Unlicensed audit firms risk penalty as ICPAK carries out inspections permit status
ICPAK chief executive Patrick Ngumi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
What you need to know:
ICPAK has commenced countrywide inspection exercise to ensure only licensed accountants do audit and assurance work.
About 1,250 accounting firms registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) have until the end of next week to obtain a valid practising licence.
The professional body has commenced countrywide inspection exercise to safeguard public interest and ensure only licensed accountants do audit and assurance work.
“The ICPAK compliance team has set up a two-week programme to visit and verify the validity of annual licences for all the firms starting January 16 to 27,” said ICPAK chief executive Patrick Ngumi in a statement.
“The programme started in Nairobi and will be rolled across the country.”
Already, 756 firms have applied for their 2017 annual licences but only 400 of them have collected their permits.
It is an offence for audit firms to operate without a valid annual licence, according to the Accountants Act.
“The majority of the firms are therefore in contravention of the provisions of the Act (Accountants Act No. 15 of 2008, section 22(3)), and it is to this end that ICPAK seeks to enforce compliance among its members and also ensure that only licensed accountants offer services to the public,” said Dr Ngumi.
A person operating without a practising certificate and a licence is liable to a fine not exceeding Sh100,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or both.
The ICPAK says it wants to make sure the public gets value for money through the services of licensed accountants who adhere to professional and ethical requirements.
The institute has been in the spotlight lately with a number of firms involved in accounting scandals and malpractices. The high profile ones included Uchumi Supermarkets and Kenya Airways financial scandals.
ICPAK is required to discipline errant members but so far there has been limited high profile punishment.
A week ago, the accountants lobby announced that it will start deregistering non-compliant members. ICPAK has lined-up 698 members for deregistration, mainly over failure to pay subscription fee.
The institute has over 18,000 members, drawing a substantial part of its revenue from the annual subscription fees.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
