Being part of a professional order is not a right, but a privilege that is subject to ethical regulations and rigorous laws. The chartered professional accountant (” CPA “) profession is governed by several statutes, including the Professional Code, the Chartered Professional Accountants Act and the Code of Ethics of Chartered Professional Accountants. The Act defines the practice of the profession as consisting, with respect to the economic activities and assets of a person, company or organization, in the aspects of accounting, management, finance or taxation:
(1) collecting, organizing, analyzing, evaluating, certifying or certifying financial and non-financial information, communicating and advising on it;
(2) developing, assessing, certifying compliance or certifying policies, procedures, processes and controls related to governance, strategy and risk management, implementing and advising on them.
According to the Act, the purpose of these professional activities is to optimize the performance, profitability and growth of the wealth of a person, business or organization, to promote sound governance or accountability or to increase the reliability of information.
Acts exclusively reserved for chartered professional accountants
As a chartered professional accountant, the practice of public accountancy is reserved for you. This activity consists of :
(1) express an opinion to provide a level of assurance to a financial statement or any part thereof, or to any other information related to that financial statement; these are the assurance engagement, i.e., the audit and review engagements, as well as the issuance of special reports; (2) issue any form of attestation, statement or opinion on information related to a financial statement or any part thereof, or on the application of specified audit procedures with respect to financial information, other than financial statements, that is not intended exclusively for internal administration purposes; (3) carry out a compilation mission that is not intended exclusively for internal administration purposes.
Disciplinary complaint for breach of ethics
As a CPA, you are subject to ethical obligations set out in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics of Chartered Professional Accountants. When the CPA Order accuses you of having violated your professional obligations, you may be subject to an ethics remedy. The syndic of the Ordre des CPA du Québec is responsible for protecting the public by ensuring that there is no inappropriate or unethical practice of the profession. To do so, the Ethics Officer may conduct an investigation into an accountant, either when requested or on his or her own initiative, if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the accountant has breached his or her ethical obligations. If he concludes that this is the case, he will file a complaint against you with the Disciplinary Council.
Since accounting is a highly regulated professional field, you are more at risk of committing ethical misconduct. Our lawyers specializing in disciplinary law are there to support you and defend your rights during disciplinary proceedings brought by your professional order. Don’t wait to face the disciplinary process alone and contact us now for specialized legal assistance in professional law and to be entitled to a solid defense, adapted to your situation.
Duties and Obligations of the Chartered Professional Accountant
As a CPA, you are subject to several obligations, some common to all professions, others specific to accountants. It is the violation of one or more of these obligations that will lead the syndic to open an investigation and file a complaint.
Thus, you are not only required to comply with the various laws to which you are subject, but to take reasonable measures to ensure that the people who collaborate with you in the exercise of your professional activities, including, where applicable, the firm in which you work, also comply with them. As a CPA, you are subject to different types of duties: general duties, duties to the client and duties to the profession. Let’s analyze some of these duties.
General duties
Duty of good conduct
As a chartered professional accountant, you must at all times act with honour, dignity, respect and courtesy, and refrain from any form of discrimination. You must conduct yourself in a manner that is beyond reproach and avoid any method or attitude that could damage the reputation of the profession or the public’s trust in it. As such, you must practice your profession ethically, free from intimidation, harassment, exploitation and any method of solicitation of clients that is likely to undermine the dignity of the profession.
Duty of competence
At all times, you must fulfill your obligations in accordance with the best practices, applicable laws and standards, including those set out in the CPA Canada Handbook. As a result, you must practice your profession competently, taking into account your abilities, limitations and the means at your disposal. Thus, you must refrain from practising public accountancy in circumstances or conditions that are likely to compromise the quality of your practice or harm public confidence in the profession. This means that you must, when the client’s interest so requires, consult or refer the client to a colleague and, conversely, supervise and supervise anyone for whom you have immediate responsibility.
Duty of integrity
As a CPA, you must act at all times with integrity, honesty and probity, which means that you must not participate in any act involving fraud, collusion, bribery, breach of trust, or any criminal activity. As a result, you may not prepare, sign or produce any document that you know to be false, misleading, misleading or contrary to the law, rules of the art or applicable standards.
Duty of objectivity and independence
As a professional, it is essential that your judgment, your opinion and your actions are free, unbiased and as objective as possible. You must therefore prevent and avoid any conflict of interest situation, i.e. any situation where your professional duties and obligations towards your client could be compromised by your interests, those of another or former client, or a person with whom you have a direct or indirect relationship. In such a situation, you must use your judgment and refuse to act or cease acting, unless you can remedy the conflict by using safeguards and obtain your client’s consent. For example, you will need to be extra careful when accepting a gift or benefit that may affect your objectivity, or when referring one of your clients to another person for the supply of goods or services.
Duty of confidentiality
As a chartered professional accountant, you are bound by solicitor-client privilege; You must refrain from revealing any confidential information obtained in the practice of your profession, unless authorized by law or your client. However, professional secrecy can be broken in order to prevent an act of violence, such as suicide, in the event of imminent danger of death or serious injury threatening an identifiable person or group of persons. If you provide confidential information in this case, you must:
- Disclose only the information that is necessary.
