Aprio, a US-based advisory and accounting firm, is deepening its presence in the Philippines as its preferred hub for knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) with the opening of its second office at One Ayala East Tower on Thursday.
The company said the country’s technical talent, low attrition rate and ability to support complex, high-value professional services were central to its decision.
In an interview during the launch, global solutions delivery leader and partner at Aprio Dave Kothari said the firm’s Philippine operations have become a critical component of its global delivery network.
“We chose the Philippines because of its people. We’re able to find employees with the technical expertise to support every one of our service lines. That diversity of talent is something we don’t find in other countries,” he said.
Aiming to increase its manpower to 750 by 2030, the company employs more than 400 workers after starting official operations in the Philippines in 2022, following a three-year build-operate-transfer arrangement.
Since then, the workforce has grown more than fivefold from only 75, supported by rising demand from its US client base and backing from its private equity investor.
Kothari said the Philippines handles “one-third” of the work it is capable of doing, and Aprio plans to shift more roles to Manila and Clark as part of its global solutions strategy.
KPO hub
Aprio handles no local clients, as its Philippine entity serves purely as a global delivery center. Employees here, of which 90 percent are university graduates and about half certified public accountants, perform the same advisory and accounting work as their US counterparts.
Attrition in the Philippines remains below 15 percent, which Kothari described as significantly lower than US levels, helping the firm maintain continuity and service quality.
Aprio has been building up its technology capabilities, including the acquisition of a US-based AI company and the establishment of an automation team in Clark to support robotics process automation (RPA) and AI development.
“Our AI tools will automate repetitive work such as processing tax returns,” Kothari said. “This allows CPAs to focus on higher-value client work.”
He said fears of redundancy do not apply to Aprio, noting rapid organic growth and 17 acquisitions in the past 18 months that continue to expand the firm’s global workload.
Expansion plans
With continued hiring and a target of boosting billable hours by 70 percent next year, Aprio is studying expansion beyond Metro Manila and Clark. Cebu is among the locations being evaluated due to its strong accounting talent base and value as a diversification site.
“We look at where the graduates are. Cebu is a growth driver for us,” Kothari said, adding that spreading operations across multiple locations also mitigates disruption from natural disasters.
Aprio has around a dozen university partnerships, including Asia Pacific College and schools in Clark, enabling it to train interns who later join the company as full-time staff.
The One Ayala office operates on a Board of Investments-registered floor, and Aprio expects to secure its BOI certification in the coming months. Its hybrid setup remains highly flexible, with no mandatory return-to-office requirement.
To safeguard data, all client information is stored in the United States, supported by a dedicated InfoSec team and three-factor authentication for added protection.
While the Philippine unit currently serves no local clients, the firm is studying opportunities to offer tax and advisory services in the domestic market.
“We see a lot of people here who need help with taxes. It’s a strong possibility,” Kothari said.
