Atarek Kamil Ibrahim & Co. Chartered Accountants

Atarek Kamil Ibrahim & Co. Chartered Accountants (hereafter referred to as AKI) is a public accounting firm named after its founder Tuan Haji Atarek Kamil Ibrahim (hereafter referred to as Atarek). The firm offers a wide range of services to its customers since its establishment in 1989. The head office of AKI is in Kuala Lumpur and it has branches in Melaka, Johor Bahru, Ipoh, Kuala Terrengganu, Kota Baru, Kuching, Miri and Kota Kinabalu. The partners of AKI are planning to expand the company by getting more partners from outside to join AKI. They planned to use a different name, ASNAF Chartered Accountants, from 2009 onwards to replace AKI. They initiated the formation of ASNAF (Association of ASEAN Accounting Firms) to propel AKI into the international scene. Currently ASNAF has 8 members comprising accounting firms from Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia. While the move to expand and rebrand AKI appears to be the only way forward for the company, Atarek must really evaluate whether such move is wise and benefits him and his staff. He must critically assess AKI's current strengths and weaknesses and possible implication of his decisions. He must consider all the other alternatives that he will forgo which include his dream of becoming the first Islamic public accounting firm in the region. The case will reveal that AKI is still plagued with the common problem of small and medium sized public accounting firms in Malaysia that is short of manpower. AKI is also currently in the midst of organizing its control structures among its branches.