What is SOCPA?
Published
SOCPA (Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants) is the professional and regulatory body for accounting and auditing in the Kingdom. It endorses the standards applied to financial statements, licenses chartered accountants and oversees their practice, and issues professional interpretations and guides.
Its practical role for a small business
- Endorsing accounting standards: the Kingdom adopts IFRS as endorsed by SOCPA, and for smaller entities IFRS for SMEs - see both pages.
- Licensing auditors: the chartered accountant who signs your audit report is SOCPA-licensed.
- Guides and interpretations: when an accounting treatment is unclear, SOCPA's publications are the first reference.
The distinction from ZATCA is often confused: SOCPA governs how your financial statements are prepared (the standards), while ZATCA governs how you file with the tax authorities. Statements prepared under SOCPA-endorsed standards are the basis for the zakat filing - but they are two different bodies with two different mandates.
Frequently asked questions
Who needs a SOCPA-licensed auditor's signature?
Joint stock companies and entities whose regulations require statutory audit, plus others depending on their stakeholders (a bank, an investor, a government body). A single-owner small business is usually not required to have one from the outset.
Does SOCPA license accounting software?
Its role is in accounting standards and the profession; certifying e-invoicing solutions is ZATCA's mandate, not SOCPA's.