The new Public Accounting curriculum for CMA's is being set up by the CMA Ontario Society. Here is the information on the Education Program details that we have to date:
There will be 5 courses in the program of studies -- Audit I & II and Tax I, II & III. All students are required to complete all 5 courses. The cost for each of these courses will be $750 + GST. All courses will be offered through online distance education with the University of Waterloo. Students will have email contact with professors for assistance. A lesson plan will be provided but students will be required to purchase textbooks and a copy of the CICA Handbook separately. Each course will include a mid-term and a final exam.
After students have completed all 5 courses successfully, they will be required to write a 2-part, 5 hour comprehensive public accounting exam. This exam will be marked centrally by CMA Canada and a passing grade will be 60% or higher for each part of the exam. Part A of the exam will be a 2 hour exam comprised of approximately 50-60 objective questions testing Financial Accounting and Taxation syllabus topics. Part B of the exam will be 3 hour exam comprised of approximately 25-30 objective questions and 3 mini-case questions testing Assurance syllabus topics. Students must pass both parts of the exam to successfully complete the program. Students who are not successful in their first attempt will be permitted a maximum of 4 attempts at the exam.
The full program will have defined start and end times. A pilot of the first course, Audit I, is currently running with 13 students across Canada. General registration for the program of studies is expected to be available in January 2008.
We will post further updates on this blog as we receive them. If you would like to be added to a list of people who will be notified by email when course registration begins, please email Christa Janke at christa@cmabc.com with your contact information.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Public Practice Update
We are getting quite a few questions regarding the new National Public Practice standards and curriculum. The BC version of these standards was approved by the Board on September 27, 2007. Don Nilson, CMA, FCMA, Principal of Nilson & Company wrote an insightful article on this topic for the last CMA Update Magazine which I am reproducing here:
May you live in interesting times
This is a phrase well known in the English language and typically ascribed to an old Chinese proverb. In truth, there is no such documented connection. Some attribute the phrase to a mid-Fifties American science fiction writer and others ascribe it to a 19th Century British writer using a Chinese nom-de-plume. There, it was the first of three ‘curses’, the other lesser-known ones being “May you come to the attention of those in authority” and “May you find what you are looking for”.
Accountants in public practice indeed are living the well-known phrase. Aside from the ubiquitous burden of ever-changing government legislation in income and commodity taxation, CMA public practitioners must watch their right flank for huge changes at the professional level.
First, there is the Ontario-driven movement to CMA National Standards for public accounting. This has been in progress for a while and will soon come to fruition. The BC version of this is slated to go forward to the Provincial Board this Fall for review and possible ratification. CMA practitioners are well advised to be cognizant of what changes may lie ahead.
In the future, CMAs seeking to register as practitioners will have to meet these new standards in order to be licensed. New applicants must successfully complete five on-line post-designation courses in taxation and assurance, followed by a two part, five hour comprehensive national public accounting exam. They also must acquire relevant public practice experience, measured in billable hours or equivalent, gained in an approved training organization. Up to 75% of this experience may be gained prior to enrolment in the post-designation program.
A transitional measure will grandfather all CMAs currently registered, and exempt them from the educational and practical experience requirements explained above.
A new initiative will require all practitioners to register their practice at a tier level - one through four. Tier one is for a compilation-only practice, while the higher tiers include review engagements and audits. Grandfathered members will be initially tiered at the level reflected in their most recent practice inspections. They will be given a time-limited opportunity to appeal their initial tier level registration. The practitioner must have sufficient experience to function at a particular tier. All practitioners seeking to migrate to a higher tier may be required to acquire the necessary educational and practical experience commensurate with that tier. This may entail gaining the extra experience through a mentor, subcontracting or employee arrangement.
Another new initiative will require registration and approval to act as a training organization or individual if the practitioner wishes to hire staff who are trying to accumulate the practical experience requirements. The training organization or individual must have at least three or five years of public accounting experience, depending upon the tier level, and have had successful practice inspections.
Another significant change is a new “minimum level of activity” requirement, which may, for instance, affect practitioners winding down in semi-retirement. The minimum will be set at five hundred billable hours or equivalent per annum for the practice.
The new National Standards consolidate the existing requirements regarding insurance coverage, practice inspection, professional conduct and continuous learning. The practice of “public accounting” has a definition in BC that is broader than some other jurisdictions. Aside from providing audit, review or compilation services, it also includes providing forensic accounting or tax advice or tax preparation where it is related to any of the above services. Also, it may include accounting services insofar as it involves summarization, analysis, advice, counsel or interpretation.
