Peer Review

Peer review sets CPAs apart from other professions and shows our dedication to upholding the standards of the profession.

The Montana Board of Public Accountants (State Board) requires firms that perform audits, reviews, compilations and/or attest service engagements to be enrolled in a peer review program.

The State Board has adopted the model used by The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Firms that perform attest services are required to undergo a peer review every three years.

A peer review is a periodic external review of a firm’s quality control system in accounting and auditing and is also known as the AICPA’s practice monitoring program.  AICPA members and Montana firms engaged in the practice of public accounting are required to practice in a firm that is enrolled in an approved practice-monitoring program such as the Peer Review Program.

The program is designed to be educational for firms in public accounting to further enhance the quality in their performance of accounting and auditing work.  The program also allows for firms to communicate with their fellow peers on the objectives of the accounting profession.

Any firm that performs the following work is required to enroll in a board approved peer review program:

1. an audit;
2. a review;
3. a compilation;
4. any examination, review, or agreed upon procedures engagements to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE); or
5. an engagement of a non-issuer performed in accordance with PCAOB standards and is not subject to PCAOB inspection.

The Nevada Society of CPAs (NVCPA) administers the AICPA Peer Review Program and State Program for Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming.

If you have any questions regarding the program:

1. Please visit their website, or
2. Contact Anna Durst