ETHICAL AUDITS

Interview with:

Tan Tian Wooi Managing Partner

https://tgs-tw.com/

What can you tell us about yourself, about the Chamber and about your team?

My name is Tan Tian Wooi, the founder and Managing Partner of TGS TW PLT, Malaysia. I am a Chartered Accountant of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (“MIA”) and member of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“MICPA”). Both MIA and MICPA are members of the International Federation of Accountants (“IFAC”).

I have over 30 years of extensive experience in current practice, providing audit, investigation, due diligence, initial public offering exercises, merger and acquisition transactions, compliance, and business advisory services for public listed and private companies, banks, government agencies, trusts, societies, and multinational companies across various industries.

TGS TW PLT was established in 2019 and has expanded rapidly becoming one of the mid-sized accounting firms, with three offices located in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor, which are the major economic regions in Malaysia. We have accomplished a few key milestones since establishment, including being appointed as the external auditor by 24 Malaysian Public Listed Companies.

We have a well-qualified and experienced team of close to 110 staff, led by 6 audit partners with more than 15 years audit experience, including a Technical and Compliance Department led by a technical partner with more than 20 years of experience in financial reporting and auditing. Our team’s strength lies in team spirit, experience, and synchronicity, enabling us to adapt quickly to clients’ needs to deliver timely, high-quality deliverables. Additionally, our team is trained to conduct paperless audits with audit methodology enhanced through CCH ProSystem and fully equipped with up-to-date knowledge of accounting, tax changes and developments.

What kind of audit services does your firm offer?

We offer a full range of services including assurance and audit, and advisory services as below:

• Statutory audit

• Initial public offering

• Financial due diligence

• Internal audit

• Information security audit

• Fraud investigation

• Merger and acquisition services

• Special purpose audit

• Inventory and asset audit

• Certifications services

• Dispute resolutions services

In addition to the aforementioned assurance and audit services, we also offer a one-stop-shop service for accounting, tax compliance and business advisory services to both international and domestic organisations across all markets.

What does ethical auditing mean to you and how does it apply to your firm?

Ethics are utmost important because they promote accuracy, openness, responsibility, and professionalism. The audit profession demands a high level of ethical behaviors. As auditors, our primary responsibility is to form and express an audit opinion on the financial statements and report our opinion to the shareholders whether the financial statements are in true and fair view. The public places trust in auditors to proficiently fulfill our responsibilities and we must balance competing interests to perform our role, as such, we are required to apply ethical decision making. Therefore, ethical behavior serves as the foundation of effective auditing to ensure the financial statements are free from material misstatements and faithfully represent the financial performance and position of the companies. Auditors have to put ethics first in order to build trust with the companies’ stakeholders, to avoid financial losses, and be successful in the long run.

Could you describe the importance of ethical values to your firm? How would you assess them?

In Malaysia, we have to comply with the By-Laws (on Professional Ethics, Conduct and Practice) of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants

(“MIA By-Laws”), that is equivalent to the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (“IESBA Code”). For enforcement of these ethical standards, the Malaysian Audit Oversight Board (“AOB”) (equivalent to the PCAOB) will conduct inspection and monitoring programs on auditors of the public interest entities in Malaysia, such as us, to ensure the auditors are complied with auditing and ethical standards.

To meet the above requirements, the Firm has established a quality management system together with a set of policies and procedures, and handbooks in accordance with the professional and ethical standards, to ensure all partners and staff understand the importance of these requirements and are able to comply with. Briefing and training are regularly conducted as a reminder to everyone on the key requirements, as well as keeping them aware of the latest changes. We also carried out internal audit on our policies and procedures to determine whether they are operating effectively, and able to detect any unacceptable behaviors or violation of the ethical standards.

What benefits does it bring to your business to focus the audit towards ethics?

As ethical values are an integral part of our current practice, we recognized that quality of services / deliverables and commitment to ethical standards is essential to our entire operation i.e. setting of strategy, operating activities and business processes. The pressure to perform well has intensified in a competitive environment and ethical issues such as those involving Enron, Worldcom and etc. have eroded public confidence in the auditing profession. Therefore, our quality management system is meant to establish and cultivate a culture that recognizes the relevance of ethical behaviors in performing our work and is able to reinforce this commitment throughout the Firm. We believe, with this effort, the Firm is capable of providing higher quality services / deliverables for clients, thereby earning the stakeholders’ confidence.