Audit and Assurance

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AUDIT INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES FINANCIAL AND TAX DUE DILIGENCE
Audit-assurance
AUDIT AND ASSURANCE

Independence and rigour that delivers confidence and transparency for stakeholders and society

In the fast-moving and ever-changing world of business, objective and extensive auditing is invaluable. Public trust in financial reporting must be continuously reinforced to enhance confidence that facilitates efficient allocation of capital, promotes investment and generates growth.

Our Approach

Assurance services and ‘adding value’ are not usually viewed together by clients since the primary objective of an audit is to provide an independent opinion on the financial statements of a company and enhance the reliability of information prepared by clients for use by investors and other stakeholders. At Zubir Chang & Co., we do not subscribe to this concept.

We offer a distinctive approach that goes beyond traditional compliance. We use an integrated structure that allows us to work as one team.

Our audit professionals provide a range of independent audit services based on a strong knowledge of accounting principles. These are complimented by appropriate knowledge or business systems, processes and internal controls which are key to providing proper advice to our clients in order to assist them to develop their business.

In performing our audit services, we always set out to understand every aspect of our client’s business so as to enable us to plan comprehensively the nature, extent and timing of audit procedures to be performed. Core to our audit approach is understanding our client’s business, which includes evaluating the factors that affect our client’s business and its internal controls. The key to a valuable compliance service is the strength of the relationship between our client and the service team.

The understanding of our client’s business allows us to better advise our clients on matters that we as business advisers consider may increase profitability or tax efficiency. The partners of our firm are involved in the audit from the start.

Apart from audit, we also provide assurance services, which covers the preparation of Accountants’ Reports for issuance of debt securities such as bonds.

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Zubir Chang & Co. specialises in the provision of the following services:

  • Financial statements audit for companies incorporated in Malaysia, either statutory or non-statutory

  • Review of financial statements

  • Reporting accountant services, advising on accounting treatments and on any comments raised by regulators

  • Agreed upon procedures

  • Compilation of financial statements

  • Due diligence engagements as part of listing exercises

    The provision of financial due diligence services is designed specifically to adhere to the requirements of the client and may include an overall review up to a full-scope audit and investigation into the operating and financial history and business prospects of a target.

    Due diligence is a critical aspect of transaction planning as it can affect the purchase price for a business or even the decision on whether to proceed with an acquisition. Our due diligence approach is to provide our clients with peace of mind by identifying all critical factors for which an informed decision can be made.

  • PARTNER

    Liz Yap

    Liz heads the tax compliance department of RTC Consulting Sdn Bhd (“RTC Consulting”), a boutique tax practice specialising in tax compliance and tax advisory services for property developers and construction companies. She manages both the corporate and personal tax compliance teams of RTC Consulting. She also manages tax investigation and audit cases, specialising in the preparation of Capital Statements and Means Tests, preliminary tax assessment, and the related tax advisory services.

    Her extensive advisory experience has been honed over a decade spent with two prominent property development and construction companies in Malaysia which are listed on Bursa Malaysia. Her in-depth knowledge and practical experience garnered in the property development and construction sector is an asset to clients of RTC Consulting.

    She graduated from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Accounting.

    She is a Certified Practising Accountant of CPA Australia and a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

  • ADVISER

    Ong Yoke Yew

    Ong Yoke Yew is the Adviser to Zubir Chang & Co. She is currently the Technical Director of RTC Consulting Sdn Bhd (“RTC Consulting”), a licensed tax advisory firm that is affiliated with Zubir Chang & Co. RTC Consulting is a boutique tax advisory firm specialising in tax compliance and tax advisory services.

    She has more than four decades of extensive and diversified exposure gained from international accounting firms, multinationals and colleges in both Malaysia and Singapore. Her vast experience in the field of taxation covers various aspects of corporate tax advisory and consultancy issues. She has accumulated a wealth of experience in tax planning, covering cross-border tax structuring, transfer pricing and taxation on land transactions. The tax advisory services offered by Yoke Yew to her clients encompasses tax audits, tax investigations and assessment of cases submitted for tax appeals.

    She has been exceptionally successful with tax appeals and negotiations conducted with the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. Her specialisation is taxation affecting the property development and construction sectors, making her highly sought after by numerous property developers and landowners in Malaysia to advise them in planning for property development projects and structuring of land transactions, such as joint ventures. Her clientele includes public listed companies as well as privately-owned businesses.

    She is a certified and accredited trainer with the Human Resource Development Corporation. She has extensive experience as a specialist trainer who provides professional courses in taxation. She has conducted numerous seminars, conferences and workshops for professional bodies, corporations and accounting firms. She has also authored books on the subject of Malaysian taxation with BPP Publishing, a London-based publisher publishing her books which have been specifically developed for Malaysian professional taxation examinations.

    She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and is a member of the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia. She is a licensed tax agent with the Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

  • SENIOR PARTNER

    Chang Kong Foo

    Chang Kong Foo is the Senior Partner of Zubir Chang & Co.

