Quality Assurance 2019 Annual Report now available
The Institute released its Quality Assurance 2019 Annual Report this month. The report summarizes the work and practice review outcomes of the Quality Assurance Department, as well as the changes introduced to its practice review and professional standards monitoring programmes last year.
In 2019, the department carried out 354 practice reviews of practice units with audit clients, an increase of 15 percent from 2018. The Practice Review Committee considered 374 practice review reports in 2019. The percentage of directly closed cases had improved slightly from 61 percent to 65 percent. However, the number of complaints or referrals to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) cases increased to 18, including 9 cases relating to practices with listed clients.
“Despite the FRC having taken on the regulations of listed company audits, we see benefits in continuing to carrying on the professional standards monitoring function. The function has been in existence for more than 30 years and is useful for the Institute’s post-implementation review of professional standards,” wrote Elsa Ho, the Institute’s Director of Quality Assurance. “Accordingly, we will retain this programme and continue to refer non-compliance matters identified under this programme to the FRC in future.”
New webpage on government relief measures
The Institute has created a new webpage to inform members about some of the measures introduced by the Hong Kong government to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sectors and residents. The webpage contains information and links related to relief measures under the Anti-Epidemic Fund and the measures included in the 2020-21 budget. It can be found in the “COVID-19 – CPA Information Centre” section of the Institute’s website.
June 2020 exams cancelled amid COVID-19 concerns
The Institute announced this month that the June 2020 examination session has been cancelled, after monitoring the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. This covers all professional examinations, namely the Qualification Programme, Practising Certificate Examinations, and the Aptitude Tests. The decision was taken to prioritize the health and well-being of the Institute’s students and the community-at-large. The Institute also took into consideration the business conditions of member firms and their workloads. The next examination session will be December 2020. Further details will be announced closer to the start of the enrolment period.
Institute to hold almost 15 webinars in May
To help members access the training they need, the Institute will hold almost 15 webinars in May covering a wide range of topics. Check them out on the HKICPA Events app or the event calendar on the Institute’s website.
Webinars now part of Support Programme
Webinars are now part of the Institute’s Support Programme for members who are unemployed or planning to rejoin the workforce, in light of the continuing replacement of face-to-face events with webinars. The Support Programme offers 5 percent of webinar enrolments free-of-charge to eligible members.
Council meeting minutes
The abridged minutes from the January Council meeting are now available for members to read. They can be found in here.
