Certified public accountant

A certified public accountant is a professional of the Comptabilité. It holds, control, supervises, righting the accountancy of the companies and entities legal. It establishes the assessments and income statements of the companies.

Formation

The certified public accountant must be registered near the order of the certified public accountants. It is except some exceptional cases envisaged by the regulation, holder of the diploma of State of accountancy. The diplomas of accountancy are:

Diploma of accountancy and management (DCG) in 3 years of studies after the baccalaureat (vat STG is in particular interesting for the future accountants)
higher Diplôme of accountancy and management (DSCG), in two years of studies after the diploma of accountancy and management
Diplôme of accountancy (DEC), after three years of practical training course in cabinet after the DSCG, and a final examination

(the DPECF, DECF and DESCF are replaced by DCG and DSCG as of the session 2008).

However after the higher Diploma of accountancy and management, studying it which finds a Master of training course, becomes already training chartered accountant and depends then on the Order.

They thus are not eight years of theoretical studies; the training chartered accountant fully exerts the bottom of the trade of chartered accountant and is paid cabinet.

legal texts treating of the transformation of the diplomas (DPECF, DECF and DESCF) in (DCG and DSCG) are appeared in December 2006 : on the site about EC.

The diploma of accountancy is decreed with the titular candidates of the DSCG and who, after having achieved 3 years a professional training course, underwent successfully the 3 final tests:

defense of a report,
written test relating to the legal and contractual revision of the accounts,
discussion with a jury on the course of the training course.

The graduates will have to be registered with the order of certified public accountants (OEC) to exert in the capacity as certified public accountant. The diploma is decreed once and for all. The candidate can be registered with the Order several years after having been graduate. The diploma of accountancy makes it possible to also exert the function of auditor, on the condition of being registered near the course of call and of the regional company of the auditors of which its place depends on professional exercise. It also leads to stations of senior officers in companies of any nature.

Missions

The certified public accountants are brought together within a professional order which regulates the profession. The OEC is composed of the Superior council and 23 district councils. The missions of the certified public accountant are defined by the ordinance of September 19th, 1945, article 2, modified by the law of August 8th, 1994:

to hold, centralize, open, stop, supervise, rectify and consolidate accountancies of the companies and organizations to which it is not bound by a work contract,
to revise and appreciate accountancy,
to attest the regularity and the sincerity of the assessments and income statements,
to organize accountancies and to analyze the situation of the companies under their economic aspect, legal and financial.

These missions must be assumed by respecting a certain number of rules accepted by the profession. In 1966, the OEC (ex OECCA or Order of the certified public accountants and approved accountants) adopted recommendations relating to the professional missions. In 1990, there be a complete recasting of the professional standards. The general standards constitute the rules of bases:

professional behavior,
work,
report/ratio.

As for these various quoted missions, the responsibility for the certified public accountant is at four levels:

civil responsibility: inexecution of a contractual obligation, fault or negligence made in the exercise of its profession, leading to a damage. The certified public accountant has an obligation of means,
disciplinary responsibility: pronounced by the OEC in the event of non-observance of the deontology,
criminal responsibility: in the event of offense or of complicity, non-observance of the professional secrecy, breach of trust, forgery,
tax responsibility: it is blamed in the event of offense of omission of writing or making of inaccurate or fictitious writings, of offense of organization of false tax accountancy, offense of fraud. The tax responsibility for the certified public accountant is not committed, so in spite of checks in conformity with the uses and with the gathered data of countable science, it was not able to discover the unreality of the figures transmitted by its customer.

The specific standards come in complement from the general rules:

establishment of the accounts,
to that,
limited examination,
presentation,
WebTrust.

Mission of presentation of the annual accounts

The mission of presentation is a clean mission in France. The objective of a mission of presentation of the annual accounts and intermediaries is to make it possible the certified public accountant to attest that it did not raise anything which calls into question the coherence and the probability of the accounts (negative certificate of insurance). It is a mission of opinion, more particularly intended for the small companies. The company entrusts to the certified public accountant the responsibility to hold whole or part of its accountancy. Its mission is often supplemented by the establishment of the tax declarations and social.

This mission meets the needs for financial information and accountant, internal and external of the companies. It rests on:

furnished informations by the head of undertaking,
countable technique to make sure of the regularity or the form of accountancy,
techniques of control of the accounts and critical examination,
track records of the certified public accountant and his knowledge of the company and its environment in order to appreciate the coherence and the probability of the annual accounts.

Its complementary missions:

administrative assistance (pay, tax declarations and social),
mission of council out of matter tax, legal, of organization, management, finance…

Mission of examination limited of the annual accounts

The mission of examination of the annual accounts rests on:

an awareness relating to the countable organization,
an analysis of proédures relating to the countable organization,
a collection of the convincing elements resting on the techniques of control on parts, analytical examination, discussion with the direction.

These diligences aim to make it possible the certified public accountant to present a certificate indicating that it did not concern element calling into question the regularity the sincerity of the annual accounts, nor the faithful image of the inheritance, the financial position and the result of the company to the end of the financial year (negative certificate of insurance).

The mission leads to the establishment of a certificate which belongs to the summaries given to the customer. It is not true to that. It does not aim at the systematic search of frauds and diversions. This mission excludes the confirmation from information near the thirds.

Audit engagement of the annual accounts

Audit engagements contractual can be required of the certified public accountant, by the company itself or thirds. The mission is defined by the standards of audit of the IFAC (International Federation off Accountants: equalizer of the international audit) transposed by the OEC and the CNCC (national company of the auditors). The methods of audit engagement contractual are identical to those of legal audit.

The contractual revision consists of many and varied controls. It is called upon the techniques of survey, the material checks and the external steppings. At the conclusion of his work, the reviser delivers a certificate of sincerity, also called certification (positive certificate of insurance). He certifies that the audited accounts are regular and sincere and give a faithful image of the inheritance, financial position and result of the operations of the entity, to reflect a sincere and faithful image of the entreprpise

Missions of agreed procedures

These missions defined by the conceptual framework of the IFAC can relate to intermediate accounts, other financial informations, systems and procedures. They are missions of certificates or other missions for which the certified public accountant provides a report/ratio rising from the agreed procedures.

WebTrust mission

The standard relative to this mission is identical for the certified public accountants and the auditors. Indeed, the OEC and the CNCC signed on January 14th, 2000 an agreement with the AICPA (American Institute off Certified Public Accountants, American OEC). The purpose of this certification is to guarantee to the user a better safety on Internet: international label of certification WebTrust of the sites of e-business.

External bonds

Order of the CGA of Quebec
France Superior council about the Certified public accountants
France Chartered accountants and Auditors of France (ECF)
France French Institute of the Certified public accountants and the Auditors (IFEC)
France AB Accountancy -- information countable, social, tax, and legal)
Belgium Professional Institute of the Accountants and approved Fiscalists
Canada Canadian Institute of the Approved Accountants
Order of the Approved Accountants of Quebec

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