MANY accountants still think of documentation as a compliance burden. That view is too narrow. Proper documentation is about protection and evidence. When a business relationship turns sour, documentation becomes the difference between a defensible claim and an expensive story nobody can prove.   As a CPA practitioner and a litigation lawyer, I have seen the same mistake repeated in different forms. Parties assume that because a transaction was real, it will automatically be

AT the start of the year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) sent a clear message to the business sector: Tax audits have resumed, but under a refined framework.   With the issuance of Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 8-2026, the BIR formally lifted the temporary suspension of audit and field operations. More significantly, Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) 1-2026 introduced a revised audit structure to promote consistency, efficiency and procedural clarity.   The suspension

IN many boardrooms, financial statements are treated like a sealed envelope. They are opened briefly, reviewed for key figures, then quietly set aside once the auditors have signed. The assumption is simple: accountants prepared the numbers and auditors checked them, so everything must be fine.   That assumption is becoming dangerous.   Today, financial statements prepared under the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, are not just technical reports. They tel

LAST Dec. 5, 2025, our firm, Inventor, Miranda & Associates, in cooperation with the Picpa Publication & Media Relations Committee and Picpa Negros Occidental Chapter, held a webinar on the role of certified public accountant (CPAs) in privacy compliance. Our resource speaker, Severino “Dino” Landingin, is a data privacy expert with over 20 years of professional experience and a New York-based senior practice advisor at RSC Management Group. Acpapp President Faustino “Jun” Ra

IN today’s business environment, trust is becoming as important as profit. Investors, lenders, regulators and even employees want to know not just how much a company earns, but how it earns it. One accounting area now receiving renewed attention is related party disclosures — a topic governed by IAS 24.   Related party transactions are not illegal. In fact, they are common, especially in family-owned businesses, conglomerates and growing groups of companies. Problems arise wh

ON Jan. 20, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Memorandum Circular 4, Series of 2026, introducing a subtle but impactful shift in corporate financial reporting. The circular raised the threshold at which companies must submit audited financial statements. Applicable to fiscal years ending on or after Dec. 31, 2025, the adjustment is designed to ease compliance burdens for micro and small corporations while maintaining oversight for larger, higher-risk e