In Pakistan, the current Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) took charge in the year 2022. Developing a vision for the Council and a strategy document for the Institute have been priorities in the time since the Council was formed. Key focus areas were defined, and these were considered essentially important for the stakeholders. Among these key focus areas, capacity building of SMPs was considered a key strategic objective. A SMP committee was formed which comprised of energetic and highly motivated professionals. The SMP committee pinpointed main areas in which capacity building was required for SMPs. In SMPs, resources and knowledge hubs are not available, unlike in larger firms which are usually member firms of larger firms/networks of the world. SMPs had a specific need for practical support. After long debates and discussions among SMP Committee members, various sub-groups were also formed. These subgroups were tasked with designing capacity building programs for SMPs in their respective areas/spheres.

The regulatory regimes in Pakistan in line with best practices around the world are getting stringent, especially related to statutory audit. This poses significant challenges for SMPs, who can find it challenging to keep up the changes in regulatory requirements. Hiring skilled and qualified staff for the execution of external audits has also become a big challenge.

SMPs face a real ordeal in undertaking efficient audits for their clientele, which is mostly comprised of SMEs. Not having the resources of modern, bigger businesses, SMEs may not be inclined to invest in improving controls and procedures. In modern times, embracing technological disruption is very much a necessity but SMEs may not prioritize technological change due to various financial constraints, lack of understanding of the utility of these technological advances, or a lack of interest.

ICAP’s SMP Committee designed our first program, “SMP Skill Enhancement Series”, with a focus on external audit. The target audience was partners and staff of SMPs. The idea was to cover external audit from planning to execution to reporting. Basically, the program covered all relevant topics, including:

  • AML requirements
  • Acceptance of audit
  • Code of ethics
  • Preliminary procedures
  • Materiality
  • Going concern
  • Audit sampling
  • Cut off and inventory count
  • JV testing
  • Analytical procedures
  • Substantive procedures
  • Use of work of an expert/ 3rd parties
  • Group audit
  • Use of IT techniques in audit
  • Use of work of internal auditor
  • Legal requirements of local corporate law especially disclosure requirements under corporate law
  • Disclosure requirements of key IFRS especially new IFRS
  • Implementation of Quality Management Standards
  • Key findings of reviews of audit files of firms of quality assurance department of ICAP
  • Conclusion of audit and audit reporting
  • Knowledge testing of skills learned during training

These topics were presented by partners/ directors of large audit firms of Pakistan. In this way, large firms played a very commendable role in the capacity building of partners and staff of SMPs. To date, over 1,000 staff members of SMPs in 2 years have completed this training. It was held in-person in the major cities of Pakistan where most SMPs are located. These include cities of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, while smaller stations were also connected online in the cities of Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar and Gujranwala. This training was offered online to overseas members of ICAP as well. This year we are planning to offer it to online to ICAP members/staff and also to one of IFAC’s new PAOs.

Training: Forensic Audit Assignments

After covering the regulatory angle, the SMP committee deliberated on areas where members can improve their skill set and increase the revenue of their firm. One such area for revenue growth was identified: forensic audit assignments. A group of experienced individuals again from large audit and consulting firms were engaged for a two-day training. Our lead trainer had extensive experience conducting forensic audit assignments in the past. Participants were able to learn the basics of forensic audit. They were briefed on the latest technological tools which could augment the effectiveness of forensic audit assignments. Presenters shared case studies for better understanding of the techniques employed for forensic audit. A panel discussion was also held where panelists shared their personal experiences with various types of forensic audit assignments for the guidance of SMP members.

Training: Essential Software

In a post-COVID world, the use of technology has ameliorated workplace productivity. As a result, future finance professionals must become technology savvy. This is even true for partners and staff of SMPs. ICAP’s SMP committee engaged a young and dynamic chartered accountant who had prior experience with conducting online trainings on some of the most essential software for finance professionals. We designed a course, “Data Alchemy- Hands-on training on Microsoft Excel, Power Quary and Power BI”, comprised of 22 online sessions comprising 1.5 hours for each online session. Participants were given theoretical guidance, and mock exercises were provided for hands-on training to foster the understanding of the practical application of this software. In September 2024, we completed the fourth cohort of this training and have trained and certified over 600 SMP staff members and over 200 ICAP members.

Training: Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) was also identified by the SMP committee as one of the most modern techniques that could be very good for SMP partners and their staff to learn. We arranged three in-person 2-day workshops in three cities of Pakistan: Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad. These workshops were conducted by a very seasoned trainer whose post-graduate study involved RPA. This was hands-on training using Microsoft Power Automate. Mock exercises were developed, including the filing of annual income tax returns online on the e-portal. Participants learned to use RPA and how much time could actually be saved using this skill set.

Training: External Audit Simulation

The most recent training developed by the SMP Committee of ICAP was “Audit Simulation – A hands-on training of external audit on audit software”. This training was conducted by a very experienced trainer and his team members, who had delivered similar trainings for university students in the past. With the trainer, ICAP developed this training especially for the staff of SMPs and used an audit software. A mock large company scenario was created with qualified professionals acting as Company CFO; role players were also selected for audit partner, audit senior manager and audit manager. All of these role players had actual experience of working in these positions in audit firms. In this mock situation, the trainee students experienced conducting an audit of a large organization. They had client interactions involving raising queries and obtaining audit evidence. They also had to finalize their allocated area of work for reviews by audit manager and seniors and worked on areas of the audit report that was to be released by the audit firm. This experience helped trainee students to improve interpersonal/communication skills, learn audit software, and understand areas of work where they could improve and link their theoretical knowledge especially ISAs, corporate laws and other applicable laws in a large company working environment for external audit. This in-person training was initially held at Lahore and will also be held at Islamabad in October and November 2024.

Future Trainings

Our SMP committee is also planning a workshop on developing business feasibilities in November 2024. There is every endeavor to empower SMPs with skill sets so that they can make themselves stronger, more robust, more enterprising, and more solution-oriented, thereby strengthening the pr

Portrait of a man with a dark suit and red tie, turning to look at the camera
Asad Feroze

Technical Advisor in IFAC PAODAG, Past Vice President ICAP & Chairman SMP Committee ICAP

Mr. Asad Feroze is fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. He is fellow member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of United Kingdom, fellow member of PIPFA and Institute of Taxation & Management. He is technical advisor in PAODAG at IFAC (International Federation of Accountants). He is a member of Accounting Standards Board of ICAP. He is member of sustainability group at CAW (Chartered Accountants Worldwide) and ICAP. He also remained short term consultant with The World Bank. He is in practice and also founding partner of Junaidy Shoaib Asad, Chartered Accountants an independent member of Morison Global. He is a SECP certified director and has trained 400 plus SECP certified directors. He is an IFC approved trainer on governance. He has an experience of around 20 years in working with multinational and local organisations, public sector and not for profit organizations. 

He is an elected member of the ICAP Council for the term (2022-2026). He remained Vice President ICAP for term (2023-24). He is also the Chairman of the SMP Committee, CPD Committee and ICAP- ICMAP coordination committee of ICAP. He is Past Chairman of Northern Regional Committee (NRC) of ICAP in two terms (2015-16 & 2017-18). He has chaired various committees of NRC ICAP. He also remained Chairman Chartered Accountants Students Association (CASA) North. He has also served as a member of various committees of ICAP.