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 Certif ...

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

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), 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 authority. The higher authority, generally a legislature or some other ...

(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 a ...

Ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

) 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 al ...

for the

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...

profession in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, which are in line with the standards issued by the

International Federation of Accountants The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global organization for the accountancy profession. Founded in 1977, IFAC has 180 members and associates in 135 jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public prac ...

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

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. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries such as the

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (CCA). Founded in 1904, It is now the fourth-largest professional accounting body ...

(ACCA),

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

(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 December 2024, it has over 210,000 memb ...

(ICAEW), the

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

(ICAA) and

CPA Australia CPA Australia ("Certified Practising Accountant") is a professional accounting body in Australia, originally founded as the "Incorporated Institute of Accountants" in 1886. As of 31 December 2020, it has 168,736 members in 150 countries and regio ...

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 process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

courses are offered both by the public and private

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

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 Cima may refer to: Acronyms *The Center for International Media Assistance, a media development organization in Washington, DC * Center for Italian Modern Art * Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art (International centre for Art Mechanics), ...

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 December 2024, it has over 210,000 memb ...

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), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

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 fi ...

(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 EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

, BDO,

Mazars Forvis Mazars is an international audit, accounting and consulting business formed in June 2024 by an agreement between Mazars and Forvis. Combined, the firms operate in the US and over 100 other countries, being among the top 10 global audit f ...

, Geneva Group International, Crowe Horwath,

Baker Tilly Baker Tilly also known as Baker Tilly International is a international consulting and public accounting network based in London, United Kingdom. It is currently the 6th largest CPA advisory firm in the U.S. and 9th largest accounting network i ...

, Urbach Hacker Young and

Grant Thornton Grant Thornton is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the seventh-largest in the world by revenue and the sixth-largest by number of employees. The network consists of independent accounting an ...

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 ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

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; ; Jawi: ) 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 the banker and advisor to the ...

* 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

References

The Malaysian Companies Act 2016

External links