Address by the Accountancy Board Chairman

I am pleased to welcome you to the new Accountancy Board Portal which replaces the “old” portal set up way back in 1996.    No time and effort was spared to develop a portal which is user friendly, interactive and provides the necessary up to date information simply by the touch of a button.   Other than providing a wealth of information regarding our profession and the warrant holders we regulate, the new portal addresses the ever increasing demands for more transparency brought about by the transposition of the EU Statutory Audit Directive.

We also developed the portal with the interests of warrant holders in mind ensuring that these are better served when it comes to regulatory compliance.  Annual Returns can now be submitted electronically more expeditiously and regulatory payments to the Accountancy Board can now be made from the comforts of their home.

In summary, I would say that the other more salient features of the new portal are as follows:

• Registration fee and regulatory fee payments by warrant holders will now be made electronically when submitting the annual return.  These  payments will no longer be submitted to the Malta Institute of Accountants;
• Warrant holders will be unable to submit electronically the annual return unless the above noted regulatory payments are made;
• Warrant holders can access their personal details and update such information on an ongoing basis;
• Access by the public at large of  the various on line  warrant holder registers  held by the Accountancy Board; and
• Applications for CPA warrants and practising certificates in auditing can now also submitted on line.

We sincerely hope to experience a more extensive use of our website by all stakeholders concerned and that the take up rate of electronic submissions by warrant would also increase.  In the latter instance, the Board has agreed that the submission date of the 2011 Annual return will be extended  up to the  31 March 2012 , (rather than 31 January 2012), only if submitted electronically. 

Last but not least, warrant holders are reminded that warrant holders would be unable to navigate through restricted areas of our website without the proper means of electronic identification and warrant holders are again reminded that they will be unable to make full use of this new portal unless their e-ID is in place.

While we trust that you will find the new website a useful tool, do contact us if there are areas which you believe can be further enhanced.

Charles Rapa