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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 Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed in July 1997 in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1983, an international treaty lodged at the United Nations. This government replaced the former British Hong Kong Government (1842–1997). The Chief Executive also nominates principal officials for appointment by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Government Secretariat is headed by the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, who is the most senior principal official of the Government. The Chief Secretary and the other secretaries jointly oversee the administration of the SAR, give advice to the Chief Executive as members of the Executive Council, and are accountable for their actions and policies to the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog".
The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy.
An audit committee is a committee of an organisation's board of directors which is responsible for oversight of the financial reporting process, selection of the independent auditor, and receipt of audit results both internal and external.
William Thomas Mercer (Chinese: 孖沙; Sidney Lau: Ma1 Sa1) (17 October 1821 – 23 May 1879) was a British colonial administrator who served in Hong Kong from 1844 to 1866.
John Gardiner Austin, CMG was a British colonial administrator. He was Lieutenant-Governor of British Honduras 1864–1867, and Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1868 to 1879, acting as Administrator of the colony in 1877.
William Caine was the first head of the Hong Kong Police Force, Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1854 to 1859. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel prior to his secretary appointment. Caine was also the acting Governor of Hong Kong between May and September 1859.
Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) is an Central Government service, free of control from any executive authority, under the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The officers of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service serve in an audit managerial capacity, in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. IA&AS is responsible for auditing the accounts of the Union and State governments and public sector organizations, and for maintaining the accounts of State governments. Its role is somewhat similar to the US GAO and National Audit Office.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is a Government-subvented body founded in 2001. The Board replaced the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) established in 1957. It has 15 branch offices and representative offices in 6 markets around the world, and its primary mission is to maximise the social and economic contribution that tourism makes to the community of Hong Kong, and consolidate the city's position as a desired destination. In fulfilling this, it works with the Government, travel industry and other partners to market and promote Hong Kong worldwide, improve the range and quality of visitor facilities and tourism service standards, and enhance the experiences of visitors once they have arrived.
Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value to and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. Internal auditing achieves this by providing insight and recommendations based on analyses and assessments of data and business processes. With commitment to integrity and accountability, internal auditing provides value to governing bodies and senior management as an objective source of independent advice. Professionals called internal auditors are employed by organizations to perform the internal auditing activity.
The Commission of Audit is the auditor for the government of Macau to aid accountability by conducting independent audits of the government operations. The office has similar functions to auditors in other jurisdictions, but the Commissioner reports directly to the Chief Executive of Macau, not to Legislative Council of Macau and therefore lacks independence from political interference.
The Audit Commission (AC) is one of the oldest government departments of the Government of Hong Kong, known as Audit Department before July 1, 1997. The Director of Audit is appointed by the Chief Executive. The Director reports to the Chief Executive, not the Legislative Council. Its main functions are "to provide independent, professional and quality audit services to the Legislative Council and public sector organisations in order to help the Government enhance public sector performance and accountability in Hong Kong." According to the Audit Ordinance the Director of Audit “has wide powers of access to the records of departments”, “can require any public officer to give an explanation and to furnish such information as he thinks fit to enable him to discharge his duties” and “is not subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority in performing his duties and when exercising his powers under the Ordinance.”
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) refers to a committee in the legislature that must study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and issue a report of their findings subsequent to a government budget audit. Typically, the government is required to report back to parliament on PAC recommendations within a specified period, usually two to six months. More often than not, opposition members chair PACs in the commonwealth. Based on their findings, PACs often make recommendations to government ministries requiring that they change certain policies and procedures to improve their operations.
An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations.
Accountancy in Hong Kong is regulated by the HKICPA under the Professional Accountants Ordinance. The auditing industry for limited companies is regulated under the Companies Ordinance, and other Ordinances such as the Securities and Futures Ordinance, the Listing Rules, etc.
Stephen Haddrill is chief executive officer of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in the United Kingdom. In November 2018 he announced he would be leaving the post.
The Commission on Audit, abbreviated as COA, is an independent constitutional commission established by the Constitution of the Philippines. It has the primary function to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties of the Philippine government.
Benjamin Tang, GBS is a former Director of Audit with the Audit Commission of Hong Kong.
David Sun Tak-kei, GBS, JP is a former Director of Audit of Hong Kong and was the president of Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
