Whenever necessary, consultation within or outside the firm is to occur with those who have appropriate expertise. The Firm has identified areas and specialized situations where consultation is required and encourage the personnel to consult with or use authoritative sources on other complex or unusual matters.
- Inform personnel of the firm’s consultation policies and procedures.
- Specify areas or specialized situations requiring consultation because of the nature or complexity of the subject matter. Examples include:
- Application of newly issued technical pronouncements;
- Industries with special accounting, auditing or reporting requirements;
- Emerging practice problems; and
- Filing requirements of legislative and regulatory bodies, particularly those of a foreign jurisdiction.
- Maintain or provide access to adequate reference libraries and other authoritative sources.
- Establish responsibility for maintaining a reference library in each practice office.
- Maintain technical manuals and issue technical pronouncements, including those relating to particular industries and other specialties.
- Maintain consultation arrangements with other firms and individuals where necessary to supplement firm resources.
- Refer problems to a division or group in the professional body established to deal with technical enquiries .
- Designate individuals as specialists to serve as authoritative sources and define their authority in consultative situations.
- Designate individuals as specialists for dealings with regulatory bodies.
- Designate specialists for particular industries.
- Advise personnel of the degree of authority to be accorded specialists opinions and of the procedures to be followed for resolving differences of opinion with specialists.
- The Firm has established policies and procedures designed to provide it with reasonable assurance that
- Appropriate consultation takes place on difficult or contentious issues;
- Sufficient resources are available to enable appropriate consultation to take place;
- The nature and scope of such consultations are documented and are agreed upon by both the individual seeking consultation and the individual consulted; and
The conclusions resulting from consultations are documented, understood by both the individual seeking consultation and the individual consulted, and implemented
- Includes discussion at the appropriate professional level with individuals. within or outside the firm who have relevant specialized Expertise.
- Consultation uses appropriate research resources, as well as the collective experience and technical expertise of the firm. Consultation helps promote quality and improves the application of professional judgment.
Appropriate recognition of consultation in the Firm’s policies and procedures helps promote a culture in which consultation is recognized as strength and personnel are encouraged to consult on difficult or contentious issues