한국공인회계사회

About KICPA
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Main Functions

한국공인회계사회

Government-Delegated Tasks

The Korean government entrusts certain tasks related to CPAs to the KICPA.

  • Pursuant to the CPA Act, the KICPA is responsible for:
  • the registration of CPAs;
  • providing disciplinary and other measures for individual CPAs and auditors (accounting firms and groups of practitioners);
  • quality control for audited financial statements;
  • setting auditing standards and the Code of Ethics;
  • performing tasks delegated by public bodies;
  • mediating disputes between CPAs and their appointers;
  • providing training for its members as well as guidance and supervision over continuing education programs.

The KICPA also serves as the operating proxy for the National Accounting Standards Centre (NASC) established by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The NASC is responsible for the interpretation and review of comments related to governmental accounting standards in Korea; the research of accounting systems in developed nations; and the provision of training for public officers in charge of accounting.

Auditing Standards Setting

  • The KICPA is entrusted with the tasks of setting auditing standards in Korea pursuant to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies.
  • To this end, the KICPA founded the Korean Audit & Assurance Standards Board (KAASB), an independent body that consists of experts from various backgrounds such as accounting firms, academia, business, and regulatory bodies. The KAASB carries out any task related to the setting and revision of auditing standards.
  • The auditing standards govern auditor independence and its preservation, audit planning and process, and reporting of audit results. The auditing standards are to be applied when performing audits that are subject to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies.
  • Code of Ethics Setting
  • The CPA Act authorizes the KICPA to set the Code of Ethics in Korea.
  • The Code of Ethics is built upon five fundamental principles, and describes systematic measures necessary to deal with ethical conflicts that may arise in the course of CPAs acting in their professional capacity, or threats of non-compliance with the Code. CPAs are, by the CPA Act, required to comply with the Code. The five-fundamental principles are:
  • integrity
  • objectivity
  • professional competence and due care
  • confidentiality
  • professional behavior
  • The KICPA established the Ethics Standards Board to work specifically and independently on the Code of Ethics. The Board is responsible for setting and revising the Code, as well as for the provision of interpretation and guidance therefor. The Board members come from various backgrounds that include accounting firms, academia, businesses, and ethics-related organizations.
  • Education Standards Setting
  • The CPA Act provides that the KICPA shall set the standards related to CPA education. The KICPA is also responsible for the provision of training programs for its registered and provisional members, and for the oversight and guidance over their autonomous professional development.
  • The Education Standards prescribe the values and ethics that CPAs must hold, as well as the level of knowledge, skills, and professional capacity required.
  • The Education Standards Board was established to work specifically and independently on the overall tasks related to education. These include: making recommendations for the setting and revision of Education Standards; and planning, implementation and evaluation of education programs. The Board consists of educators such as professors and directors of education department in accounting firms.

Continuing Professional Development

  • A significant duty of the KICPA is to keep aligned, with global standards, the level of ethics and professional knowledge held by CPAs, and another is to provide appropriate supports so as to enable them to perform with professionalism in rendering services to clients.
  • To discharge such duty, we plan, implement, and oversee CPD programs for CPAs.
  • A registered member must obtain annually a minimum of 40 hours of CPD training, and a provisional member must obtain a minimum of 200 hours of CPD training over the first 2-year period.

Quality Control

  • The KICPA works to ensure that audit quality remains high and as part of such effort, carries out tasks delegated by the Securities & Futures Commission that involve the reviews of audited financial statements, audit work planning and performance.
  • Review of audited financial statements is only performed on financial reports for those companies subject to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies, as prescribed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Quality control for work plan and performance is conducted on auditors who are subject to the criteria set out by the FSC that considers the characteristics of the clientele and the number of CPAs for the audit practitioners or firms.
  • The Audit and Business Diagnosis Review Committee, and Tax Reconciliation Supervisory Committee were established to be respectively responsible for:
  • quality control for the review of audited financial statements for local governments, public bodies, and by companies not subject to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies;
  • quality control for certain Business Diagnosis as mandated by regulations;
  • quality control for tax reconciliation.

Quality Control

  • The KICPA initiates various services that support CPAs to attain and maintain a high level of professionalism.
  • The Department of Professional Research and Development operates within the KICPA and conducts high-standard research on technical areas that cover accounting, auditing, business advisory, ethics, and taxation. It also separately operates several committees for professional research to aid its research activities.
  • The committees conduct studies and research in the fields of accounting, auditing, taxation, and other tasks for the advancement of CPA performance, in addition to any research into matters which the president of the KICPA sees as necessary to be dealt as a matter of policy.
  • The Department of Professional Research and Development makes efforts to set the basic infrastructure of the accounting profession through being actively involved in academic-industrial liaison and to build and promote close relationships with various academic societies in accountancy, taxation, and management. It also pursues initiatives to aid in conveying various academic symposiums and events.
  • The KICPA issues publications and papers such as the “CPA Monthly” and “Accounting, Taxation and Auditing Research” which are accredited by the National Research Foundation of Korea.

International

  • The KICPA actively partakes in international activities, representing our members in global accountancy organizations such as the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA).
  • As a valued member, The KICPA participates in and contributes to the Council, Board, and subcommittees at various levels of the IFAC organization. The KICPA announced that on November 15, 2012 one of our own members has been appointed to the IFAC Board.
  • The KICPA plays an important part on the CAPA’s Executive Board since becoming a standing member of the organization in 1983, and has produced two CAPA presidents (Mr. Tae-Sik Seo, former president of the KICPA, Dr. In-Ki Joo, former vice president of the KICPA for International Affairs). We are fulfilling our duty as a competent member of the global community by being honored with the responsibility of hosting the 2015 CAPA Conference to be held in Seoul.
  • The KICPA also interacts actively with foreign CPA organizations, a milestone being the formation of agreements with the JICPA and the CICPA, respectively in 1991 and in 1996, to continuously work in mutual cooperation towards a united CPA community.

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