- disclose this information only to the person or authority to whom you can do so;
- use a method of communication that ensures the confidentiality of the communication;
- inform the person to whom you are disclosing the information that it is protected by solicitor-client privilege;
In addition, you must record in the client’s file the purpose of the communication, the reasons for the communication, the date and time it was made, the name of the person to whom it was made and the method of communication used, as well as the steps you took with the client before making the communication, or, if applicable, the reasons why you did not take any prior steps with the client.
Finally, you must exercise discretion with respect to all information about your clients, even if they are not protected by solicitor-client privilege.
Duties to the client
As a professional who provides services, it is important that you establish and maintain a relationship of mutual trust with your client. Thus, you must be available and due diligence towards him. In order to maintain the client’s trust, you have a duty to provide them with all the information necessary to enable them to acquire a proper understanding of the situation so that they can give their free and informed consent in writing. This includes allowing the client, upon request, to have access to documents concerning him in any file created concerning him. Similarly, you must determine with your client the terms, conditions and scope of the professional services contract, provide them with the explanations necessary to understand the services, answer their questions and obtain their consent. Your best interests are your client’s, which is why you must be extra careful when it comes to obtaining consent from a vulnerable person, including refusing to follow up on a client’s instructions if the client is incapacitated and the actions they are asking you to perform are likely to cause them great harm. In addition, you must not interfere in your client’s personal affairs that are not related to your competence, and you must respect the client’s freedom to consult the professional of his choice. You must be transparent with them and report any problematic situation that arises in the course of providing your services, such as a material error or a fact or omission that could constitute a violation of the law. Finally, when you stop acting for your client, you must avoid causing him harm, unless you stop acting for a serious reason, such as:
- Loss of trust with your customer
- inducing your client to engage in illegal, dishonest or fraudulent acts;
- the need to terminate the contract to comply with your Code of Ethics;
- the client’s failure to cooperate and provide you with the information necessary for the performance of the contract;
- the client’s refusal, upon receipt of the statement of fees and at least one notice of default, to pay disbursements and fees or an interim payment to provide for them.
If you cease to act, you must first send your client a written notice of cessation within a reasonable period of time.
Duties to the profession
Derogatory acts
As a chartered professional accountant, you represent the image of the profession in the eyes of the public. You must therefore refrain from committing acts that derogate from the dignity of the profession that could devalue it. Derogatory acts are provided for in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics of Chartered Professional Accountants. For example, an act of derogation is an act if you are the subject of a final decision by a court or administrative agency that you have contravened a tax law, a securities law, an anti-money laundering or anti-terrorist financing law. both in Canada and abroad, or to regulations made under such legislation. In addition, in order to maintain a relationship of mutual trust with your clients, you must refrain, for the duration of the professional relationship that is established with the person to whom you provide services, from abusing that relationship to have sexual relations with him, from engaging in abusive acts of a sexual nature or from making abusive comments of a sexual nature. which also constitutes an act derogating from the dignity of the profession.
advertising
Advertising is regulated by your Code of Ethics, so you must ensure that it is compliant. In particular, you must refrain from making or permitting to be made in your name any advertising that is false, misleading, incomplete, likely to mislead or that is contrary to the honour or dignity of the profession. Similarly, you may not offer services under a name or designation that is misleading, misleading, contrary to the honour or dignity of the profession, or a numerical name.
Professional Reports
Finally, in your professional dealings with the CPA Order, your colleagues, students, articling students or any other professional, you must behave with dignity, courtesy, respect and integrity, while actively collaborating with them.
Illegal practice of the CPA profession
The Chartered Professional Accountants Act provides that in order to practise public accountancy, with the exception of the compilation engagement, which is not intended exclusively for internal administration purposes, you must hold a public accountancy licence . Thus, practising public accountancy without a licence is tantamount to an illegal practice of the profession, an offence that can have serious consequences. In addition, if you hold such a licence, you must use the title “auditor”, a title reserved for you. Thus, if you use the title “auditor” in any way, or a title or abbreviation that may suggest that you are, even though you do not hold a public accountancy permit, you are breaking the law and you may be subject to disciplinary action by your professional order.
Sanctions
If you are found guilty of the offences of which you are accused, the Disciplinary Council will impose one or more of the following sanctions on you:
- A reprimand;
- Temporary or permanent removal from the roll of the Order, even if you have ceased to be registered since the date of the offence;
- A fine;
- The obligation to give to any person to whom it is due an amount of money that you hold or should hold for them;
- The obligation to disclose a document or any information contained therein, and the obligation to complete, delete, update or correct such document or information;
- Revocation of your licence to practise;
- A limitation or suspension of your right to engage in professional activities.
A disciplinary lawsuit can be a source of stress and uncertainty for a chartered professional accountant, with major repercussions both personally and professionally. If you are the subject of a disciplinary complaint, do not wait for the situation to escalate. Take action now by contacting us for a strategic and tailored defense to protect your rights, reputation, and career.