Florida Institute of CPAs is participating in the AICPA Peer Review Facilitated State Board Access (FSBA).   The Florida Institute of CPAs is helping to ensure a smooth transition to national implementation.

What is Facilitated State Board Access?
It is a new process that the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has created to help the profession keep up with the evolving changes in the business and regulatory environments and to address the demand for greater peer review transparency.

How Will Facilitated State Board Access Benefit My Firm?
The goal of this new process is to create a nationally uniform system through which CPA firms can satisfy state board peer review information submission requirements, increase transparency, and retain control over their peer review results.  The AICPA and CPA state societies are working together to allow this process to become the primary means by which all State Boards of Accountancy (BOAs) obtain peer review results. In Florida, our state board does not require peer review, so our participation in this process is limited and will focus on the part of the process that will allow us to submit peer review results to other BOAs as specifically requested by the firm.  Over time, this new process will help to make submission of your firm’s peer review information to other BOAs easier. 

What This Means for Your Firm
This new process uses theexisting peer review process to facilitate the voluntary disclosure of peer review results to BOAs.   Firms to which the process will be applicable will receive a notice of these changes once participation begins for Florida firms on or after the March 24, 2009 Report Acceptance Body (RAB) meeting.

Why Facilitated State Board Access?
After carefully evaluating the various options, stakeholders determined that the best way to address the user demands for greater peer review transparency, while considering member and CPA state society concerns, was to use the existing peer review process to facilitate the voluntary disclosure of peer review results to BOAs.  The intent of this new process is to create a nationally uniform system through which CPA firms can satisfy state board peer review information submission requirements, increase transparency, and retain control over their peer review results.  The AICPA and CPA state societies are working together to allow this process to become the primary means by which all BOAs obtain peer review results.  In Florida, our state board does not require peer review, so our participation in this process is limited and will focus on the part of the process that will allow us to submit peer review results to other BOAs as specifically requested by the firm.  Over time, this new process will help to make submission of your firm’s peer review information to other BOAs easier. 

When Will Facilitated State Board Access Be Implemented?
Six states participated in the pilot from October 2007 to March 2008.  Another 10 states participated in early adoption from May 2008 to December 2008.  Full national implementation will occur throughout 2009 in connection with the acceptance of new peer review reports issued under the revised AICPA Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews. 

How Will This New Process Work?
FSBA uses an opt-in process that allows peer review results to be made available to select BOAs on a voluntary firm basis, using a secure BOA web site available only to authorized state board representatives.  Beginning with reviews accepted on or after the March 24, 2009 RAB meeting, firms with their main office located in Florida will receive an additional letter with their firm’s peer review acceptance letter informing them that they can request the Florida Institute of CPAs to post their peer review results to a secure BOA web site with access given to select BOAs that require peer review and are not prohibited from accessing the results.  For firms whose main office is located in Florida, the peer review AE is the Florida Institute of CPAs.  Firms that are not members of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center (EBPAQC), Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC) or Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) will also be given the opportunity to select additional BOAs for expanded access.  Below are the details of how the new process will work. 

In Florida, the process will entail:

• Receiving an additional letter with your firm’s peer review acceptance letter informing you that you can request the Florida Institute of CPAs to post your firm’s peer review results to a secure BOA  web site with access given to specific BOAs that require peer review and are permitted access to peer review information.
  
• To have your peer review results posted for access by other BOAs, you must return the communication to the Florida Institute of CPAs with specific instructions. You can request that your results be made available to more than one BOA, as long as the BOAs require peer review and are not prohibited from obtaining access to peer review information.  Access will be limited only to those BOAs that are participating. It is anticipated that this option will be beneficial to firms, over time, with multi-state practices.

Firms will be notified by the Florida Institute of CPAs when the BOA(s) that they have selected for expanded access are participating in FSBA.  This notification will remind firms of their selection and provide them with the opportunity to change their decision regarding expanded access.

What Documents Will Be Posted Under This Process?
For firms that choose to provide access to one or more eligible BOAs, the following documents will be posted, as applicable, to the secure BOA web site for access only by authorized state board representatives. The number of documents posted to the secure BOA web site for a firm may vary based upon the results of the peer review.  A firm will not choose which documents will be posted as each of those that are applicable (based on the results of the review) will be posted.

The following documents will be posted to the secure BOA web site, as applicable:

• Peer review report
• Letter of comments
• Letter of response
• Acceptance letter
• Letter(s) signed by the reviewed firm indicating that the peer review documents have been accepted with the understanding that the reviewed firm agrees to take certain actions
• Letter notifying the reviewed firm or individual that certain required actions have been completed

Firms that choose to expand access to other eligible BOAs may change their mind even after their information has been posted by notifying the Florida Institute of CPAs in writing.   Once the Florida Institute of CPAs has been notified, the information will be removed from the web site, however, certain information (which is currently publicly available) will remain posted to the secure BOA web site. This information will help us to maintain a complete database of all firms in the peer review program.  The information that will be posted even if a firm does not select BOAs for expanded access is as follows:

• Firm’s name and address
• Firm’s enrollment in the Peer Review Program
• The date of acceptance and the period covered by the firm’s most recently accepted peer review
• Whether the firm’s enrollment in the program was terminated or dropped.