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APES 215 Forensic Accounting Services - proposed revisions

Posted by Chris Westworth on 8 August 2012
Westworth Kemp have made a brief submission to the APESB.

The Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB) is presently seeking feedback on proposed revisions to APES 215 Forensic Accounting Services:

 

"Generally we support the amendments proposed in the exposure draft.  The two new Appendices are helpful in determining the nature of different forensic accounting services.  However, we make the following comments.

 

  1. We are concerned that the extension of the definition of Expert Witness (from “Generally all opinion evidence …” onwards) is more in the nature of commentary on the nature of the evidence that may be provided rather than part of the definition of an Expert Witness.  In our view, the definition should stop at “under an insurance policy” and the second half of the paragraph should be shown separately as explanatory commentary.
  2. Paragraph 5.9 does not connect well with the material that precedes it.  Perhaps it should be rephrased along the lines of “The work performed by the Member and the process by which the Member arrived at an opinion or other evidence … may be documented in working papers”.  The Board may also wish to consider adding that such working papers may have to be produced to the Court under a subpoena.
  3. Appendix 2 – the notes down the right hand side in our view are confusing and detract from the usefulness of the flowchart in assisting Members with the decision as to which service they are providing.
  4. Appendix 3 Item 14 is unnecessarily restrictive.  The provision of consulting expert advice, also known as a “shadow” or “dirty” expert, is not limited to Family Law and also occurs regularly in commercial matters.

 

Generally in the APES literature, there seems to be a lack of clarity as to whether Members (as defined) are made up entirely of Members in Practice and Members in Business, or whether there is a third category of Members who are not in business, but nor are they in practice, as defined, but are still bound by the standards."

Author:Chris Westworth
Tags:NewsLitigation Support

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