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In this code of ethics for professional accountants you will find the following expressions:
The communication to the public of information as to the services or skills provided by professional accountants in public practice with a view to procuring professional business.
The party responsible party that is the person (or persons) who:
(a) in a direct reporting engagement, is responsible for the subject matter
(b) in an assertion-based engagement, is responsible for the subject matter information and may be responsible for the subject matter.
(For an assurance client that is a financial statement audit client see the definition of financial statement audit client.)
An engagement in which a professional accountant in public practice expresses a conclusion designed to enhance the degree of confidence of the intended users other than the responsible party about the outcome of the evaluation or measurement of a subject matter against criteria.
(For guidance on assurance engagements see the International Framework for Assurance Engagements issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board which describes the elements and objectives of an assurance engagement and identifies engagements to which International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), International Standards on Review Engagements (ISREs) and International Standards on Assurance Engagements (ISAEs) apply.)
(a) All members of the engagement team for the assurance engagement
(b) All others within a firm who can directly influence the outcome of the assurance engagement, including:
(i) those who recommend the compensation of, or who provide direct supervisory, management or other oversight of the assurance engagement partner in connection with the performance of the assurance engagement. For the purposes of a financial statement audit engagement this includes those at all successively senior levels above the engagement partner through the firm’s chief executive
(ii) those who provide consultation regarding technical or industry specific issues, transactions or events for the assurance engagement
(iii) those who provide quality control for the assurance engagement, including those who perform the engagement quality control review for the assurance engagement
(c) For the purposes of a financial statement audit client, all those within a network firm who can directly influence the outcome of the financial statement audit engagement.
A matter that is deemed to be both trivial and inconsequential.
A parent, child or sibling, who is not an immediate family member.
A fee calculated on a predetermined basis relating to the outcome or result of a transaction or the result of the work performed. A fee that is established by a court or other public authority is not a contingent fee.
A financial interest:
Those charged with the governance of an entity, regardless of their title, which may vary from country to country.
The partner or other person in the firm who is responsible for the engagement and its performance, and for the report that is issued on behalf of the firm, and who, where required, has the appropriate authority from a professional, legal or regulatory body.
A process designed to provide an objective evaluation, before the report is issued, of the significant judgments the engagement team made and the conclusions they reached in formulating the report.
All personnel performing an engagement, including any experts contracted by the firm in connection with that engagement.
A professional accountant in public practice currently holding an audit appointment or carrying out accounting, taxation, consulting or similar professional services for a client.
An interest in an equity or other security, debenture, loan or other debt instrument of an entity, including rights and obligations to acquire such an interest and derivatives directly related to such interest.
The balance sheets, income statements or profit and loss accounts, statements of changes in financial position (which may be presented in a variety of ways, for example, as a statement of cash flows or a statement of fund flows), notes and other statements and explanatory material which are identified as being part of the financial statements.
An entity in respect of which a firm conducts a financial statement audit engagement. When the client is a listed entity, the term financial statement audit client will always include its related entities.
A reasonable assurance engagement in which a professional accountant in public practice expresses an opinion whether financial statements are prepared in all material respects in accordance with an identified financial reporting framework, such as an engagement conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. This includes a Statutory Audit, which is a financial statement audit required by legislation or other regulation.
(a) A sole practitioner, partnership or corporation of professional accountants.
(b) An entity that controls such parties.
(c) An entity controlled by such parties.
International Federation of Accountants (the global organization for the accountancy profession).
A spouse (or equivalent) or dependant.
(a) Independence of mind – the state of mind that permits the provision of an opinion without being affected by influences that compromise professional judgment, allowing an individual to act with integrity, and exercise objectivity and professional judgment.
(b) Independence in appearance – the avoidance of facts and circumstances that are so significant that a reasonable and informed third party, having knowledge of all relevant information, including any safeguards applied, would reasonably conclude a firm’s, or a member of the assurance team’s, integrity, objectivity or professional scepticism had been compromised.
A financial interest beneficially owned through a collective investment vehicle, estate, trust or other intermediary over which the individual or entity has no control.
An entity whose shares, stock or debt are quoted or listed on a recognized stock exchange, or are marketed under the regulations of a recognized stock exchange or other equivalent body.
An entity under common control, ownership or management with the firm or any entity that a reasonable and informed third party having knowledge of all relevant information would reasonably conclude as being part of the firm nationally or internationally.
A distinct sub group, whether organised on geographical or practice lines.
An individual who is a member or registered student of CIMA.
A professional accountant employed or engaged in an executive or non-executive capacity in such areas as commerce, industry, service, the public sector, education, the not for profit sector, regulatory bodies or professional bodies, or a professional accountant contracted by such entities.
A professional accountant, irrespective of functional classification (e.g. audit, tax or consulting) in a firm that provides professional services. This term is also used to refer to a firm of professional accountants in public practice.
Services requiring accountancy or related skills performed by a professional accountant including accounting, auditing, taxation, management consulting and financial management services.
An entity that has any of the following relationships with the client:
(a) An entity that has direct or indirect control over the client provided the client is material to such entity
(b) An entity with a direct financial interest in the client provided that such entity has significant influence over the client and the interest in the client is material to such entity
(c) An entity over which the client has direct or indirect control
(d) An entity in which the client, or an entity related to the client under (c) above, has a direct financial interest that gives it significant influence over such entity and the interest is material to the client and its related entity in (c).
An entity which is under common control with the client (hereinafter a 'sister entity') provided the sister entity and the client are both material to the entity that controls both the client and sister entity.
