Term
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Definition
| An engagement that requires independence as defined in AICPA Professional Standards. Attest engagements include financial statement audits, reviews, and examinations of prospective financial information. |
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Term
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Definition
| A parent, sibling, or nondependent child. |
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Term
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Definition
A member that is
a. An individual on the attest engagement team.
b. An individual in a position to influence the attest engagement.
c. A partner or manager who provides nonattest services to the attest client beginning once he or she provides 10 hours of nonattest services to the client within any fiscal year and ending on the later of the date (i) the firm signs the report on the financial statements for the fiscal year during which those services were provided, or (ii) he or she no longer expects to provide 10 or more hours of nonattest services to the attest client on a recurring basis.
d. A partner in the office in which the lead attest engagement partner primarily practices in connection with the attest engagement.
e. The firm, including the firm's employee benefit plans.
f. An entity whose operating, financial, or accounting policies can be controlled (as defined by generally accepted accounting principles for consolidation purposes) by any of the individuals or entities described in parts (a) through (e), or by two or more such individuals or entities if they act together. |
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Term
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Definition
| A system or code of conduct based on moral duties and obligations that indicates how an individual should behave. |
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Term
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Definition
| An ownership interest in an equity or a debt security issued by an entity, including rights and obligations to acquire such an interest and derivatives directly related to such interest. A direct financial interest is a financial interest that is owned directly by an individual or entity, or is under the control of an individual or entity. An indirect financial interest is a financial interest that is beneficially owned through an investment vehicle, estate, trust, or other intermediary when the beneficiary does not control the intermediary or have authority to supervise or participate in the intermediary's investment decisions. |
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Term
| Generally Accepted Auditing Standards |
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Definition
| Measures of the quality of the auditor's performance. |
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Term
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Definition
| In general, any action initiated by a member that informas others of his or her status as a CPA or AICPA-accredited specialist constitutes holding out as a CPA. This would include, for example, use of the CPA designation on business cards or letterhead, or listing as a CPA in local telephone directories. |
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Term
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Definition
| A spouse, spousal equivalent, or dependent (whether or not related). |
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Term
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Definition
A position in which an individual
a. Has primary responsibilities for significant accounting functions that support material components of the financial statements.
b. Has primary responsibility for the preparation of the financial statements.
c. Has the ability to exercise influence over the contents of the financial statements, including when the individual is a member of the board of directors or similar governing body, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, general counsel, chief accounting officer, controller, director of internal audit, director of financial reporting, treasurer, or any equivalent position.
For purposes of attest engagements not involving a client's financial statements, a key position is one in which an individual is primarily responsible for, or able to influence, the subject matter of the attest engagement, as described above. |
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Term
| Period of the Professional Engagement |
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Definition
| The period for which a member either signs an initial engagement letter or other agreement to perform attest services or begins to perform an attest engagement for a client, whichever is earlier. The period lasts for the entire duration of the professional relationship and ends with the formal or informal notification, either by the member or the client, of the termination of the professional relationship or by the issuance of a report, whichever is later. Accordingly, the period does not end with the issuance of a report and recommence with the beginning of the following year's attest engagement. |
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Term
| Practice of Public Accounting |
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Definition
| The performance for a client, by a member or a member's firm, while holding out as CPA(s), of the professional services of accounting, tax, personal financial planning, litigation support services, and those professional services for which standards are promulgated by bodies designated by Council. |
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Term
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Definition
| The conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or professional person. |
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