The BC Society will be creating a new Licensing Committee which will oversee these new standards in BC. You can read more about these standards at www.cmabc.com under Members/Public Practice.
Secondly, the BC Society will bring forth to the 2007 AGM a new set of Professional Conduct amendments affecting public practitioners. These were mailed out in August with the AGM package. These were drawn directly from existing ICABC rules and they are principally directed to conduct in assurance engagements. Many of them are specifically directed to engagements for “reporting issuer audit clients” and likely can be ignored by most CMA practitioners.
Independence rules across a range of conditions restrict a practitioner from taking on an assurance engagement. First, there cannot be a direct financial interest or material indirect financial interest in the client entity by the practitioner or a defined list of related parties. Financial interest includes both an equity position and a lender or creditor position. Second, there cannot be a “close business (material) relationship”, which is not defined. Third, there cannot be an employee/officer/director relationship or a family or personal relationship to the client entity. This includes family members with significant influence. Fourth, there cannot be a “management function” provided to the client entity, defined variously in the draft. Fifth, the practitioner cannot prepare journal entries for the client entity which have not been approved by management. Sixth, neither the practitioner nor a “network firm” can provide corporate finance activities, defined variously in the draft. Seventh, the practitioner cannot receive gifts, hospitality or discounts from the client entity unless they are immaterial.
This is only a broad summary of the amendments, and practitioners would be well advised to read the details in the AGM package which will be available at www.cmabc.com under Members/AGM.
In closing, we return to the lesser known proverbs above: “May you come to the attention of those in authority” – indeed you have and, “May you find what you are looking for” in choosing a career in public practice in the face of ever-increasing restrictions and responsibilities.
May you live in interesting times
This is a phrase well known in the English language and typically ascribed to an old Chinese proverb. In truth, there is no such documented connection. Some attribute the phrase to a mid-Fifties American science fiction writer and others ascribe it to a 19th Century British writer using a Chinese nom-de-plume. There, it was the first of three ‘curses’, the other lesser-known ones being “May you come to the attention of those in authority” and “May you find what you are looking for”.
Accountants in public practice indeed are living the well-known phrase. Aside from the ubiquitous burden of ever-changing government legislation in income and commodity taxation, CMA public practitioners must watch their right flank for huge changes at the professional level.
First, there is the Ontario-driven movement to CMA National Standards for public accounting. This has been in progress for a while and will soon come to fruition. The BC version of this is slated to go forward to the Provincial Board this Fall for review and possible ratification. CMA practitioners are well advised to be cognizant of what changes may lie ahead.
In the future, CMAs seeking to register as practitioners will have to meet these new standards in order to be licensed. New applicants must successfully complete five on-line post-designation courses in taxation and assurance, followed by a two part, five hour comprehensive national public accounting exam. They also must acquire relevant public practice experience, measured in billable hours or equivalent, gained in an approved training organization. Up to 75% of this experience may be gained prior to enrolment in the post-designation program.
A transitional measure will grandfather all CMAs currently registered, and exempt them from the educational and practical experience requirements explained above.
A new initiative will require all practitioners to register their practice at a tier level - one through four. Tier one is for a compilation-only practice, while the higher tiers include review engagements and audits. Grandfathered members will be initially tiered at the level reflected in their most recent practice inspections. They will be given a time-limited opportunity to appeal their initial tier level registration. The practitioner must have sufficient experience to function at a particular tier. All practitioners seeking to migrate to a higher tier may be required to acquire the necessary educational and practical experience commensurate with that tier. This may entail gaining the extra experience through a mentor, subcontracting or employee arrangement.
Another new initiative will require registration and approval to act as a training organization or individual if the practitioner wishes to hire staff who are trying to accumulate the practical experience requirements. The training organization or individual must have at least three or five years of public accounting experience, depending upon the tier level, and have had successful practice inspections.
Another significant change is a new “minimum level of activity” requirement, which may, for instance, affect practitioners winding down in semi-retirement. The minimum will be set at five hundred billable hours or equivalent per annum for the practice.
The new National Standards consolidate the existing requirements regarding insurance coverage, practice inspection, professional conduct and continuous learning. The practice of “public accounting” has a definition in BC that is broader than some other jurisdictions. Aside from providing audit, review or compilation services, it also includes providing forensic accounting or tax advice or tax preparation where it is related to any of the above services. Also, it may include accounting services insofar as it involves summarization, analysis, advice, counsel or interpretation.
