary professional services in the country. With the highlight of joining as a member practice of Ernst & Young Global Global Limited on the 6th of June 2002, it further became the country’s leader when it comes to assurance, advisory and tax services. Furthermore, with eight offices across the country, with the main office located in Makati, and over 4000 highly competitive professionals currently employed in the firm, SGV truly upholds the highest standards of quality.
SGV is divided into eight different market groups, called as MGs. Each MG focuses on a specific area on which to concentrate their services. MG-1 for example is more on Real estate, MG-2 is on Telecommunications, MG-3 on Manufacturing, MG-4 on Power & Utilities, MG-5 on Banking, MG-6 on Media and Entertainment, MG-7 on Mining and Logistics, and lastly, MG-8 on Construction.
MG1
Real Estate
MG4
Utilities
MG3
Manufacturing
MG2
Telecommunications
MG6
Media & Entertainment
MG5
Banking
MG7
Mining and Logistics
MG8
Construction
MG1
Real Estate
MG4
Utilities
MG3
Manufacturing
MG2
Telecommunications
MG6
Media & Entertainment
MG5
Banking
MG7
Mining and Logistics
MG8
Construction
Each MG is divided into different clusters with each cluster headed by a partner. A partner is the one who actually finds a client and accepts an engagement. He/she guides and supervises his/her employees during the course of the engagement. Usually, it takes a minimum of 14 years in order for a CPA to become a partner of SGV.
PARTNER
PARTNER
SENIOR DIRECTOR
SENIOR DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
ASSOCIATE
ASSOCIATE
Strengths, Weaknesses, and Competitors
When SGV says that it upholds quality service, it truly is upholding quality service. With only the best and the brightest individuals that it employs, it’s no wonder that for 69 years of providing assurance services since 1946, SGV was the number one accounting firm in the country and is still is until this time. Furthermore, because of its continuous success and achievements in the financial world, it cannot be denied that it acquired various competitors. According to a survey, major competitors of SGV when it comes to being the best assurance-services provider in the Philippines includes Isla Lipana & Co. (PricewaterhouseCooper), Punongbayan & Araullo (Grant Thornton), Manabat Delgado Amper & Co. (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu), Manabat Sanagustin & Co. (KPMG), and BDO Alma Romeo & Co. (BDO International). What really sets apart SGV from its competitors is its long-established name of being the best in its field. What keeps it of being at the top is its drive of always giving the best quality of its work while practicing proper work ethics. As what would Mr. W. Sycip want all of its employees to practice and remember is to “Always be a man of integrity”. SGV never forgets to demonstrate its important values of integrity, respect, independence and teamwork, that is why for 69 glorious years, it was able to produce outstanding leaders who does not just make promises but actually delivers one. SGV envisions to provide value-added services to its client ever since it was established and up until now, they never failed to provide such. With its highly competitive, highly-qualified and well-trained staff, it does not just want to be a mere service provider but, more importantly, to become a partner in the development of its client as well to the country. Moreover, with one of its important strength of building relationship that is one of trust and confidence, it was able to stand strong despite the many accounting firm that started to compete with it. However, what puts SGV at a disadvantage is its working environment and its monetary compensation for its employees. Although the heavy and busy workplace of SGV justifies its idea of upholding the highest quality that they could provide, such becomes a weakness in way that it influences individuals to treat them as a stepping stone for personal motives. Employees are not compensated enough in relation to the workload that they have. As an intern, I had my fair share of experiencing it and as a normal reaction, one would be very conscious especially when I am not doing anything. In SGV, although it cannot be denied that there will be times that employees are idle; still they do not practice such. They believe to the idea of “If you are doing nothing, then try to do something”, that is why, being an intern, I usually make use of my idle time reviewing my past work or reading past financial statements. Personally, it takes a lot of effort to act that I am doing something. During my internship experience, what really drives me to ask for something to work for is the respect that I have with my senior and my co-workers. I think that during this time, initiative to ask would help any intern to survive.
Projects & Tasks Completed As an intern, I am only limited to help my senior with the tasks that I am allowed to do as per their policy. Few of the things that I’m not restricted include General Ledger & Subsidiary Ledger Reconciliation, Footing, Cross-Footing, Cross Reference, performing Analytical procedures on depreciation and amortization expense, and many more.
Vouching One of the first audit related work I was assigned to was to perform a vouching procedure. By its definition, it is an accounting term which refers to the inspection of documentary evidence and substantiating transactions. It is by using a proper voucher system that a company will have a concrete and 100% solid documentation of evidence of written proofs for its audit. The way I understand vouching is that it is the essence of auditing. The success of an audit entirely depends from the attentiveness to details with which auditing is done. The objective of vouching is actually to determine the regularity or irregularity of transactions, errors and even fraud. Even though vouching is a simple process, it is a clear examination of all original evidence with the view of ascertaining the truthfulness of the entries in the books of account. It is only when vouchers are entered that the audit process could finally start which is why vouching is considered as the backbone of auditing. The time I spent in doing vouching seemed to be an endless cycle due to the numerous and various vouchers waiting for me. However, my main concern while performing vouching was the lack of supporting documents for some of the billing invoices. As an intern, I am not allowed to ask or even talk with the client as the rules of the SGV indicates that no intern shall communicate with the client as this may cloud the judgement of the client about the firm’s credibility.
GL & SL Reconciliation The general ledger (GL) as we define it is a collection of all the amounts found in the balance sheet and income statement accounts. It is a complete record of transactions throughout the company’s life and it holds all the important account information needed to prepare the financial statements. Subsidiary Ledger on the other hand, is a more detailed record of transaction for an individual account. Sub-ledgers serves as support for the amounts posted in the general ledger, hence, it is just necessary that both should conform. The two ledgers are interrelated wherein one cannot stand without the other that is why there is a need for reconciliation. This way, if questions, issues or concerns will arise, it would be easy for the auditor to check for errors by simply checking the reconciliation. When I was tasked to reconcile the SL balance with the TB balance, I simply recalculated all the sums of individual accounts and checked if the total ending balances reconcile with the prepared trial balance. Differences, if any, should be properly indicated and highlighted.
Footing/Cross-Footing/ Cross-Reference Footing is an accounting term which means adding all the values in a single column, the result of which is the sum that appears at the bottom. The symbol “^” is used in order to indicate that such value was already footed. Cross-footing on the other hand, is the opposite of footing in a way that values are added in a single row. The symbol “
