Accountants question new proposed law on profession

Accountants question new proposed law on profession

P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chairman of the Indonesian Accountants Association (IAI) Ahmadi
Hadibroto questioned on Monday the necessity of applying criminal
law to accountancy as reflected in the draft of the new law on
the accountancy profession.

"Any violations in the profession should be condemned by
imposing sanctions, not criminal punishment," Ahmadi asserted on
the sidelines of a seminar on The Role of the Accountancy
Profession in Indonesia.

He added that the use of the criminal code would discourage
young people from joining the profession.

The new bill on the accountancy profession which has been
under deliberation since 2002 is aimed at providing a stronger
legal foundation for both clients and accountants.

The bill is currently under the scrutiny of an
interdepartmental government team and a team from IAI.

Ahmadi also expressed his thoughts on the rotation plan for
auditors, which is included in the bill. He said the question
remained as to whether it applied to all auditors auditing both
private and public companies, or only to auditors auditing public
companies.

"Both public and private companies have different interests
when it comes to the auditing process. That's why we need a
proper definition of the public interests in connection with
this," said Ahmadi.

According to the bill, a company may retain the services of an
accounting firm for a maximum of three years.

In the seminar, which was attended by the Director General of
Financial Institutions Darmin Nasution, Ahmadi also emphasized
the importance of upholding accountability, transparency and
integrity in earning public trust.

According to him, the International Federation of Accountants
(IFAC) should be adopted in Indonesia.

"We need to restore the credibility of the accountancy
profession, both nationally and internationally by becoming a
member of IFAC," said Ahmadi.

Ahmadi said that all members of IFAC must adhere to the
organization's seven-point pledge, which includes the promise to
provide quality assurance and apply international standards in
auditing.

Ahmadi said that the World Bank had offered two grants
totaling US$256,000 to help maintain quality assurance and to
translate the international standards of IFAC on accounting into
the Indonesian language.

"We are now waiting for the response of the minister of
finance on these grants," said Ahmadi.

Completion of the translation is expected before the end of
this year.