The BC Society will be creating a new Licensing Committee which will oversee these new standards in BC. You can read more about these standards at www.cmabc.com under Members/Public Practice.
Secondly, the BC Society will bring forth to the 2007 AGM a new set of Professional Conduct amendments affecting public practitioners. These were mailed out in August with the AGM package. These were drawn directly from existing ICABC rules and they are principally directed to conduct in assurance engagements. Many of them are specifically directed to engagements for “reporting issuer audit clients” and likely can be ignored by most CMA practitioners.
Independence rules across a range of conditions restrict a practitioner from taking on an assurance engagement. First, there cannot be a direct financial interest or material indirect financial interest in the client entity by the practitioner or a defined list of related parties. Financial interest includes both an equity position and a lender or creditor position. Second, there cannot be a “close business (material) relationship”, which is not defined. Third, there cannot be an employee/officer/director relationship or a family or personal relationship to the client entity. This includes family members with significant influence. Fourth, there cannot be a “management function” provided to the client entity, defined variously in the draft. Fifth, the practitioner cannot prepare journal entries for the client entity which have not been approved by management. Sixth, neither the practitioner nor a “network firm” can provide corporate finance activities, defined variously in the draft. Seventh, the practitioner cannot receive gifts, hospitality or discounts from the client entity unless they are immaterial.
This is only a broad summary of the amendments, and practitioners would be well advised to read the details in the AGM package which will be available at www.cmabc.com under Members/AGM.
In closing, we return to the lesser known proverbs above: “May you come to the attention of those in authority” – indeed you have and, “May you find what you are looking for” in choosing a career in public practice in the face of ever-increasing restrictions and responsibilities.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Quality Requires Working Together
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
- William A. Foster
The Public expects Canada's public accounting professionals to demonstrate clearly that quality is the core element of their engagements. The implementation of the Quality Assurance Manual (QAM) is an important response to this expectation. The Quality Assurance Manual (now a requirement for all practices completing assurance engagements) is an effort to document policies and procedures that have long been followed by professional accountants but were not prescibed as professional standards. However, implemenation of some of these new standards, such as the new independence rules and the need to have a file review monitor, does present some difficulties for sole-practitioners and small firms.1
Practitioners, competing to attract new clients, have put up many walls between themselves within the profession. Many are not comfortable with sharing files. Now practitioners must begin to collaborate with others, not only to comply with the new rules but also to enhance the service that they have provided to their clients in the past. It is critical for practitioners to forge relationships with other public accountants who provide complimentary services to their own in order to fulfill the new requirements.
Public Accounting "began with the mission to serve clients, to be independent and to provide knowledgeable opinions."2 In order to continue to pursue this mission, practitioners now need to work together more.
CMA BC Public Accountants meet together monthly at the Bonsor Recreation Centre conference room, 6550 Avenue, Burnaby, BC. If you wish to attend the next meeting, please contact Robert Holmes at robert@blackfishcma.com.
Should you need to purchase a Quality Assurance Manual, one can be obtained by visiting the following website: www.knotia.ca/store
- William A. Foster
The Public expects Canada's public accounting professionals to demonstrate clearly that quality is the core element of their engagements. The implementation of the Quality Assurance Manual (QAM) is an important response to this expectation. The Quality Assurance Manual (now a requirement for all practices completing assurance engagements) is an effort to document policies and procedures that have long been followed by professional accountants but were not prescibed as professional standards. However, implemenation of some of these new standards, such as the new independence rules and the need to have a file review monitor, does present some difficulties for sole-practitioners and small firms.1
Practitioners, competing to attract new clients, have put up many walls between themselves within the profession. Many are not comfortable with sharing files. Now practitioners must begin to collaborate with others, not only to comply with the new rules but also to enhance the service that they have provided to their clients in the past. It is critical for practitioners to forge relationships with other public accountants who provide complimentary services to their own in order to fulfill the new requirements.
Public Accounting "began with the mission to serve clients, to be independent and to provide knowledgeable opinions."2 In order to continue to pursue this mission, practitioners now need to work together more.
CMA BC Public Accountants meet together monthly at the Bonsor Recreation Centre conference room, 6550 Avenue, Burnaby, BC. If you wish to attend the next meeting, please contact Robert Holmes at robert@blackfishcma.com.
Should you need to purchase a Quality Assurance Manual, one can be obtained by visiting the following website: www.knotia.ca/store
1. www.cica.ca, "Message to Practitioners in Small Practices on Quality Control"
2. www.camagazine.com, Grant C. Robinson, "New rules, new opportunities"
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