BYLAWS
REGULATIONS
801 Office Practice Assistance Committee
(1) The Office Practice Assistance Committee shall consist of such members, including a chair as are appointed by Council.
(2) The Office Practice Assistance Committee shall act on behalf of Council in:
(a) the supervision of assistance to, and review of, the practices of members engaged in the practice of public accounting on a full- or part-time basis in Manitoba with a view to the maintenance of proper professional standards by members as such standards relate to the performance of accounting and auditing services;
(b) receiving, considering and evaluating the reports and recommendations of any member or members retained pursuant to clause (4) hereof;
(c) reporting to the member or firm whose practice has been reviewed any desired improvement in the standards of his or her accounting and auditing services;
(d) the designation under the bylaws of the offices of practising members qualified to employ students, including the determination from time to time of the number of students who may be employed in each such office;
(e) exercising the investigation and inspection powers provided for in Bylaws 402 and 403 with respect to the employment of students.
(3) The Council may adopt and amend from time to time the rules and procedures to be followed by the Office Practice Assistance Committee in carrying out its duties under the bylaws. The Council may require that a fee, as established by regulation, be charged to and paid by every practising unit in respect of which assistance has been given or a review completed.
(4) The Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Chair of the Office Practice Assistance Committee may retain the services of any member or members as "Practice Advisor(s)" on a fee basis or otherwise.
(5) The Office Practice Assistance Committee, through its Chair, may authorize and direct, in specific or general terms any such Practice Advisor in the performance of his or her functions and in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer to:
(a) give to any member or firm requesting practice assistance, such assistance as he or she is capable of giving;
(b) inquire into all matters which may be brought to his or her attention, or to the attention of the committee or its Chair;
(c) carry out a program of practice reviews in accordance with procedures as adopted by the Council from time to time;
(d) interview any member and examine any working paper files, documents or other material in the possession or control of that member and that are related to the work of the committee;
(e) require the co-operation of any members and the production of any working paper files, books, documents or other material in his or her possession, custody or control which may be required from time to time and which are directly relevant to the work of the committee;
(6) The Office Practice Assistance Committee and any member thereof and any person acting on its behalf shall maintain the confidentiality of
(a) all practice assistance and practice review reports and files, and;
(b) all working paper files, books, documents or other material, and;
(c) the affairs of any member and of the member's client and, notwithstanding any other provision of these bylaws or the rules of professional conduct, any matter arising out of a practice assistance or review shall not be disclosed or brought to the attention of the Professional Conduct Committee unless, as a result of the assistance or review , the Office Practice Assistance Committee is of the opinion that any failure to maintain professional standards is sufficiently serious as to reflect adversely upon the professional competence, reputation or integrity of a member or student.
(7) The failure by a practising unit to pay the fee payable in accordance with Regulation 8501(1) and (2) shall result in suspension or termination of the member or members in accordance with the provisions of Bylaws 332 and 333. [The next Bylaw is Bylaw 901]
OFFICE PRACTICE ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS
(Pursuant to Bylaw 801)
8101 Governing Principles
(1) The Office Practice Assistance Committee in the exercise of its functions and powers shall observe the applicable provision of the bylaws.
(2) Subject to the provisions of clause 8101(1) hereof, the following rules and procedures shall be observed by the committee and the Practice Advisor or Advisors appointed pursuant to the bylaws.
8102 Definitions
In these rules and procedures
(a) the words "Institute," "member," "firm" and "practice of public accounting" have the meanings given to them in the Bylaws of the Institute;
(b) the words "practising unit" mean
| (i) |
a member carrying on alone the practice of public accounting in Manitoba; |
| (ii) |
a member carrying on such practice alone, except for the employment by the member of one or more other members, and include such other member or members; |
| (iii) |
a firm of members carrying on the practice of public accounting in Manitoba, and include any member or members employed by such firm; |
whether such practice be conducted on a full or part-time basis, or as an office of convenience, or otherwise.
8201 Procedures
(1) The Office Practice Assistance Committee
| (a) |
may review the practice of any member or members who has or have discontinued the practice of public accounting but has or have practised within such period prior to the review as the committee may determine; and |
| (b) |
may exempt from practice review the practice of any practising unit, the practice of which it deems to be so small in volume or so inactive as not to require a practice review. |
(2) Priority shall be given to requests from practising units for practice assistance.
(3) In due course of time the practices of all practising units shall be reviewed, subject to the exemptions provided for in clause 8201 (1)(b) hereof. In general, practising units shall be selected for practice review on a random basis, but otherwise may be reviewed on the recommendation of the Practice Advisor, on instruction of the committee through its chairman, or with priority to recently formed practising units. Geographical considerations shall be taken into consideration so that a review may be conducted at one time of several practising units situated outside of Winnipeg in the vicinity of a city or town.
(4) (a) A practising unit shall be given at least six weeks written notice of the date on which the Practice Advisor, who shall be named in the notice, intends to commence a review. Such notice shall be deemed to have been duly given if mailed prepaid in Manitoba addressed to the intended recipient at such address as appears in the records of the Institute or, if no address appears, then to the address last known to the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute. The certificate of the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute or of any other person appointed by him or her shall be conclusive evidence of the due mailing of such notice.
