The accountancy profession in Malaysia is regulated by the

Malaysian Institute of Accountants Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) is the umbrella body for the accountancy profession in Malaysia. It was established under the Accountants Act, 1967 to regulate and develop the accountancy profession in this country. MIA operates under t ...

(MIA) through the powers conferred by the

Accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

s Act, 1967. The MIA is an agency under the Ministry of Finance and reports directly to the Accountant General Office. As at 4 February 2016,

MIA Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...

has 32,618 members of which 68% are involved in commerce and industry, 22% in public practice and 10% in government and academia. Selangor and the Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory have the largest concentration of

membership with 13,125 and 7,351 members respectively. https://web.archive.org/web/20150725035639/http://www.mia.org.my/new/members_statistics_state.asp MIA sets the

By-Laws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

(On

Professional conduct Professional conduct is the field of regulation of members of professional bodies, either acting under statutory or contractual powers. Historically, professional conduct was wholly undertaken by the private professional bodies, the sole legal aut ...

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

) and

auditing standards An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

for the

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

profession in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, which are in line with the standards issued by the

International Federation of Accountants The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global advocacy organization for the accountancy profession; mainly for the financial accounting and auditing professions. Founded in 1977, IFAC has more than 175 members and associates in ...

(IFAC) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (

IAASB The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is an independent standards body that issues standards, like the International Standards on Auditing, quality control guidelines, and other services, to support the international audi ...

Other Accountancy Bodies in Malaysia

The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), which was established in 1958, is another accountancy body that is involved in the training and development of accountants in

. Apart from that, accountancy bodies from the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

countries such as the

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwid ...

(ACCA),

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the global professional management accounting body based out of the UK. CIMA offers training and qualification in management accountancy and related subjects. It is focused on accountan ...

(CIMA), the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of July 2022, it has over 198,000 members ...

(ICAEW), the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the institute) was the professional accounting body representing Chartered Accountants in Australia before it merged with the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants to become Charter ...

(ICAA) and

CPA Australia CPA Australia ("Certified Practising Accountant") is a professional accounting body in Australia founded in 1886. As of 31 December 2020, it has 168,736 members working in 150 countries and regions around the world. CPA Australia currently has 1 ...

are also active in training and developing Malaysians towards attaining professional accountancy qualifications. After the Malaysian Institute of Accountant (MIA) and Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), the third largest accounting body in Malaysia is Institute of Commercial and Industrial Accountants, Malaysi
(ICIA)
The institute (ICIA) has signed a
MRA with IPA Australia
with reciprocal recognition: of membership status. This means that associates of the ICIA with recognized tertiary qualifications in accounting are eligible to be admitted as an Associate member of the IPA (AIPA). In addition Certified members of the ICIA (deemed to be the equivalent of an Australian bachelor's degree), having completed all the required ICIA professional exams and the required 3 years’ Practical Training with an approved training organization are eligible to be admitted as a full member (MIPA) of the IPA. ICIA had recently changed its name to Association of Certified Accountants, Malaysia. With this new name, the Association aim to bring in more accounting staff or workers to join so that their accounting knowledge can be improve over time.

Accountancy Education

Accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

courses are offered both by the public and private

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

institutions in

. Presently, accountancy degree from 11 institutions of higher learning are recognised for the purpose of admission to the membership of MIA. Some of the institution of higher learnings also offer programmes leading towards attaining professional accountancy qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA,

ICAEW The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of July 2022, it has over 198,000 members ...

and MICPA.

Accounting Standards

Accounting standards are issued by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) by virtue of the power conferred by the

Financial Reporting Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...

Act, 1997. The Financial Reporting Act also establishes the Financial Reporting Foundation, which is the body that is responsible to oversee MASB's performance and financial arrangement. The MASB had announced the effort to bring Malaysia to be in full

convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen * "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that united the four Wei ...

with the

International Financial Reporting Standards International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's f ...

(IFRS) by 2012. In February 2014, the MASB issued Malaysian Private Entities Reporting Standard (MPERS) and this sets a new milestone for financial reporting of private entities in Malaysia. MPERS is based substantially on the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) issued by the IASB in July 2009. The new reporting framework, known as the MPERS Framework, is effective for financial statements beginning on or after 1 January 2016, with early application permitted. Private entities now have a choice of continuing with the existing Private Entity Reporting Standards (PERS) Framework, or apply the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) Framework (mandatory for non-private entities, except transitioning entities), or by 1 January 2016, mandatory migration to the new MPERS Framework. As the requirement for first-time adoption of MPERS is retrospective, it is important the private entities prepare in advance if they have to migrate to the MPERS Framework or the MFRS Framework in the near future.

Accounting Firms in Malaysia

Till 2015, there were almost 1400 operating accounting firms in Malaysia. https://web.archive.org/web/20150718040257/http://www.mia.org.my/new/circularandresources_miaannualreport.asp .
The MIA Annual Report, 2008 Most of the global networks of accounting firms such as

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

, BDO,

Mazars Mazars is a global audit, accounting and consulting group employing more than 42,000 professionals in more than 90 countries through member firms. With head offices in France, Mazars has a network of correspondent partners and joint ventures in ...

, Geneva Group International,

Crowe Horwath Crowe Global, commonly referred to as Crowe, previously Crowe Horwath International, is a multinational professional services network. It is the 9th largest global accounting network in the world by revenue. The network consists of more than 220 ...

Baker Tilly Baker Tilly International is an accountancy and business advisory network. It is currently the 10th largest accounting network in the world by revenue with 39,000 people in 706 offices across 148 territories with combined global revenues of $4. ...

, Urbach Hacker Young and

Grant Thornton Grant Thornton is the world's seventh-largest by revenue and sixth-largest by number of employees professional services network of independent accounting and consulting member firms which provide assurance, tax and advisory services to private ...

have their presence in

. Accounting firms have to be registered with MIA and members of MIA who wish to offer public practice services should also possess practising certificate issue by MIA. However, specific approvals should be obtained to provide the following services: * Audit of limited companies; approval to be obtained from the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

and firms should be registered with the Companies Commission Malaysia * Audit of co-operative societies; approval to be obtained from the Malaysia Co-operative Society Commission * Audit of banks and financial institutions; approval to be obtained from

Bank Negara Malaysia The Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM; ms, Bank Negara Malaysia) is the Malaysian central bank. Established on 26 January 1959 as the Central Bank of Malaya (''Bank Negara Tanah Melayu''), its main purpose is to issue currency, act as banker and ad ...

* Tax agent services, approval to be obtained from the Inland Revenue Board * Receivership and liquidation services; approval to be obtained from the

* Financial planning; approval to be obtained from the

Securities Commission Malaysia The Securities Commission Malaysia ( ms, Suruhanjaya Sekuriti Malaysia) is a Malaysian statutory body with responsibility for development and regulation of capital markets in the country. It is located in Bukit Kiara near the National Science Ce ...

References

The Malaysian Companies Act 2016

External links