Professional prestige
IN A MARKET teeming with competition, local professional services firm Alas Oplas & Co., CPAs (Alas Oplas & Co.) sets itself apart by putting credibility and honor at the core of its practice.
“We want to be known for quality, not size. Providing services that are founded on credibility and honor has always been the way I envisioned it,” Alas Oplas & Co. chairman and chief executive officer Danilo “Donnies” T. Alas told Business World in an interview. “We do not at all settle when it comes to quality. If the client cannot meet the standards we impose, then we let them find another auditor.”
Although Mr. Alas believes this practice has strengthened the company's reputation over the years, he admitted that it isn't always easy. According to him, it entails rejecting clients at times, which can ultimately form a dent in the company's financial well-being.
“There are times when you are tempted to go abroad or go on a vacation, but you think about the money and then you realize it's better spent on new infrastructure or equipment to enhance the capabilities of the company,” he shared. “So, that's what we do. We are set on making our work as credible as possible, with a quality at par with bigger competitors.”
Mr. Alas said that among their long- term plans for Alas Oplas & Co. is to expand across the country and grow further in the next 50 years by fostering new partnerships. The company therefore continues to invest in training and developing professionals in order to establish a sustainable culture of credibility and honor.
“I'm proud to say that we have prepared our succession plan already. It outlines what each of our employees can expect from the company — yes, including their salary — as well as how and when they will be trained,” he explained. “We train our people the whole year round, based on the role they play in the firm. Our goal is really to hone their skills by providing excellent training and keeping all of them up-to- date and informed, to ensure that we continuously deliver excellent quality of work.”
Moreover, Mr. Alas said that they invest heavily on training because they want their people to be able to make the client understand the importance of compliance. According to him, this is where their twofold principle — credibility and honor — also comes in. There are so many ways for a business to comply with the requirements properly, he said, and they believe developing people who can make the clients understand the relevance of credibility and compliance is the first step.
Since it was founded in 1990, Alas Oplas & Co. has emerged to become one of the leading assurance and consultancy firms for the mid-tier market in the country. Today, the company is able to provide tailor-fit services based on the needs of the client due to its accumulated experiences over the past two decades. These services include audit and assurance; internal audit and risk advisory services; corporate set-up and compliance services; tax advisory and compliance services; and accounting and outsource services.
Alas Oplas & Co. is an independent member of BKR International, a leading global association of independent accounting and business advisory companies representing the expertise of more than 160 member firms with over 500 offices in over 80 countries around the world. BKR International is currently the sixth largest accounting association worldwide, according to the International Accounting Bulletin.
“We want to be known for quality, not size. Providing services that are founded on credibility and honor has always been the way I envisioned it.”