As it is known, the Law of Ukraine “On Audit of Financial Statements and Audit Activities” of December 21, 2017, No. 2258-VIII came into force on February 7, 2018 (hereinafter - the Law on Audit), which is intended to fundamentally reform our professional activities.
The procedure for the formation of new regulatory, supervisory and control bodies in the audit activity currently starts.
In this regard, the professional organizations of auditors and accountants began active activities related to the delegation of their representatives to the Organising Committee for the constituent congress of auditors. It should be recalled, that according to para.5 of sec.10 “Final and Transitional Provisions” of the Law on Audit, the Organising Committee on the conducting of the constituent assembly of auditors includes one representative delegated from a central executive authority, which ensures the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of accounting and auditing, as well as from the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the National Commission for the State Regulation of Financial Services markets, the Auditors' Chamber of Ukraine and the professional organizations of auditors and accountants that are members of the International Federation of Accountants, and professional organizations of auditors and accountants who are not members of the International Federation of Accountants and have in their composition full members at least 20% of the auditors from the total number of auditors registered in the Register as of January 1 of the current year. At the same time, the membership of the auditor may be taken into account only in one professional organization of auditors and accountants, at the choice of the auditor, which he/she must certify in writing.
The requirement for written certification of membership caused a genuine struggle between professional organizations for each member. The Chamber of Auditors and Accountants of Ukraine (hereinafter - CAAU) also faced the ambiguous proposals and even pressure to its members. Thus, today, when the boom was turned into slowdown, answering the numerous questions of our members and expressing our position on recent events, we inform you of the following.
Firstly, CAAU expresses its sincere gratitude to its members for the fact that, despite the pressure that has been imposed on them recently, nobody expressed a desire to leave the ranks of our trade union. This is evidence of the high professionalism of our members, the commitment of the profession, the desire to change for the better, and not to engage in intrigues that are not relevant to the audit.
Secondly, CAAU does not aim to achieve the number of members to overcome the formal thresholds established by the Law on Audit in order to form regulatory, supervisory and control bodies in the audit activity, including the Organising Committee for the Constituent Congress of Auditors. Our priority is a high-quality and interoperable membership. The active participation of our members in the Constituent Congress and a conscious choice of members of the Council of the Auditors' Chamber of Ukraine are significantly more important than delegation of representatives to the Organising Committee for the Constituent Congress of auditors.
Thirdly, according to the Law of Ukraine “On Non-Government Organisations”, today every auditor and accountant has the right to be a member of several professional organizations. In addition, people can not be compelled to join any non-government organisations. Membership or non-membership in a non-government organisation can not be the reason for restricting the rights and freedoms of a citizen. Written certification of membership in one organization is not a duty and is made at the discretion of the member of such an organization. At the same time, such a statement can not be the reason for the exclusion from the structure of another professional organization. Please, note that the application is not a formal document, but an act of the auditor’s will, which has legal implications. Therefore, there should be no doubt as to the validity of such documents and the authenticity of signatures. Although the Audit Law does not require verification of the validity of these documents, in accordance with the law, the obligation to certify the rights, as well as facts of legal significance, in order to provide them with legal certainty, is entrusted to the notary public authorities, as well as officials of local government bodies.
Finally, it should be reminded that the construction of a new audit system will be impossible, if it is used old techniques and methods, the purpose of which is to obtain authority and concentration of opportunities in a limited number of individuals. This is time for reforms.
Let’s be committed to ourselves and the profession.