SEARCH MECHANICS

I. School and Universities covered

All public and private schools, colleges, and universities, nationwide, duly recognized by the
government and accredited by the Commission on Higher Education that offer a program on
accountancy may nominate participants to the SOASP.

II. Examination subjects

A. Management Advisory – 75 minutes

B. Taxation – 90 minutes
C. Regulatory Framework for Business
Transactions – 75 minutes
D. Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) – 70 minutes
E. Advanced FAR – 70 minutes

III. Qualifications for student contestants

A. Currently enrolled at a minimum of 3 rd year BS Accountancy student as certified by the school

registrar;
B. Of good moral character;
C. Must be a Filipino citizen.

IV. Requirements for Registration

A. Participants must be officially nominated by their respective school, college or university

(hereinafter referred to as “institution”) through a Certificate of Nomination form endorsed
by the College Dean (see Appendix II).

The soft copy should be addressed to foundation@ph.gt.com and to the Search’s core
team: shelle.macatugob@ph.gt.com; kath.fernando@ph.gt.com; sam.morato@ph.gt.com;
dj.lato@ph.gt.com; nicole.garcia@ph.gt.com on or before the required deadline.

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 B. All official and qualified nominees must accomplish the official entry form. Press the <Link>
appended to access.

V. Contest Rules

A. General Mechanics

1. Each institution may nominate a maximum of six (6) candidates. No registration fee is
required to join the contest.

2. All forms and entries must be accomplished and submitted on or before December 21, 2020
as stated in VI. Requirements for Registration.

3. Participants and facilitating test centers must have a laptop or desktop device with a
working audio and video functionality to join and take the online examination.

4. Participants and facilitating test centers must have a stable internet bandwidth of 5-10
mbps. A back-up connection is advisable to avoid any interruption during the online
examination (mobile hotspot or broadband). Prolonged and consistent connectivity issues
may invalidate your scores and participation in the program.

5. Students may have the option to take the exam at the comfort of their homes or through
the officially designated test centers.

6. Cheating automatically disqualifies the participant from the program and bars them from
joining other related search programs sponsored by the P&A Foundation, Inc. (P&A
Foundation), Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and Association
of Certified Public Accountants in Commerce and Industry (ACPACI).

B. Guidelines

1. Only officially nominated students by their institution shall be eligible to take the
examination.

2. The test link for each subject examination will be sent to the student’s registered email
address 48 hours before the examination. Actual questions will only be accessible on the
scheduled day and time of examination. Participants who logs in 15 minutes after the

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 official start time will no longer be allowed to take the examination and forfeits their
participation.

3. The student must enter the registration details in the link provided and provide a
snapshot/screenshot of him/herself, the calculator to be used, and school ID or any
official government identification (SSS, HDMF, NBI, Passport, etc.) for candidate
authentication.

4. All participants must log in 30 minutes before the scheduled examination for attendance
checking and test the functionalities of the online testing tool.

5. Refer to the appendix for the list of the authorized brands and models of non-
programmable calculators. Only calculators included in the list shall be allowed during the
examination. (see Appendix I.)

6. In exigent or unforeseen events and circumstances (typhoon, earthquake, civil unrest,

etc.), the cancellation of examination should be an agreement between the program
administrators and testing center officers or students (if applicable).

B.I. Regional Examination

1. The Regional Examination shall be conducted simultaneously online on January 9, 2021.

Testing centers per region shall be communicated atleast 3 weeks before the scheduled
Regional Examination.

2. The results of the Regional Examination will be released on or before January 22, 2021.
Results will be sent to the students’ and institution’s registered email addresses.

B. II. Qualifying Examination

1. The top four (4) students in the Regional Examination with the highest scores per region
shall proceed to the online Qualifying Examination on February 20, 2021.

2. The results of the Qualifying Examination will be released on or before March 6, 2021.
Results will be sent to the students’ and institution’s registered email addresses.

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 3. Twenty-five students with the highest scores during the Qualifying Examination will move
forward to join the Finals.

A. Finals

1. All finalists must have two devices for the Finals – one for the online quiz bowl, and the
other device will be for the online broadcast of the quiz bowl via Zoom. Same connectivity
is expected as stated in the general mechanics section. Details and the virtual event link
will be announced through an online invitation.

2. Each finalist will be allowed to invite (2) online companions in the virtual SOASP. The
names of the guests must be submitted not later than one week before the date of the
finals. No changes will be accommodated then after.

3. The finalists will compete in an online quiz bowl covering the same subjects as enumerated
in Section IV.

4. A Technical Panel will be present online to clarify questions that may arise.

5. The Board of Judges will be comprised of representatives from P&A Foundation, Inc.,
PICPA, ACPACI and the founder of the SOASP.

6. The top five (5) finalists of the online quiz bowl will advance to the Grand Finals for the
question-and-answer (Q&A) portion to be conducted on the same day by the Board of
Judges. Each Grand Finalist will be moved to a virtual breakout room and will be called in
one by one for the Q&A.

7. The criteria for the Q&A portion will be as follows:

Communication – 40%
Substance – 40%
Poise and demeanor – 20%
Total – 100%

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 8. The overall criteria for determining the ranking of the top five (5) winners of the Search for
Outstanding Accountancy Students in the Philippines will be as follows:

Online examination – 50%

Question-and-answer portion – 50%
Total – 100%

9. The Audit Committee for the SOASP shall be responsible for reviewing the tabulated
scoring report from the online test provider (Mettl) for all examinations (online and Q&A).
The tabulated scores shall be submitted to the Board of Judges for review and final
approval.

10. The decision of the Board of Judges is final.

11. All finalists are required to accomplish the post-evaluation form within 24 hours from the
end of the program.

VI. Prizes

A. Qualifying Examination

1. The Top 25 qualifiers, except for the highest scorer, shall each receive a P5,000.00 cash
prize. (Note: Non-attendance during the Finals and live/virtual closing and awarding
ceremony means forfeiture of this award.)

2. Highest scorer in the Qualifying Examination is awarded ₱10,000 plus plaque.

3. Participant who gets the perfect score in any subject of the Qualifying Examination gets
₱10,000 plus plaque for each perfect scorer.

4. All monetary prizes will be transferred online or couriered through an official money
agency (Palawan Express, Western Union, etc.) no later than 48 hours from the end of the
program.

B. Finals

1. First Place – ₱50,000 and plaque

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 2. Second Place – ₱30,000 and plaque
3. Third Place – ₱20,000 and plaque
4. Fourth Place – ₱10,000 and plaque
5. Fifth Place – ₱10,000 and plaque

Announcement of awards will be on date of the finals.

- end -

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