Institute clarifies independence requirements.The AICPA AICPA See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Professional Ethics professional ethics, n the rules governing the conduct, transactions, and relationships within a profession and among its publics. professional ethics liability, n 1. Executive Committee (PEEC PEEC Pocono Environmental Education Center (Pennsylvania) PEEC Partial Element Equivalent Circuit PEEC Programmed Escape from the Evolution of Cancer PEEC Provincial Environmental Education Centers ) in November issued guidance in two parts to facilitate compliance with its rules governing the independence of members who provide nonattest services to attest To solemnly declare verbally or in writing that a particular document or testimony about an event is a true and accurate representation of the facts; to bear witness to. To formally certify by a signature that the signer has been present at the execution of a particular writing so as clients. The two documents, AICPA Interpretation 101-3, Performance of Nonattest Services--Understanding the Client Competency COMPETENCY, evidence. The legal fitness or ability of a witness to be heard on the trial of a cause. This term is also applied to written or other evidence which may be legally given on such trial, as, depositions, letters, account-books, and the like. 2. Requirement and AICPA Interpretatin 101-3, Performance of Nonattest Services--Requirement to Document Understanding With an Attest Client, can be viewed at www.aicpa.org/members/div/ethics/intr_101-3.htm. Those independence rules stipulate stip·u·late 1 v. stip·u·lat·ed, stip·u·lat·ing, stip·u·lates v.tr. 1. a. To lay down as a condition of an agreement; require by contract. b. in part that members may not perform management functions or make management decisions on behalf of their attest clients; that they must be satisfied, prior to beginning a nonattest services engagement, the client is both willing and able to perform all management functions related to the engagement; and that they must document certain aspects of the engagement, including the client's agreement to oversee the nonattest services. The new guidance more fully explains the nature and extent of such documentation, which is required by Interpretation 101-3, Performance of Nonattest Services. It also provides sample language to document the understanding with clients for the provision of bookkeeping bookkeeping, maintenance of systematic and convenient records of money transactions in order to show the condition of a business enterprise. The essential purpose of bookkeeping is to reveal the amounts and sources of the losses and profits for any given period. and tax services and contains a series of questions and answers on the competence of the client's senior manager, or other employee, to oversee all management functions associated with the nonattest services engagement. Earlier, to give members more time to update their firms' policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental and educate personnel, the Institute had deferred Interpretation 101-3's effective date, making the documentation requirement effective for any nonattest services performed for an attest client on or after January 1, 2005, including services already then in progress. That extension does not apply to the Code of Professional Conduct's original requirement that members come to an agreement with clients about the performance of nonattest services. Because comparable independence rules issued by other regulators may be more restrictive than those of the PEEC, members should familiarize themselves with and observe any such provisions applicable to their clients. Additional JofA coverage of the nonattest services rules is accessible at www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/oct2004/about.htm; www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/sep2004/about.htm; and www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/dec2003/allen.htm. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion