The accounting and auditing firms operating in Cambodia are governed by Law on Accounting and Auditing, effective on 11 April 2016.
To legally offer accounting and auditing services in Cambodia, the firm is required to become a firm member of Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Auditors (KICPAA) and obtain a license from Accounting and Auditing Regulator (“ACAR”).
The firm is required to obtain an additional license from the National Bank of Cambodia and Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia in order to audit the entity that operates under this authority and the regulator’s licenses.
As of 7 October 2022, 48 firms have been approved by Accounting and Auditing Regulator to offer accounting and auditing services, and 8 firms to practice a so call accounting services legally in Kingdom.
The firms that practice auditing and accounting services without having a license issued by ACAR are considered illegal. The enterprise is not recommended to engage with an unlicensed accounting and auditing firm.
Otherwise, there is a risk that the audited and other reports issued by them could not be officially used and accepted by regulators, authorities, creditors, bankers, and other stakeholders in Kingdom.
Normally, ACAR issues a list of the latest accounting and auditing firms licensed by them, and you can find it on ACAR’s website. Alternatively, you can download the list below.
You can also download the list in PDF by clicking here.
Before you engage with any accounting and auditing firm, it is recommended to check if the firm is licensed or if its’ license is still active. Otherwise, the report that you obtained from them could not be legally used.
It is also recommended to follow ACAR’s Telegram and Facebook to get the latest updated information from them.
The sample of the actively licensed audit firms is as the image below.
Obligation to Submit Financial Statements for Independent Audits
On 25 May 2021, the Ministry of Economy and Finance issued a notification (Prakas) Prakas no. 563 MEF. Prk on Obligation to Submit Financial Statements for Independent Audits, which is in line with the Law on Accounting and Auditing 2016, required:
- All Public Enterprises, Public Limited Enterprises, and Qualified Investment Projects (QIP) must submit their financial statements for an independent audit.
- Enterprises other than those listed in number 1 above and meet two of the three criteria below need to submit their financial statements for an independent audit.
- Annual turnover above KHR 4,000,000,000 (approximately USD 1,000,000)
- Total assets above KHR 3,000,000,000 (approximately USD 750,000)
- Total employees at least 100 employees
- Non-profit organizations with total annual expenses exceeding KHR 2 billion (Equivalent to USD 500,000) and having a total of at least 20 employees must submit their financial statements for an independent audit.
Deadline to Submit the Audited Financial Statements to ACAR
The entity that meets the above criteria should have its financial statements audited by an independent audit firm and submitted to ACAR no later than six months from the accounting closing date.
Auditing Standards and Code of Ethics Use in Cambodia
Under Prakas No. 370 MEF, dated May 18, 2010, the Cambodian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board of the National Accounting Council (now ACAR) adopted and, automatically adopted all of the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and other pronouncements issued and subsequently issued by International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) as the Cambodian Standards on Auditing and Assurance (CSAA) without any modification.
Under Prakas No. 779 MEF, the Cambodian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board adopted and, automatically adopted all of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and other pronouncements issued and subsequently issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA).