NYSSCPA Approved as Sponsoring Org

The New York State Education Department’s Quality Review Oversight Committee approved on Feb. 8 the NYSSCPA as a sponsoring organization that may administer and oversee mandatory quality reviews in New York State.

While the NYSSCPA has for a number of years administered the AICPA’s peer review program in New York State, and continues to do so, only AICPA members were required to participate. Effective January 1, 2012, peer review became mandatory in New York State (mandatory quality review). The state requires by law that most firms, as a condition for firm registration (or re-registration), undergo a quality review of their attest services every three years. As such, the NYSSCPA sought approval from the State Education Department to administer these quality reviews. In order to qualify as a sponsoring organization, the Society was required to submit a quality review administration plan documenting our procedures and providing substantiation that peer reviews administered by the Society are conducted in accordance with the state’s MQR program standards. Read the state’s MQR regulations.

If your firm is required to undergo a mandatory quality review and would like to enroll in the NYSSCPA’s peer review program, you should submit a Peer Review Program Enrollment Form to the NYSSCPA. By enrolling, a firm agrees to have a peer review of its accounting and auditing practice once every three years. The completed enrollment form should then be returned to the NYSSCPA by fax: 1-888-250-3285, or email: peerreview@nysscpa.org. Firms currently enrolled and participating in the AICPA’s peer review program should not need to take additional action to comply with the new MQR law.
Once enrolled in the peer review program, the firm will be emailed an enrollment letter informing them of their admittance to the program and the due date for their peer review. They will also receive an invoice with their annual administrative fee. This has to be paid before the review is scheduled. Six months prior to the due date, the firm will be sent scheduling information by email to schedule their peer review.
Mandatory quality review was a provision of the 2009 Accountancy Reform law and went into effect Jan. 1, 2012. To read more about the new mandatory quality review requirements, read the NYSSCPA’s, “A brief primer on key provisions of the Mandatory Quality Review Program.”