Accy 1.201 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; cr. (2), Register, December, 1974, No. 228, eff. 1-1-75; r. and recr. (1) and am. (2) (a), Register, July, 1979, No. 283, eff. 9-1-79; (1) (e) renum. from Accy 1.204 (2) and am., Register, July, 1980, No. 295, eff. 8-1-80; corrections made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 1., Stats., Register, March, 1993, No. 447; CR 03-071: am. (1) (intro.) to (d) and (2) (a) to (d), r. and recr. (1) (e) Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04; 2015 Wis. Act 217: am. (1) (intro.) Register May 2016 No. 725, eff. 6-1-16.

Accy 1.202 Accy 1.202 Auditing standards. A person licensed to practice as a certified public accountant shall not permit the certified public accountant’s name to be associated with financial statements in such a manner as to imply that the certified public accountant is acting as an independent public accountant unless the certified public accountant has complied with the applicable generally accepted auditing standards promulgated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Statements on auditing standards used by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants auditing standards board are, for purposes of this chapter, considered to be interpretations of the generally accepted auditing standards, and departures from such statements must be justified by those who do not follow them.

Accy 1.202 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; cr. (2), Register, February, 1976, No. 242, eff. 4-1-76; r. and recr. (1) Register, July, 1979, No. 283, eff. 9-1-79; CR 03-071: renum. (1) to be Accy 1.202 and am., r. (2) Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04; 2015 Wis. Act 217: am. Register May 2016 No. 725, eff. 6-1-16.

Accy 1.203 Accy 1.203 Accounting principles. No person licensed to practice as a certified public accountant shall express an opinion that financial statements are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles if such statements contain any departure from an accounting principle promulgated by the body designated by the council of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to establish such principles which has a material effect on the statements taken as a whole, unless he or she can demonstrate that due to unusual circumstances the financial statements would otherwise have been misleading. In such cases the report must describe the departure, the approximate effects thereof, if practicable, and the reasons why compliance with the principle would result in a misleading statement.

Accy 1.203 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; cr. (2), Register, December, 1974, No. 228, eff. 1-1-75; corrections made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 5., Stats., Register, March, 1993, No. 447; CR 03-071: renum. (1) to be Accy 1.203 and am., r. (2) Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04.

Accy 1.204 Accy 1.204 Other technical standards. A person licensed to practice as a certified public accountant shall comply with other technical standards promulgated by bodies designated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Council to establish such standards, and departures must be justified by those who do not follow them.

Accy 1.204 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; cr. (2), Register, December, 1974, No. 228, eff. 1-1-75; r. and recr. (1), Register, July, 1979, No. 283, eff. 9-1-79; renum. (2) to be Accy 1.201 (1) (e), Register, July, 1980, No. 295, eff. 8-1-80; CR 03-071: am. Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04.

Accy 1.205 Accy 1.205 Standards for auditing, accounting and review services, and attestation engagements. The standards of the accounting and auditing profession that certified public accountants in Wisconsin shall use are (1) the Statements on Auditing Standards, the Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services, and the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements, published as AICPA Professional Standards by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Inc.; and (2) the auditing standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. All of those Statements and Standards are incorporated by reference into this section.

Accy 1.205 Note Note: Copies of the Statements described above may be purchased from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-8775.

Accy 1.205 History History: CR 01-133: cr. Register October 2002 No. 562, eff. 11-1-02; CR 03-071: am. Register May 2004 No. 571, eff. 6-1-04; 2013 Wis. Act 210: consol. (intro.) to (3) and renum. Accy 1.205 and am. Register April 2014 No. 700, eff. 5-1-14.

subch. IV of ch. Accy 1 Subchapter IV — Responsibilities to Clients

Accy 1.301 Accy 1.301 Confidential client information.

Accy 1.301(1) (1) No person licensed to practice as a certified public accountant shall disclose any confidential information obtained in the course of a professional engagement except with the consent of the client or through the due process of law.

Accy 1.301(2) (2) This rule shall not be construed:

Accy 1.301(2)(a) (a) To relieve such a person of the obligations under ss. Accy 1.202 and 1.203.

Accy 1.301(2)(b) (b) To affect in any way compliance with a validly issued subpoena or summons enforceable by order of a court,

Accy 1.301(2)(c) (c) To prohibit review of such a person’s professional practices as a part of voluntary quality review under authorization of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the Wisconsin Society of Certified Public Accountants, or

Accy 1.301(2)(d) (d) To preclude a certified public accountant from responding to an inquiry made by the Professional Ethics Division of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, by the duly constituted investigative or disciplinary body of a state society of certified public accountants, or under any state statutes or the standards of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Accy 1.301(3) (3) Members of the ethics division and trial board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and professional practice reviewers under American Institute of Certified Public Accountants authorization, or their state society counterparts, shall not disclose any confidential client information which comes to their attention from such persons in disciplinary proceedings or otherwise in carrying out their official responsibilities. However, this prohibition shall not restrict the exchange of information with an aforementioned duly constituted investigative or disciplinary body.

Accy 1.301(4) (4) The prohibition in sub. (1) against disclosure of confidential information obtained in the course of a professional engagement does not apply to disclosure of such information when required to properly discharge the certified public accountant’s responsibility according to the profession’s standards. The prohibition would not apply, for example, to disclosure, as required by AU-C section 560 of Statement on Auditing Standards, regarding the subsequent discovery of facts existing at the date of the auditor’s report which would have affected the auditor’s report had the auditor been aware of such facts.

Accy 1.301 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; cr. (4), Register, December, 1974, No. 228, eff. 1-1-75; corrections made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 5., Stats., Register, March, 1993, No. 447; CR 03-071: am. (1), (2) (a), (c), (d) and (3), cons. and renum. (4) (intro.) and (a) to be (4) and am. Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04; 2015 Wis. Act 217: am. (2) (d), (4) Register May 2016 No. 725, eff. 6-1-16.

Accy 1.302 Accy 1.302 Contingent fees, commissions and referral fees.

Accy 1.302(1) (1) Contingent fees. Except as provided in sub. (2), a certified public accountant may charge a contingent fee provided the accountant and the client make a contingent fee agreement in writing, signed by the client, which states the method by which the fee is to be determined and describes all costs and expenses to be charged to the client. Upon conclusion of the contingent fee matter, the accountant shall provide the client with a written statement showing the fee and all the costs and expenses charged to the client.

Accy 1.302(2) (2) Certain contingent fees prohibited. No certified public accountant may receive a contingent fee from any person for whom the accountant performs attest services during the period of the attest services engagement or the period covered by any historical financial statements involved in the attest services.

Accy 1.302(3) (3) Commissions. Except as provided in sub. (4), a certified public accountant may receive a commission provided that at the time the referral or recommendation is made, the accountant informs the client in writing of the amount and reason for the commission.

Accy 1.302(4) (4) Certain commissions prohibited. No certified public accountant may receive a commission from any person for whom the accountant performs attest services, or may receive a commission for any products or services sold to any person for whom the accountant performs attest services, during the period of the attest services or the period covered by any historical financial statement involved in the attest services.

Accy 1.302(5) (5) Referral fees. No certified public accountant may receive a referral fee unless all of the following apply:

Accy 1.302(5)(a) (a) The certified public accountant who accepts the referral fee discloses to the client, in writing, at the time the referral is made, the amount of and reason for the referral fee.

Accy 1.302(5)(b) (b) The certified public accountant who pays the referral fee discloses to the client, in writing, within 30 days after the referral is made, the amount of and reason for the referral fee.