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June 25, 2010 |
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CGA Ontario Receives Conditional Public Accounting Authorization As reported in the Spring 2010 issue of CheckMark and elsewhere, Ontario’s CGA and CMA organizations are in various stages of securing authorization from the Public Accountants Council (PAC) to become public accounting licensing issuers. On June 22, 2010, CGA Ontario received conditional recognition from the PAC that the education, examination and experience components of its proposed public accounting qualification program are substantially equivalent to those standards required by the PAC for this purpose, and as stipulated in Ontario legislation (the Public Accounting Act, 2004). Based on the information available as of this date, the Institute supports the decision of the PAC. As we understand it, the next step in the process will require CGA Ontario to pass new students through the proposed new qualification program, to ensure it imparts the necessary skills and competencies in “classroom conditions” and not just on paper. This and related next steps will be monitored and supervised by PAC assessors. These recent developments are the latest stage of a process we supported from the outset – starting with the establishment, under provincial legislation, of an independent body, comprising a majority of eminent non-accountants, to set the required qualification standards for public accounting licensure eligibility and to evaluate each recognized accounting body to determine if its education, examination and experience programs met these rigorous, pre-determined requirements, benchmarked against internationally-recognized standards that protect consumers and the public. It is anticipated that approximately 20 CGA candidates for licensure will become qualified in this way over the first year. Practitioners Alert Re: Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Local Health Integration Network's Annual Reconciliation Report The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) require auditors of all organizations receiving Community Mental Health and Addictions (CMH & A), Community Health Centre (CHC), Community Support Service (CSS) and Community Access Care Centre (CACC) funding from LHIN or Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to submit a Section 5815 report (Audit Report on compliance with agreements, statutes and regulations) on the organizations’ Annual Reconciliation Report. Auditors may have concerns that the form of audit opinion as currently contemplated by the Ministry of Health requires modifications; specifically that the proposed scope of the report is too wide and the audit criteria are not sufficiently specific. Auditors should modify the wording of the auditor’s report to describe the exact extent of the audit work performed. Discussions are ongoing with the Ministry to develop engagements that fit within auditing and assurance standards. Members may wish to seek advice from the Institute's Practice Advisory area at 416-962-1841, ext. 456, or toll free at 1-800-387-0735, ext. 456. Municipal Compliance Audit Committees A number of municipalities are currently in the process of selecting members for their Compliance Audit Committees. Under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, (the Act), a council or local board must establish a Compliance Audit Committee to receive and make decisions on applications for compliance audits of candidates' 2010 municipal election campaign finances. The Committee will perform the functions relating to the compliance audit application process as outlined in the Act. These functions include: considering a compliance audit application by an elector and deciding whether it should be granted or rejected; appointing an auditor, if the application is granted; receiving the auditor's report; considering the auditor's report and deciding whether legal proceedings should be commenced; and determining whether to recover costs of conducting the compliance audit from the applicant if the auditor's report indicates there were no apparent contraventions and if there appear to be no reasonable grounds for having made the application. These Committees will be composed of three members, with membership drawn from a number of stakeholder groups, including accountants or auditors with experience in preparing or auditing the financial statements of municipal candidates. Interested members should contact the Clerk’s office in their local council or board. Members Receiving their First Life Insurance Premium Notice under the CA Select Plan Newly-admitted members under the age of 36 years are offered complimentary $50,000 life insurance under the CA Select program. This coverage is valid for up to two years until June 1 of the second year following their admission to membership in the Institute. Those members whose complimentary coverage expired June 1, 2010 have recently received their first premium notice. At this time, you can choose to keep the coverage by renewing at the low premium rates available to members and their spouses. If you do not wish to continue with this coverage, no action is required. Please disregard any reminder notice and this coverage will automatically lapse. |
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