CPA Australia’s Best Practice Program

CPA Australia conducts best-practice assessments to ensure its members comply with the mandatory pronouncements issued by the APES Board, and with other mandatory CPA standards. CPA Australia recently updated its quality review program to become its ‘Best Practice Program’, helping to maintain a consistently high standard of quality and service for practices’ clients.

Public Practice Certificate holders are required to undertake an assessment to review their business and mitigate risks.

Summary of the CPA Australia Best Practice Program assessment:

• The member receives an email from their CPA Australia best practice engagement manager notifying them of an upcoming assessment.
• The member accesses an online portal to arrange the assessment.
• The member is required to complete a questionnaire and submit all necessary information at least five business days prior to the assessment.

IMPORTANT: Members can no longer select files for review, but must provide a complete client listing. The assessment manager will advise which files will be selected for review. This is a significant change to the past quality review program.

• The CPA Australia best practice engagement manager conducts the assessment and presents the results to the member. (The outcome is also noted in the member’s support plan, found in the portal.)
• The member is invited to address any mandatory findings and upload the necessary files in the portal.
• Once there are no outstanding issues, the assessment manager provides a completion letter.

This standard requires public practices to establish and maintain a System of Quality Management for non-assurance services. This should give the accounting body assurance that the firm and its personnel are complying with professional standards, ethical requirements, and other applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

The standard requires all firms engaging in audit and assurance services to design, implement and operate robust quality management systems and procedures.

This standard specifies the mandatory obligations of a firm to maintain a risk management framework to identify, assess, and manage organisational risks. It documents the firm’s Risk Management Framework and how it communicates risk management policies and procedures to its personnel.