The peer review requirement states that any firm seeking to register or reregister for licensure in the practice of public accountancy in the state of New Mexico must undergo a peer review once every three years.
This ruling applies to any CPA firm that performs audits, reviews, compilations or attestations.
AICPA Peer Review Standards
The AICPA Peer Review Board Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews due in 2009 specifies two types of review, and revised the rules governing who can perform peer reviews.
The two types of peer reviews are: system and engagement.
The standards designate the individual who performs an engagement review as the Review Captain and the reviewer of the system review as the Team Captain. The AICPA must approve that reviewer and, in unusual circumstances, any additional reviewers.
If a firm's most recent review was the former report review, then the firm's members cannot perform, or have the responsibility to accept, any peer reviews. To perform engagement reviews or have the responsibility to accept reviews, the member's firm must have received an unmodified/unqualified report on its quality control system or an engagement review. If the reviewer's firm's most recent review was not a system review, the peer reviewer must have performed and reviewed the same type of engagements as the reviewed firm.
The standards require that all peer reviews and the persons performing them are subject to oversight by the AICPA and the administering entity.
Contact Camille Dozier, (505) 246-1699 or camille@nmscpa.org, for questions regarding the AICPA's Peer Review Program.
Peer Review Administrative Fees
Administrative fees have been established to cover costs of administering the AICPA's peer review program in New Mexico. These fees cover administrative procedures, such as:
Processing Fee
The AICPA Peer Review Program requires all reviews to be checked by an approved Technical Reviewer before they are considered by the state Peer Review Committee. The cost for this technical review is called a “processing fee”. It is collected by the Society and passed on to the Technical Reviewer to cover the costs of the technical review.
NMSCPA Member Firms - annual fee of $125, which includes one professional (full time CPA), and $50 for each additional professional (full time CPA) in the firm. In the year a firm is reviewed there is a processing fee - $175 for system reviews and $75 for Engagement reviews.
Non-member Firms - no annual fee, but in the year of review the following fees are invoiced: the annual fee of $125 that includes one professional (full time CPA), $50 for each additional professional (full time CPA) in the firm, the applicable processing fee, and $325 non-member fee.
Some firms express concern over the administrative cost associated with the program. Everyone should take note that a slow responding firm or reviewer automatically results in higher costs due to additional correspondence, postage and follow-up required to ensure the review is completed. You can assist in avoiding these unnecessary costs by promptly submitting all correspondence relating to the processing of a review.