The company is also set to launch additional training programmes for its junior accountants in Hong Kong and the mainland.

Through the various components of its knowledge sharing programme, which encompasses business awareness updates and seminars held by top specialists from overseas offices, KPMG was helping frontline client service teams build a thorough understanding of the challenges their clients faced, said Paul Neale, KPMG's China training partner.

'When these teams identify the need for more in-depth advice from their clients, they can recommend our specialised service teams to them,' said Mr Neale, who is also overseeing training for KPMG in Asia-Pacific.

A self-directed study programme for junior accountants on the mainland and Hong Kong will be rolled out.

Combining e-learning and group research projects, the programme aims to enhance staff awareness of the latest changes in various industries.

The e-learning courses allow employees to study at their own pace.

Topics for industry-focused research projects will be assigned to individual study teams.

Mr Neale said study teams would be asked to identify the emerging trends of a particular industry and their effects on clients.

BDO, realising that the financial turmoil has dented the profitability of companies, has organised more intensive internal training to further strengthen its auditing staff's capability of dealing with going-concern assessment.

Stephen Chan Siu-lun, a partner and head of training at BDO, said this started last July.

'The internal training is classroom-based and developed in-house. Employees of all levels in the audit department, including frontline staff and signing directors, have attended the training sessions,' Mr Chan said.

He said the complexity had increased in the evolving Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (HKFRS), which are the equivalent of the International Financial Reporting Standards adopted by the Hong Kong accounting sector in 2005.

BDO has developed courses to sharpen staff skills to apply the standards effectively.

Apart from the accounting application of HKFRS, the courses focus on the strict requirements for disclosure in HKFRS.

Mr Chan said the training aimed to further raise the vigilance of BDO's auditing professionals so that they were able to provide clients with constructive advice on their draft financial statements to comply with the disclosure requirements of HKFRS.

Accounting firms have also cultivated stronger business relationships with their clients through sharing up-to-the-minute market news and insights from their specialists.

KPMG has forged a strong relationship with its clients through the constant dissemination of its latest market research findings. The company published more than 250 reports last year, updating existing and prospective clients on the latest developments and emerging trends in various industries.

All the reports are on the company's website.

KPMG organised a lunch coinciding with the launch of a report on new business opportunities arising from the mainland's emerging role in global outsourcing for more than 180 top executives of local enterprises in Hong Kong.

Anson Bailey, head of business development for China at KPMG, said: 'The [mainland's] central government has designated 20 cities to be the service outsourcing hubs in the country.'

The company's knowledge sharing programme also reflected a high level of responsiveness to the latest changes in government policies and regulations, Mr Bailey said.

'Beijing announced the new transfer pricing documentation laws early this year.

'Within a month KPMG was able to organise 30 industry-specific transfer pricing workshops across several cities in China and Hong Kong to educate our clients about the changing landscape and the implications of the new laws.

'In turbulent times, businesses have to pay greater attention to such issues as cash management, finance and treasury management strategies.

'We have professionals specialising in these areas helping our clients.'

Mr Chan said BDO organised a corporate governance academy, a quarterly event which comprises a seminar and networking cocktails for its existing and potential clients.

The debut event, held in March, attracted more than 70 participants, including executive directors and members of the audit committees of listed companies, investment bankers and lawyers.

'We organised this forum in response to increased inquiries concerning crisis management from local companies.

'We aim to bring together professionals in the industry to exchange ideas and insights about pressing issues, such as the impact of the financial tsunami on the function of the audit committees of listed corporations,' Mr Chan said.