What's New (Jul, 2012)

July 30,2012

On July 10, 2012, the Financial Services Agency of Japan published an English translation of “Guidance on Equivalency Assessment on Audit and Public Oversight Systems of Foreign Jurisdictions,” which includes principles and criteria to assess equivalency of audit and public oversight systems to that of Japan.

For more information, please visit the following site:

http://www.fsa.go.jp/en/news/2012/20120710-1.html

July 17,2012

JICPA published, on June 22, 2012, revised Auditing and Assurance Practice Committee Statement No. 83 "Practical Guideline on Quarterly Review."

It includes, among others, the following revisions.

・ Treatments for subsequent events have been added.

・ Items that auditors shall request to management to be included in written representations have been clarified, and some sections of the Appendix 2, Illustrative Examples of Written Representations, have been revised.

・ Terms such as “subsidiaries” and “other auditors” have been clarified and revised, in response to the new provision on audit treatments for financial information of components.

The revised statement No.83 has also reflected changes made to the Auditing Standards Committee Statement No.580.

July 17,2012

JICPA published, on June 15, 2012, revised Auditing Standards Committee Statement No.580, "Written Representations."
After careful analysis of the comments received for the draft on "Audit Tools, " which was exposed for public consultation on March 30, 2012, the following items of the Auditing Standards Committee Statement No.580 have been revised in order to promote further understanding of the notes relating to uncorrected misstatements in the illustrative example.
・ Uncorrected misstatements included in comparative information
・ For audits under Companies Act, impact on the current profit or loss from the adjustments made to the profit or loss of the prior periods
As no significant changes have been made to the contents of the statement, the revised statement will be effective for audits conducted for periods beginning on or after April 1, 2012.

July 17,2012

JICPA published, on June 15, 2012, revised Auditing and Assurance Practice Committee Statement No. 82 “Practical Guidance for Audits of Internal Control over Financial Reporting."
It includes, among others, the following revisions that have been made, after careful consideration of the changes resulting from the publication of the redrafted Auditing Standards Committee Statements in December 2011.
・ Those items that auditors shall request to management to be included in written representations for integrating internal control audits with financial statement audits have been classified into two categories, “Financial Statements and Reporting on Internal Control" and "Information Provided."
 ・Responses to be made by auditors have been clarified, especially for a case when items requested by auditors　in written representations are not confirmed by management.

July 17,2012

JICPA’s project team on PAIB is a team established to consider and implement measures to bring about a better understanding of Professional Accountants working in Business (PAIB) in Japan. 
In line with their effort, on June 7, 2012, the seminar entitled, "Moving beyond accounting department: Introduction to PAIB in a variety of fields" was organized. Five member CPAs from various fields and occupations, beyond corporate accounting sections, participated in the panel discussion in the part 1 of the seminar, with each introducing their career and current responsibilities. In the part 2 of the seminar, several small discussion groups were formed in order to respond in details to the questions raised by the participants. The seminar was attended by more than 140 members.

July 6,2012

JICPA held, on July 3, 2012, a discussion meeting with Sir David Tweedie, a former Chairman of IASB, who visited Japan to be presented with the Special Award of the JICPA, awarded in recognition of his distinguished service to the accounting profession. The report of this meeting will later be issued in the JICPA Journal.

July 6,2012

On July 3, 2012, Sir David Tweedie, a former Chairman of the IASB and current President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), visited Japan to be presented with the Special Award of the JICPA, awarded in recognition of his distinguished service to the accounting profession.  

On this occasion of his visit, Sir David Tweedie delivered a special lecture, entitled “Ten Years at the IASB- the Past and the Future-" at JICPA headquarters. This lecture was attended by more than 300 people, including member CPAs and other persons from various fields.

During his talk, Sir David looked back on his 10 years in the office as the Chairmen of the IASB, and shared some interesting stories, together with his expectations for the future of the IFRS and his hope for Japan to become a leader in Asia with respect to IFRS. At the end of the lecture, there was also a heart-warming exchange between Sir David and his old friends from Japan.

(Note) Presentation Ceremony was held at the Reception following 46th JICPA Annual General Assembly on July 4, 2012. For the details of the Special Award Presentation Ceremony, please see http://www.hp.jicpa.or.jp/ippan/about/news/post_1661.html (currently Japanese only).