Chamber of Professional Accountants of the Republic of Kazakhstan
The CPA RK was established in 2011 after the reorganization of the Chamber of Professional Accountants and Auditors and obtained its accreditation as a professional organization of accountants in March of the same year. Its members are accounting firms and individual accountants. The Chamber's functions include promoting the interests of the accounting profession, determining educational and training requirements, establishing and fostering compliance with a Code of Ethics, and investigating and disciplining members for professional misconduct and non-compliance with the Chamber's rules and regulations. The CPA RK is an Associate of IFAC and a member of the Eurasian Council of Certified Accountants and Auditors.
Given the nature of its membership, the CPA RK is not involved in the implementation of the quality assurance (QA) reviews for auditors.
The chamber reports that it plans to study the experiences of other IFAC member organizations uniting accountants in establishing a QA system for their members and cooperates with other stakeholders involved in the development and implementation of the QA review system in the Republic of Kazakhstan such as the Ministry of Finance, professional audit organization, and UNCTAD. However, apart from a general statement, no specific activities have been indicated.
The CPA RK is encouraged to provide an update in its SMO Action Plan on the execution of its proposed actions to comply with SMO 1, including specific examples of activities it undertakes. It is also encouraged to indicate whether it participates in any of the ongoing consultations about the introduction of an audit oversight mechanism with the other stakeholders in the jurisdiction.
Educational requirements for accountants are established in law and regulations of the Ministry of Finance. The CPA RK, as an accredited professional accounting organization, is responsible for their implementation as they relate to its members.
CPA RK reports that its full members must have one year of practical experience and fulfill the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements, although no minimum requirement for the latter has been established. The chamber provides its members with different CPD activities, including in-person seminars, training courses, conferences, and round tables that cover various technical matters as well as web-based learning activities. Annually, approximately 500 training activities are conducted.
As far as the incorporation of the IES requirements in the jurisdiction is concerned, the CPA RK conducts state certification of professional accountants; however, it is not clear whether the program is in line with IES. The chamber indicates in its 2017 SMO Action Plan that a benchmarking exercise against the IES requirements has been in progress since 2013. Additionally, a number of actions are indicated in the 2017 SMO Action Plan aimed at promoting the IES to higher education institutions and universities, training providers as well as the Eurasian Council of Certified Accountants and Auditors. However, the above initiatives do not appear to have been implemented.
The Chamber is encouraged to complete the benchmarking exercise it initiated in 2013 and, based on its result, develop specific actions with a defined timeline to address the gaps, if any. It is also recommended that CPA RK collaborates with other stakeholders involved in the education of professional accountants in the jurisdiction, such as other professional accounting and auditing organizations and the regulators, to develop a roadmap for bringing national educational requirements for professional accountants in line with IES. In addition, the chamber should consider collaborating with other stakeholders to jointly participate in the international standard-setting process by providing comments on exposure drafts and other pronouncements issued by the IAESB and consider disseminating information on the international developments in the area.
ISA have been adopted for application in the republic of Kazakhstan through the Law on Audit Activity of 1998 and are promulgated by the Ministry of Finance. As an organization of accountants, CPA RK is not involved in either setting the standards or supporting its members with the implementation of auditing standards. However, it reports that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Collegium of Auditors to assist with the translation of ISA in the Russian language and to distribute ISA to all interested parties.
The CPA RK is encouraged to provide an update in its SMO Action Plan on the execution of its proposed actions to comply with SMO 3, including specific recent and planned activities it undertakes, and to address staff's comments. The CPA RK is encouraged to disseminate information on the international developments in the area of auditing to its members and, if deemed relevant and necessary, include ISA-related subjects in its continuing professional development programs on an ongoing basis.
