Depending on the severity of non-compliance with the professional standards, as well as the public accountant's PMP history, the PAOC may order the public accountant ("PA") to undertake remedial actions, and/or impose other orders.

PMP Orders

A PAOC order resulting from a PMP inspection may include the following:

Outcome of PMPOrders by PAOCDetails of Orders
Partially Satisfactory / Not SatisfactoryAttendance of Training CoursesAttendance of structured1 training courses, which may be conducted by accountancy professional bodies, external course providers or via in-house training conducted by the firm.
Submission of Root Cause Analysis and Remediation Action Plan(s)

Submission of the root cause analysis on the finding(s) noted and the design of the appropriate remediation plan(s) to address the root cause(s).

Hot Review

A certain number of audit engagements to be reviewed by another public accountant (“Hot Reviewer”) before the PA signs the audit reports. 

Not Satisfactory

Restriction

Restriction on the auditing and reporting of financial statements of certain entities, such as:

  • auditing and reporting on financial statements of any entity, for which an audit is required by written law;
  • auditing and reporting on financial statements of
    1. any public company2 that is not dormant3
    2. any private company4 that is not dormant and not an exempt private company ("EPC"); and
    3. any EPC that is not dormant and has annual revenue of more than $10 million;
  • auditing and reporting on financial statements of all public interest entities5;
  • auditing and reporting on financial statements of entities in specific industries.              
Sending Inspection Findings to those charged with governance Where the outcome of a PMP on a selected audit is "Not satisfactory" and the audit is that of a public interest entity5 (PIE), the PAOC may order that the PA send the findings to those charged with governance of the audited PIE.
 Suspension

Suspension of the PA's registration. While the PA remains suspended, the PA must not (a) practise as a public accountant, (b) hold himself or herself out to be a PA and (c) advertise any title or description tending to convey the impression that he or she is a registered PA or that he or she is authorised to provide public accountancy services in Singapore, during the period of suspension.

 Cancellation

Cancellation of the PA's registration. The PAOC may, after 2 years, consider any fresh application for registration.

1 As defined in Practice Direction No. 1 of 2022
2 As defined in section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967
3 As defined in section 205B(2) of the Companies Act 1967
4 As defined in section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967
5 The phrase “public interest entities” as used here has the same meaning as defined in the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Public Accountants and Accounting Entities


Did you find this page useful?
back to top