Friday, May 30, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Ricardo Y. Danlag Jr., CPA
Vice Dean, Chair
Accountancy Department, University of Southern Philippines Foundation
THE Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Picpa) recognize the importance of business process outsourcing (BPO) to the country’s economy.
The BPO industry, which is now considered the sunrise industry of the Philippines, has provided our economy steady and solid growth for the last five years.
Outsourcing has stretched beyond call centers and information technology into almost every plausible business process. Nowadays, outsourcing companies operating in the Philippines are involved in voice and non-voice various activities, including finance and accounting.
Last May 1, Picpa, during its 62nd Annual National Convention, initiated a very informative presentation on the BPO industry. The presentation acquainted participants with the role of the Philippines in the global outsourcing industry, the fertile BPO environment in the country, the challenges and concerns, as well as requirements, of the industry.
Speakers of the convention included lawyer Ma. Jamea Assumpta S. Garcia, executive director for Talent Development, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), and Ester R. Punongbayan, partner and head of business support services of Punongbayan & Araullo. They expounded on the BPO services and the players that present the talents of finance and accounting professionals as frontliners in back-office outsourcing, the substantial experience and knowledge required to take part in this segment of outsourcing, and the prospects of accounting and finance as the fastest-growing niche in the BPO industry.
Garcia informed delegates that in the finance and accounting area, the country has a robust labor pool which industry players can continue to leverage on.
There are approximately 140,000 finance and accounting students who graduate every year. There are about 100,000 certified public accountants (CPAs) and 3,000 new CPAs every year in the country.
Based on the BPAP inventory, there are about 95 companies engaged in finance and accounting BPO, 36 of which are voice and 60 non-voice services.
Finance and accounting BPO encompasses a wide range of services that include simple collection to claims processing, comprehensive accounting and bookkeeping, payroll support, back office financial systems and risk management, financial research and analytics, among others. Various multinational companies are now engaged in finance and accounting BPO in the country.
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