LCQ20: Supply of talents for the accountancy sector
2.11.2022

Following is a question by the Hon Edmund Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (November 2): Question: Quite a number of members of the accountancy sector have relayed to me for a number of times that with the serious talent wastage in the sector, coupled with the drastic drop in the number of post-secondary students who have completed accounting and related business management programmes in recent years, there is a serious succession problem in the sector which affects its sustainable development. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) whether it knows the following information about accounting and related business management programmes offered by various universities funded by the University Grants Committee and various self-financing post-secondary institutions in each of the past five academic years (set out by academic qualifications (i.e. bachelor's degree, associate degree, and higher diploma)): number of places, number of enrolment and number of graduates; (2) of the respective numbers of applications made by accounting firms for importing accounting talents under various admission schemes for talents and professionals that the Immigration Department received and approved in each of the past five years; the highest, lowest and average salary of those accounting talents who have been admitted to Hong Kong; the reasons involved for those applications which have been rejected; and (3) whether it will comprehensively review the future manpower requirement of the accountancy sector, with a view to formulating targeted policies and measures to increase the supply of accounting talents; if so, of the details, and whether such policies and measures will include making publicity efforts to encourage students to study accounting and related business management programmes, streamlining the procedures for importing talents, and lowering the threshold for applying for the relevant schemes; if it will not conduct such a review, the reasons for that? Reply: President, In consultation with the Education Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), our reply to the three parts of the question is as follows: (1) For the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities, the actual admissions and numbers of graduates of the UGC-funded undergraduate programmes related to accounting and business administration in the past five academic years, i.e. from 2017/18 to 2021/22 academic years, are set out below: 2017/18 academic year 2018/19 academic year 2019/20 academic year 2020/21 academic year 2021/22 academic year Number of actual admissions First-year first-degree 3 903 3 937 3 806 3 905 4 221 Senior year undergraduate 1 002 1 010 1 011 977 1 010 Number of graduates Undergraduate 4 594 4 584 4 658 4 693 N.A. Note: The above table covers programmes of which the titles include the key words "Account", "BBA", "B.B.A." or "Business Administration". For the non-UGC-funded sector, from 2017/18 to 2021/22 academic years, the actual admissions and numbers of graduates of full-time locally-accredited non-UGC-funded sub-degree and undergraduate programmes related to accounting and business administration are as follows: 2017/18 academic year 2018/19 academic year 2019/20 academic year 2020/21 academic year 2021/22 academic year Number of actual admissions Sub-degree 2 092 2 414 2 038 1 499 1 450 First-year first-degree 1 445 1 293 1 561 826 821 Top-up degree 1 241 1 212 1 288 1 622 1 608 Number of graduates Sub-degree 1 937 1 575 1 908 1 547 N.A. Undergraduate 2 867 2 652 2 509 2 436 Note: The above table covers programmes of which the titles include the key words "Account", "BBA", "B.B.A." or "Business Administration". The Education Bureau and the UGC did not collect number of applicants of the abovementioned programmes. (2) and (3) The Government regularly updates the manpower projection to assess the broad trends of future manpower supply and requirements in different local key economic sectors at the macro level. As for the manpower supply and demand of individual industries, relevant industry stakeholders or training institutions also conduct relevant researches and formulate industry-based manpower strategies as needed. Regarding the accounting industry, the Vocational Training Council conducts manpower surveys for the accountancy sector regularly. The statistics provide information for the tertiary institutions in planning programmes on accountancy. The HKICPA is also taking various actions to encourage local accountancy graduates to join the accounting profession, and at the same time promote the accounting profession to non-accountancy students and the public. For instance, the HKICPA offers scholarships to undergraduates with outstanding academic achievements to encourage their enrolment on its Qualification Programme; it also maintains close liaison with tertiary institutions to understand the career preferences and needs of undergraduate students, so as to review and update the Qualification Programme to attract more people to enroll on the programme and join the accounting sector. Under the current immigration regime, the Government would formulate talent admission channels for specific industries as necessary in order to facilitate relevant sectors in attracting and applying for incoming talents to come to work in Hong Kong. Examples include the planned streamlining of the General Employment Policy and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals to exempt employers offering vacancies falling under the 13 professions with shortage of local supply as listed in the Talent List from providing proof to substantiate their difficulties in local recruitment in making applications for talent admission; and the immigration facilitation under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme to eligible applicants who meet the requirements of professions under the Talent List by awarding bonus points under the General Points Test. The applicants under various admission schemes give a huge variety of post titles which may not always reflect their professional background. The Immigration Department does not maintain breakdowns of the number of approved applications by occupations or salary ranges. Following the launch of the new regulatory regime of the accounting profession on October 1, 2022, the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) will deliver its statutory function of promoting development of the accounting profession. We will collaborate with the AFRC, the newly established Advisory Committee, the HKICPA and the accounting sector to look into the issues faced by the profession including talent supply, and jointly consider appropriate and targeted solutions.