CPA Engagement Acceptance and Monitoring Sample Checklist
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CPA Engagement Acceptance and Monitoring Sample Checklist
An intuitive workflow to streamline CPA engagements, facilitating risk assessment, due diligence, auditing and reporting for financial operations.
1
Identify the scope of the CPA engagement
2
Evaluate the client's integrity
3
Assess the competence and availability of your firm's staff
4
Obtain and review the client's financial statements
5
Evaluate the risks associated with the client
6
Approval: Client Risk Evaluation
7
Examine the client's internal control systems
8
Gain an understanding of the client's business operations
9
Get anti-money laundering (AML) and know your client (KYC) disclosures
10
Approval: AML and KYC Disclosures
11
Draft an engagement letter
12
Have the client sign the engagement letter
13
Approval: Signed Engagement Letter
14
Schedule the necessary tasks and assignments
15
Follow up on the progress of the engagement
16
Review the completed audit work
17
Approval: Completed Audit Work
18
Prepare final reports and recommendations
19
Communicate the report and recommendations to the client
Identify the scope of the CPA engagement
This task involves determining the specific areas and objectives of the CPA engagement. It helps establish the boundaries and focus of the engagement, ensuring all necessary aspects are covered. The desired result is a clearly defined scope document that outlines the goals and deliverables of the engagement. Are there any challenges or constraints that need to be considered? What tools or resources are required to complete this task effectively?
Evaluate the client's integrity
Assessing the client's integrity is crucial to maintain high ethical standards and mitigate potential risks. This task involves conducting background checks, reviewing reputation, and assessing any past legal or ethical issues. The desired result is a comprehensive evaluation of the client's integrity. How can you gather information about the client's integrity? What challenges might arise during this evaluation?
1
Excellent
2
Good
3
Average
4
Below average
5
Poor
Assess the competence and availability of your firm's staff
Evaluating the competence and availability of your firm's staff is essential to ensure they possess the necessary skills and resources to carry out the engagement effectively. This task involves reviewing staff qualifications, certifications, and availability. The desired result is a clear understanding of the competence and availability of your firm's staff. What factors should be considered when assessing staff competence? How can you determine staff availability?
1
Certifications verified
2
Relevant experience
3
Ongoing training
4
Specialized skills
5
Availability of backup resources
Obtain and review the client's financial statements
Obtaining and reviewing the client's financial statements is crucial for understanding their financial position and identifying potential risks or areas of concern. This task involves requesting and analyzing financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. The desired result is a comprehensive understanding of the client's financial position. How can you obtain the client's financial statements? What challenges might arise during the review process?
Evaluate the risks associated with the client
Assessing the risks associated with the client is necessary to develop appropriate audit strategies and procedures. This task involves identifying potential risks such as fraud, regulatory compliance, or financial instability. The desired result is a comprehensive risk assessment report. What methods can be used to identify potential risks? What challenges might arise during the risk evaluation process?
Approval: Client Risk Evaluation
Will be submitted for approval:
Evaluate the risks associated with the client
Will be submitted
Examine the client's internal control systems
Examining the client's internal control systems helps identify potential weaknesses or gaps that may impact the accuracy and reliability of financial statements. This task involves reviewing control policies, conducting internal control tests, and identifying any control deficiencies. The desired result is a comprehensive report on the client's internal control systems. What control policies should be examined? How can you assess the effectiveness of internal controls?
Gain an understanding of the client's business operations
Gaining an understanding of the client's business operations helps determine the nature and extent of audit procedures required. This task involves reviewing business processes, interviewing key personnel, and analyzing industry trends. The desired result is a comprehensive understanding of the client's business operations. What methods can be used to gain insights into the client's business operations? What challenges might arise during this process?
1
Excellent
2
Good
3
Average
4
Below average
5
Poor
Get anti-money laundering (AML) and know your client (KYC) disclosures
Obtaining anti-money laundering (AML) and know your client (KYC) disclosures is crucial to comply with regulatory requirements and identify potential money laundering risks associated with the client. This task involves requesting AML and KYC disclosures from the client. The desired result is a comprehensive record of AML and KYC disclosures. How can you obtain AML and KYC disclosures from the client? What challenges might arise during this process?
Approval: AML and KYC Disclosures
Will be submitted for approval:
Get anti-money laundering (AML) and know your client (KYC) disclosures
Will be submitted
Draft an engagement letter
Drafting an engagement letter is essential to establish the terms of the engagement and communicate responsibilities between the CPA and the client. This task involves composing an engagement letter that outlines the scope, objectives, and fee arrangements. The desired result is a well-drafted engagement letter. What key elements should be included in the engagement letter? What challenges might arise during the drafting process?
Have the client sign the engagement letter
Obtaining the client's signature on the engagement letter is necessary to confirm their acceptance of the terms and conditions outlined. This task involves presenting the engagement letter to the client and obtaining their signature. The desired result is a signed engagement letter. How will you present the engagement letter to the client? What challenges might arise during this process?
Approval: Signed Engagement Letter
Will be submitted for approval:
Draft an engagement letter
Will be submitted
Have the client sign the engagement letter
Will be submitted
Schedule the necessary tasks and assignments
Scheduling the necessary tasks and assignments ensures a well-organized and efficient execution of the CPA engagement. This task involves creating a detailed schedule that assigns specific tasks to team members and sets deadlines. The desired result is a comprehensive schedule that outlines the timeline and responsibilities. What factors should be considered when scheduling tasks? How can potential resource constraints be managed?
1
Tasks assigned to team members
2
Deadlines communicated
3
Required resources allocated
4
Progress tracking mechanism
Follow up on the progress of the engagement
Following up on the progress of the engagement helps ensure timely completion of tasks and identifies any potential issues or delays. This task involves monitoring task status, communicating with team members, and addressing any roadblocks. The desired result is a well-monitored and progressing engagement. How will you track the progress of tasks? How can potential issues or delays be addressed effectively?
1
Not started
2
In progress
3
Completed
4
Delayed
5
On hold
1
Resource constraints
2
Procedural bottlenecks
3
Lack of client cooperation
4
Technical challenges
5
External dependencies
Review the completed audit work
Reviewing the completed audit work is vital to ensure accuracy, compliance with standards, and the achievement of audit objectives. This task involves conducting a detailed review of all audit procedures, documentation, and workpapers. The desired result is a comprehensive audit work review report. What criteria should be used for the review? How can potential discrepancies be addressed effectively?
Approval: Completed Audit Work
Will be submitted for approval:
Review the completed audit work
Will be submitted
Prepare final reports and recommendations
Preparing final reports and recommendations is essential to communicate the findings and results of the CPA engagement to the client. This task involves summarizing the audit work, drawing conclusions, and providing actionable recommendations. The desired result is well-presented and informative reports. What elements should be included in the final reports? How can recommendations be tailored to the client's specific needs?
Communicate the report and recommendations to the client
Effectively communicating the audit report and recommendations to the client is crucial for their understanding and implementation of the findings. This task involves arranging a client meeting or presentation to discuss the audit report and recommendations. The desired result is a well-communicated and understood audit report. How will you arrange the client meeting or presentation? What challenges might arise during this process?
