The Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA)

The Philippine Institute of Certified Accountants or PICPA is the accredited professional organization (APO) of CPAs by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and has been awarded twice as PRC most outstanding APO from among other professional organizations. PICPA was founded in November 1929 by a group of illustrious pioneers in the accounting profession: Enrique Caguiat, Santiago de la Cruz, Francisco Dalupan, Jaime Hernandez, Felipe Ollada, Ramon del Rosario, Antonio Sanchez, Jose Torres, Artemio Tulio, Clemente Uson and Jesus Zulueta. W. W. Larkin, holder of CPA Certificate No. 1, was its first president.
 
The group set forth the following objectives:

• To promote and maintain high professional and ethical standards among accountants;
• To advance the science of accounting;
• To develop and improve accountancy education;
• To encourage cordial relations among accountants, and
• To protect the Certificate of Certified Public Accountant granted by the Republic of the Philippines.

Over the years, PICPA has been sustaining its accreditation with PRC. The accreditation started on October 2, 1973, when PICPA was awarded Certificate of Accreditation No. 6 , by then PRC Chairman Eric Nubla, after having complied with the requirements for accreditation under Presidential Decree No. 223. This distinction, which recognized the Institute as the bonafide professional organization of CPAs, likewise gave PICPA the responsibility of setting into motion a scheme for the integration of all CPAs in the country.