As an accredited organization for accountants, the CPA RK is required by law to adopt a Code of Ethics for its members and has consequently adopted the 2010 version of the IESBA Code in 2014. Following the adoption, the chamber reports that it studied IESBA's website resources on implementing the code of ethics, experiences of other IFAC member bodies representing accountants with adopting the IESBA Code of Ethics for accountants, and updated its continuing professional development programs. As of 2016, however, no activities to raise awareness of its members about the requirements of the Code, to ensure compliance with the Code, or plans to adopt the most recent version of the IESBA Code have been reported.
The Chamber is encouraged to indicate in the Action Plan whether it has developed ongoing activities to assist its members with the implementation of the code of ethics (e.g., CPD courses, trainings and development of implementation guidance) and whether it monitors and enforces members' compliance with the Code. It is also recommended that the CPA RK establishes processes to incorporate the revisions to the IESBA Code and to disseminate updates in the international standard-setting in the area to its members on an ongoing basis. In particular, the chamber is encouraged to review the new NOCLAR standard (effective 2017) for adoption and begin considering the specific training and other implementation support activities. Working with other professional accounting and auditing organizations to promote the adoption of the IESBA Code of Ethics at the national level and to jointly participate in the international standard-setting process through the provision of comments on exposure drafts and other pronouncements issued by IESBA would also be beneficial.
With IPSAS adopted by the Ministry of Finance for application in the Republic of Kazakhstan, CPA RK raises the awareness of accountants and the general public of the international standards and ensures that quality training and guidance materials are provided to the profession. It reports that it has trained and issued IPSAS certificates to over 1,500 accountants.
CPA RK is encouraged to indicate in its SMO Action Plan specific activities it undertakes to support its members in public sector with the implementation of IPSAS. Such activities may consist of including IPSAS-related topics in the initial professional development and continuing professional development programs, organizing seminars, conferences etc. on public sector accounting standards, possibly in collaboration with other stakeholders involved in the process of implementing IPSAS, and disseminating information on international developments through its website and publications, among other undertakings.
In 2011, the CPA RK first adopted rules and regulations related to investigation and discipline of its members. In December 2015, the CPA RK reports that it analyzed the requirements of SMO 6 and studied the international best practices of SMO 6 application. The chamber also held presentations in December 2014 for its members to raise awareness about the I&D system. Apart from these statements, no further information has been provided and the extent of compliance with the requirements of SMO 6 has not been reported.
The SMO 6 section of the Action Plan needs to be updated to reflect the recent and planned activities as well as the main features of the existing system, number of cases heard, and the role of the Ministry of Finance in the process of I&D of professional accountants. The association is strongly encouraged to conduct a self-assessment of its I&D system against the requirements of SMO 6. If gaps in compliance exist, CPA RK should prioritize developing plans to adopt any missing requirements and update its SMO Action Plan accordingly. It is also recommended that CPA RK consider sharing the revised SMO 6 requirements with other stakeholders that are involved in the investigation and discipline of the profession in order to promote compliance at the jurisdiction level, and facilitate collaboration on establishment of a unified system.
Current Status: Consider
CPA RK has no responsibility for the adoption of IFRS, which have been adopted by the Ministry of Finance. In the area of setting and implementing accounting standards, the chamber believes it is best positioned to assist with the translation of IFRS, support its members with their application, as well as in initiate and promote IFRS-related activities and participate in international discussions and conferences.
To this end, the CPA RK contributed to the official translation of IFRS into the Russian language and participated in the IFRS Kazakh language translation group of the Ministry of Finance.
To support implementation of IFRS, CPA RK conducts relevant trainings on IFRS as part of its continuing professional development program, invites leading audit firms and experienced trainers and experts to update its members on IFRS, conducts trainings and courses, and participates in conferences, seminars, among other activities. It also reports to have processes in place to update its members on the international developments in the area.
The Chamber is encouraged to provide an update on the execution of its actions to comply with the requirements of SMO 7. CPA RK should also work with educational providers to ensure that initial professional development syllabi and courses, as well as education and exam material include up-to-date IFRS-related topics and to consider collaborating with other stakeholders in order to jointly participate in the international standard-setting process by submitting comments to the IASB exposure drafts and other public consultations.
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