07 Sep 2021

MGI Worldwide CPAAI firms continue to have a voice in international publications! In the latest edition of the IAB, our members in China and Korea contribute to key articles

MGI Worldwide CPAAI accounting network member firms in China and Korea featured in the August issue of the IAB

As a top-ranking global network, it is great to see MGI Worldwide CPAAI members continuing to regularly feature in highly regarded, industry-related, publications such as the International Accounting Bulletin.

In August’s edition Dickson Leung, Partner at LehmanBrown, China and Young Ham, Partner at MGI Hanmi Accounting Corporation, South Korea contribute on current topics of interest.

Covid-19 disrupts China’s accounting industry

Sharing his thoughts with the IAB, Dickson speaks about the lasting impact that Covid-19 has had on the accounting industry. On a positive note, he highlights a makred increase in work volume as foreign accounting firms rely on local firms to perform fieldwork for audits or reviews due to COVID-related travel restrictions. Coupled with this, however, is the poorer performance of all Chinese companies in the US stock market. Dickson elaborates:

dickson-leung-2021_100x100.jpg

“We have recently noted that Chinese concept shares in the US stock market, especially those relating to the education industries, have dramatically decreased due to news released by Chinese authorities. As a result, the performance of all Chinese companies in the US stock market is not good. In the next 12 months, most potential investors or companies that intend to go to IPO in an overseas stock market will be on the fence to see the trend or any further matters that can impact the market."

Dickson Leung, Partner at LehmanBrown

Dickson concludes that, combined with the limitation on travel, this is likely to limit smaller accountancy firms to the domestic market.

Mandatory firm rotations improve audit in Korea

In South Korea, demand for accountancy services has boomed, thanks to the increase in transparency as a result of the reorganisation of the auditor’s supervision office. Young from MGI Hanmi, comments:

young-ham-2.jpg

“The IMD competitiveness ranking puts Korea 15 places higher than last year in terms of accounting reliability. As the FSS designates audit firms for more companies, scrutinises compliance of standard hour input and monitors standard hourly rates, both fee pressure and audit quality have improved meaningfully.”

Young Ham, Partner at MGI Hanmi Accounting Corporation

The Covid-19 pandemic has also led to significant growth in accounting consulting services for online companies, and other business opportunities have been opening up as a result of auditors having to present audit opinions on the internal accounting management system of all listed companies in South Korea by 2023. 

Our member firms in China, South Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong are ranking highly against the other top accounting associations!

The latest accounting network and association rankings have been published. We’re thrilled to announce that in China, our member firms are ranking 7th for both fee income and staff data. In South Korea, our member firms hold an impressive 2nd position for fee income and are ranking 5th in terms of their staff data. Member firms in Vietnam also hold the 2nd position for both fee and staff data while in Hong Kong they hold the 9th position for both sets of data.

MGI Worldwide CPAAI would like to congratulate our member firms in South East Asia who are responsible for helping achieve these fantastic results.

For more information, visit LehmanBrown profile page and website, and the MGI Hanmi Accounting Corporation profile page and website.

MGI Worldwide with CPAAI, is a top 20 ranked global accounting network and association with almost 10,000 professionals, accountants and tax experts in some 460 locations in over 100 countries around the world.