AICPA releases quality management practice aid

By Bryan Strickland

Practitioners preparing for the new AICPA quality management (QM) standards now have access to a practice aid designed to help their cause.

The free practice aid, Establishing and Maintaining a System of Quality Management for a CPA Firm's Accounting and Auditing Practice, is available in versions for sole practitioners and for small- and medium-sized firms.

The AICPA created the practice aid to help accounting professionals establish a QM system for their firm's accounting and auditing practice in line with the Statement on Quality Management Standards (SQMS) No. 1, A Firm's System of Quality Management. Firms must have a risk-based QM system in place by Dec. 15, 2025.

"Quality management is critical to the delivery of high-quality services by CPAs and is a cornerstone of meeting our public interest objectives," Jennifer Burns, CPA, the AICPA's chief auditor, said in a news release. "While the new QM standards created a scalable system for firms to customize their risk assessment, this new quality management practice aid gives practical guidance on how to assess quality risks and then tailor a firm's policies and procedures based on a firm's needs and circumstances. This practice aid, combined with our other QM resources, provides an excellent platform for firms as they implement the new standards."

The interactive practice aid is intended to work in tandem with the Example Risk Assessment template (also available on the download page), which provides a starting point for each component and a library of quality risks and responses. The AICPA's quality management resource page features more tools, such as a crosswalk document that summarizes the changes in SQMS No. 1 when compared to the previous quality control standard.

SQMS No. 1 is designed to align with QM standards issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standard Board (IAASB) that took effect in late 2022. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), of which the AICPA is a supporting member, has issued materials to help affected small firms meet the IAASB standards.

QM standards series

The JofA has published three articles as part of a series providing advice to firms making the shift to the new quality management standards.

July 18: How to Identify Risks and Design Responses

Aug. 31: How to Perform a Root Cause Analysis

Sept. 28: Overview of the Monitoring and Remediation Process

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.

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