    He has over three decades of experience in audit, accounting and insolvency, having set up his professional services practice in Alor Setar in the state of Kedah in 1983 after receiving his audit licence the same year. He has been a licensed liquidator since 1999 and is also a licensed tax agent.

    He graduated with a Bachelor in Management Studies degree from the University of Waikato in New Zealand in 1978.

    He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia. He is also a Certified Financial Planner since 2003.

    He is also an Independent, Non-Executive Director of NTPM Holdings Berhad (“NTPM”) and the Chairman of the Audit Committee of NTPM. NTPM is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia.

  • PARTNER

    Cheryl Chang

    Prior to joining Zubir Chang & Co., Cheryl spent over a decade in the assurance services industry as an auditor with Ernst & Young and subsequently with Chang Kong Foo & Co PLT (“CKF & Co”). She was responsible for setting up and managing a branch office of CKF & Co in Kajang.

    Cheryl also taught accounting subjects previously and was involved in accounting research work at the University of Queensland in Australia between 2005 and 2006. In 2009, her research paper on the market’s perception of deferred tax accruals was published in the Accounting and Finance Journal of Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand.

    In 2013, she commenced her career and specialisation in tax consulting with RTC Consulting Sdn Bhd (“RTC Consulting”), a licensed boutique tax practice specialising in tax compliance and advisory services for property developers and construction companies. She is now the Tax Director at RTC Consulting, with the responsibility of managing the tax advisory function. This involves handling appeals for tax audits, conducting negotiations for tax investigations, performing preliminary tax assessment, reviewing agreements, preparing transfer pricing documentation and project managing various tax advisory and planning engagements. She also conducts seminars and workshops for the public and tailored training sessions for corporations on the subject of Malaysian taxation.

    She is an Independent Non-Executive Director (“INED”) of two companies listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia. She is an INED of NTPM Holdings Berhad (“NTPM”), where she is a member of its Audit Committee, Risk Management and Sustainability Committee, Nominating Committee and Investment Committee. She is also an INED of Chin Hin Group Berhad.

    She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree with First Class Honours from the University of Queensland in Australia in 2004. In 2020, she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree with First Class Honours from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in the United Kingdom. She is an Associate of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

  • MANAGING PARTNER

    Ahmad Zubir Zahid

    Ahmad Zubir Zahid is the Managing Partner of Zubir Chang & Co. Prior to setting up Zubir Chang & Co., he has over eight years’ experience within the offshore oil and gas industry, as Chief Financial Officer of three separate offshore construction companies. Prior to joining the oil and gas industry, he spent over a decade in the financial services industry as a management consultant, investment banker and auditor with Ethos Consulting, ECM Libra, CIMB Investment Bank and PwC, respectively.

    He is currently an Executive Director of Thinkat Advisory Sdn Bhd, an independent boutique corporate finance advisory firm licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”) under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 to carry on the business in the regulated activity of Advising on Corporate Finance. Zubir has held a Capital Markets Services Representative’s Licence for Advising on Corporate Finance since December 2017. He was previously a principal of Zulu Capital Sdn Bhd, a private equity fund management company registered with the SC in March 2018.

    He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in the United States of America. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom in June 1996. Zubir was awarded with a Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (Distinction) from the University of London in December 2022. He is a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (“CAANZ”). He is a member of both the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (“MIA”) and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“MICPA”). In the specialised field of business valuation, he holds several qualifications: Zubir is a Chartered Valuer and Appraiser of the Institute of Valuers and Appraisers, Singapore, an Accredited Member of the American Society of Appraisers, a Business Valuation Specialist with CAANZ, an International Certified Valuation Specialist of the International Association of Certified Valuation Specialists and he holds the Accredited in Business Valuation credential of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In the specialised field of forensic accounting, Zubir is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Forensic Accounting Specialist with CAANZ and holds the Corporate Finance Qualification of the ICAEW. He is also an accredited member of the Asia Pacific Institute of Experts (“APIEx”) and The Academy of Experts (“TAE”).

    Zubir is an Independent Non-Executive Director (“INED”) of Westports Holdings Berhad (“Westports”), a company listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia. He is the Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Committee of Westports. He was previously an INED of Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (“MRT Corp”) and the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of MRT Corp for five years, between April 2016 and March 2021.

    Zubir was elected to the Council of MICPA in May 2024 and is a member of the Asia Committee of the International Valuation Standards Council. He is also a member of the Small and Medium Practices (“SMP”) Committee since December 2019 and Valuation Committee of MIA since December 2023. The primary objectives of the SMP Committee are to build the capacity of SMPs, promote the value of SMPs in supporting SMEs and represent the interests of SMPs to the regulators. The Valuation Committee is responsible to develop or adopt professional standards for business valuation in Malaysia, develop a competency framework for business valuation experts and to be the thought leaders on business valuation in Malaysia.