RIYADH — Over 10,000 expatriates have registered as professional certified accountants and as members of the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA), Saudi Press Agency quoted the organization as announcing Sunday. The setting up of the organization is deemed one of the most important initiatives and projects of SOCPA since its recent launching by the Minister of Labor and Social Development Ahmed Al-Rajhi. The Secretary General of SOCPA, Dr. Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Maghamis, lauded the private sector's response to professional registration with the organization, which began earlier this month. The organization has made it compulsory for expatriates practicing the profession of accountancy and complementary or support professions to obtain accreditation from SOCPA, as one of the conditions when submitting applications for issuance or renewal of work permits and amending professions. Al-Maghamis lauded the efforts being exerted by the public and private sectors to serve this sensitive and important profession for the benefit of economic development. Al-Maghamis said that SOCPA has made it conditional on applicants who wish to obtain bachelor's degrees or a higher qualification in accountancy, a diploma in accountancy or a qualification after graduation from one of the colleges of administrative sciences, that they should have completed at least 15 credit hours in accountancy. They will be given a chance to complete their degree or diploma in one year. Professional registration is beneficial for the occupation and the nation, in terms of organizing and regulating the practice of the profession and uncovering cases of forgery of qualifications, opening the way for Saudi young men and women and raising the percentage of Saudization, especially since professional registration will help in determining the actual state of the accountancy profession (in the labor market), Al-Maghamis said. He stressed that registration in SOCPA cannot be considered a recognition by a specialist professional authority of the registration applicant's qualifications unless the organization has verified the genuineness of the qualifications and that they fulfill the required conditions. The SOCPA has provided all the details and conditions for professional registration on its website. Therefore, there is no need to visit SOCPA headquarters or its branches, hence facilitating for those in this profession in all the economic sectors to join a professional entity body. — SPA
