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Board grants peer‑review waivers to two firms amid questions about attest work and advertising
Summary
The Connecticut State Board of Accountancy granted peer‑review waivers for 2025 to R. Berger and Company and Helming and Company while staff flagged concerns about past attest work, advertising and statutory misalignment with the AICPA peer review program.
The Connecticut State Board of Accountancy voted to grant peer‑review waivers for 2025 to two firms — R. Berger and Company and Helming and Company — after staff described differing facts about each firm’s recent attest work and how state law aligns with national peer‑review practice.
Board staff reported that R. Berger and Company provided documentation showing no attest work in 2024, though the firm had signed audit reports in 2023. Bonnie (CTCPA representative) said the board could open an enforcement case to investigate prior years if needed, but recommended waiving the firm’s peer review for 2025 while staff looked further into earlier periods. The waiver motion for R. Berger was approved by voice vote with no opposition recorded.
For Helming and Company, staff told the board the firm had not performed test work since 2839 — (note: transcript value appears to be a transcription error for a year) — but the firm’s website advertised test‑work services and the firm said it would perform such work if engaged. Board members discussed whether that advertising meant the firm failed the statutory requirement that a firm “annually represents to the board that it does not engage in test work and does not intend to engage in such practice in the following year.” The board debated whether to require a test partner to complete eight audit CPE credits annually and whether system reviews could meaningfully evaluate a firm with no engagements.
Gary Foringlish, technical director of the AICPA peer review program, explained the national practice: “it’s the performance of engagements and the issue of reports. So it’s that issuance of the report that triggers enrollment in the peer review program.” For firms that have not issued reports, he said, a system review focuses on the design of a firm’s quality‑control system and any compliance with it.
After discussion, the board approved a waiver for Helming and Company as well. Members also agreed that if a firm accepts attest engagements in the future, professional competence requirements and CPE obligations remain the firm’s responsibility.
No amendments or conditions were recorded in the meeting minutes for either waiver; both motions were recorded as passing unanimously by voice vote.
