The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Practice monitoring for public accountants is “here to stay”, the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) president said yesterday.

Lawrence Lewis, speaking during the annual Accountants Week seminars, said: “For our members in public practice, practice monitoring is here to stay. This form is a critical element of how we demonstrate our commitment to quality as a professional body, and supports us all in protecting and enhancing the public’s trust.”

Acknowledging that few accountants enjoy practice monitoring, which involves their peers assessing their conduct and work quality as a form of self-regulation, Mr Lewis asserted that this was the only way to keep the profession’s integrity intact. He said practice monitoring serves as an “invaluable tool” to help all industry professionals get better.

The BICA chief added: “I have been through a couple of rounds of practice monitoring, and I can tell you that the value that our firm has gotten out of it is directly correlated to our willingness to engage in the process and embrace some of the interactions and the commentary that has come up.”

Audit firms that opt to work for public interest entities can look forward to more practice monitoring as the standard in The Bahamas moving forward. “If you have a less than favourable outcome on your last practice monitoring visit, you will be again selected in a much shorter time period,” Mr Lewis added.

“But I will say that one of BICA’s primary roles in its regulatory mandate is defending the public trust. We have had instances where licensees have reported on the annual declarations that they were performing audits, and when selected for practice monitoring are then telling us that they are no longer performing audit services.”

While “circumstances can change over time”, Mr Lewis warned: “The frequency with which this pattern of behaviour occurs is, in fact, troubling. Our profession is built on a bedrock of trust and integrity.

“We will be pursuing a path to provide greater visibility of our licensees and their services to the public. If we identify that information being provided to the Institute is intentionally incorrect, then it may subject the member to a disciplinary process.”

Mr Lewis also offered BICA’s services to the Government to help it address financial management issues, which was something his predecessor did after Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

He also encouraged accounting professionals not to settle for providing information to clients in “hindsight”, but instead to “provide greater insight” as well as “provide better foresight” into what accountants may expect in the future.