Overview

(Note: Please follow this link to the Practice Inspection Forms Completion Guide if your office has received, or anticipates receipt of, a letter advising of selection for practice inspection in 2012; however, we ask that you read the remainder of this page first.)

The Institute’s practice inspection program is a key regulatory process launched in 1980.  Its dual purpose is:

• Protection of the public by ensuring that all members engaged in the practice of public accounting are adhering to the professional standards set out in the CICA Handbook and ICAO Members handbook, thereby contributing to users’ confidence in the integrity of financial statements; and
• Providing an educational experience, to help practitioners improve their professional standards where necessary.
  

Essentially, through an assessment of a member’s quality control manual and a review of current assurance and compilation engagement files, practice inspection identifies areas where a practising member may require assistance in maintaining prescribed professional standards.  The practice inspection program does not set standards.

The success of the Ontario Institute's practice inspection program has resulted in many international inquiries.  Recent initiatives by the provincial Institutes/Ordre have resulted in the implementation of a harmonized approach to the performance of practice inspections and the evaluation of inspection results by decision makers (i.e. provincial/Ordre practice inspection committees).  The attached articles, in the Winter 2011 issue of CheckMark and a subsequent issues of e-Brief, describe numerous aspects of the harmonized practice inspection approach.

In addition to assessing compliance with prescribed professional standards, practice inspection assesses, on behalf of the Public Accounting Licensing Board,  members' compliance with the minimum requirements for maintaining a public accounting licence.

Each year, the practice inspection team, consisting of the staff and the practice inspection committee, summarizes areas where standards adherence might be improved. The resulting "Focus on Practice Inspection Findings" letter to all practising offices serves to encourage firms to assess their own standards to ensure that the problems set out in the letter do not apply to their practices. This assists firms in improving the quality of their practices where necessary.

Firms can download a copy of the current letter through the following link:

• Practice Inspection Findings Letter to All Offices June 2011  (PDF)
  
  

Find out more about the Institute's Practice Inspection Program through the following links:

• Regulation 10-1: Practice Inspection
• Action Plan
• Practice Inspection Forms Completion Guide  (To be used by firms which are anticipating, or have received, a letter advising of selection for practice inspection )

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The following section applies ONLY to offices which have received a confirmation letter setting out the actual date of a forthcoming practice inspection VISIT; it does NOT apply if your only communication from us to date is a notification of your office's selection for practice inspection in 2012-2013.

If you have recently received a confirmation letter in respect of a forthcoming practice inspection visit (not a desk inspection), you will have been asked to complete a Quality Control Questionnaire and (if your office is approved for the training of students) a Student Training Questionnaire.  You will also have been asked to ensure that licensed members provide information in respect of hours obtained in providing public accounting services (by having them complete a Practice Inspection Review – Public Accounting Experience form).  The required forms should be completed in advance of the practice inspection; the inspector will ask for them at the start of the inspection visit (do not send the completed forms to the Institute prior to the inspection).  To access these forms, please use the following links.  [Note: These forms are in PDF format; you can either complete them on-screen, save them to your computer hard drive and then print them (recommended), or print them first and complete them by hand.]