(b) If a practising unit, to whom a notice has been given as provided for in clause 8201(4)(a) hereof of the intention of a Practice Advisor to commence a review on a specified date, makes a request later than fifteen days after the mailing of such notice for a change in the date for commencement of such review, then, if such request is granted, the hourly rate for work specified in clause 8501(1) shall be increased by one-half of the usual rate in respect of each hour of work expended by the Practice Advisor in making such review.
(5) A practising unit may object in writing to the committee within ten days of the giving of notice of an intended practice review, on the grounds that a Practice Advisor named in the notice may be lacking in objectivity, or on any other valid ground, and in that event the committee, if it is satisfied that there is a reasonable basis for objection, shall designate another Practice Advisor for the review and notify the practising unit accordingly. The practising unit shall have the right to appeal to the Council of the Institute if it objects to the Practice Advisor so designated.
(6) The notice referred to in clause 8201(4) shall be accompanied by a questionnaire in a form approved by the Office Practice Assistance Committee as to information to be furnished by the practising unit to the committee.
(7) The practising unit shall properly complete such questionnaire and return it within two weeks of the receipt thereof to the Practice Advisor or to such other person as the Office Practice Assistance Committee may designate.
8301 Review Guidelines
The Practice Advisor shall conduct each practice review in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, and shall act in conformity with any policy directions made by the Office Practice Assistance Committee, and with his or her professional judgment. Unless otherwise directed by the committee he or she shall observe the following guidelines:
| (a) |
In the case of a practising unit that is carried on by a member practising alone, the number of files to be examined and the depth of the examination will be based on the professional judgment of the Practice Advisor. |
| (b) |
In the case of a practising unit that is carried on by more than one member, whether employed or as partners, the Practice Advisor will take into consideration the size and diversity of the practice, as well as the effectiveness of any system of quality control, in determining the scope of the review. |
| (c) |
In the case of each practice review, the Practice Advisor shall complete file review questionnaires in form approved by the committee, and an evaluation form setting out his or her conclusions with respect to the adequacy of the professional standards of the practising unit as a whole. |
| (d) |
Before leaving the office of the practising unit the Practice Advisor shall discuss such questionnaires and evaluation form with the practitioner in charge of the office and shall note on such evaluation form any comments thereon made by such practitioner. |
| (e) |
The Practice Advisor shall then prepare a written report based on his or her final evaluation, in which shall be included the recommendations he or she may have in respect of any corrective actions he or she deems necessary, either with respect to the practising unit as a whole or with respect to any member or members, and also with respect to any follow up reviews he or she deems necessary. |
| (f) |
A completed copy of the questionnaires, the evaluation referred to in clause (c), and the report referred to in clause (e) shall be submitted by the Practice Advisor to the committee for its examination, prior to the submission of the report to the practising unit. |
| (g) |
Prior to making any recommendations the report referred to in clauses (e) and (f) hereof shall be sent by ordinary mail to the practising unit and the practising unit shall have 21 days from the date of mailing of the said report to make written submissions to the committee with respect to any such recommendations. |
| (h) |
The material provided to the committee shall not identify the practising unit or any member and they shall be identified by number only. |
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8401 Reporting/ Recommendation Guidelines
The Office Practice Assistance Committee shall conduct its examination of the material referred to in clause 8301(f), including any recommendations of the Practice Advisor, in general conformity with the following guidelines:
| (a) |
All reports relating to practising units will be examined by the committee. The committee shall approve or reject any recommendations of the Practice advisor, or approve them with amendments. |
| (b) |
The committee may discuss any report and recommendations with the Practice Advisor. |
| (c) |
The committee shall consider any written submission that may be made on behalf of a practising unit that has been reviewed, if such practising unit shall have so requested. |
| (d) |
The committee may make such recommendations as to corrective courses of action and as to follow-up practice reviews as the committee deems appropriate in the circumstances of the practising unit and shall cause the practising unit to be notified thereof. |
| (e) |
Any practising unit that has been reviewed shall have the right to appeal to the Council of the Institute if it is of the opinion that any recommendation made by the committee for corrective or other action was unwarranted. |
| (f) |
If after an initial practice review and two follow-up reviews there continues to be a flagrant disregard of standards, or where a practising unit has not made any real effort to follow the recommended actions, in each case in the opinion of the committee, the matter shall be referred to the Professional Conduct Committee. |
| (g) |
Whenever evidence of suspected fraud or misrepresentation comes to the attention of the committee, such evidence shall be referred to the Professional Conduct Committee. |
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8501 Schedule of rates
(1) Each practising unit that requests practice assistance, and each practising unit that is reviewed, shall be charged and shall pay on request a fee in respect of the practice assistance given to or review made of such unit, computed at an hourly rate as prescribed by Council for each hour of work expended by the Practice Advisor in giving such assistance or making such review.
(2) The fee payable by a practising unit pursuant to clause 8501 (1) shall be paid within thirty days after the mailing by the Institute to the practising unit, addressed to it at the address of said practising unit as it appears in the records of the Institute, of an invoice setting out the number of hours of work expended by the Practice Advisor and the total amount of the fee payable by the practising unit.
[The next bylaw is Bylaw 901]
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