The mandate of CPA Alberta’s Regulatory department is to protect the public. Within this department, the Practical Experience team works with employers and CPA Professional Education Program (PEP) candidates to ensure candidates obtain the appropriate relevant experience to be admitted into membership. This experience is obtained through one of two routes—pre-approved program (PPR) or experience verification (EVR)—or a combination of the two.
In Alberta, almost half of all CPA candidates participate in PPR to obtain their experience. The PPR is a structured training path, where the employer and CPA Alberta have worked together to develop a program that will satisfy the profession’s Practical Experience Requirements in 30 months. The reporting requirements for candidates in PPR are streamlined, as CPA Alberta evaluates the experience at the time the candidate completes the program. This streamlined process is possible for PPR candidates since CPA Alberta monitors PPRs once every three years to ensure they continue to operate as approved.
Through this monitoring, CPA Alberta’s Practical Experience team ensures CPA PEP candidates are receiving high-quality training, in accordance with the Practical Experience Requirements. If, through the monitoring process it is discovered that is not the case, a PPR provider may have their approval revoked or be subject to restrictions or conditions.
New PPR employers are reviewed a year after approval into the program. Thereafter, they are typically reviewed on a 36-month cycle, which may be adjusted if situations come to the profession’s attention that might impact the training environment. For example, if a firm’s practice review results in a “non-comply” finding with standards, this may have an impact on the training environment and, as such, the PPR monitoring cycle would be adjusted.
It is important to understand that the PPR review process is complex and therefore takes time to carry out diligently. The profession reviews each candidate’s submission within the Practical Experience Reporting Tool, and then meets with the candidate and their mentor to gain a better understanding of the candidate’s experience. This process relies upon all parties engaging fully and in a timely manner.
In addition to meeting practical experience requirements, candidates have other obligations they are subject to as registrants of CPA Alberta. Like other registrants—such as Alberta CPAs and professional accounting firms—these duties and obligations include complying with all the obligations and requirements set out in Chartered Professional Accountants Act (the Act), as well as the Bylaws, Directives, and Resolutions made pursuant to the Act, and the CPA Alberta Rules of Professional Conduct. It also includes the underlying obligation to be ethical in all aspects of conduct, both professionally and personally.
Although most candidates are not yet designated professionals, they are aspiring to become such and are therefore expected to demonstrate the fundamental principles of the CPA profession. It is also expected that Alberta CPAs who are mentoring or supervising candidates promote these fundamental principles.
Experience evaluation and monitoring of PPRs is critical to ensure candidates are appropriately trained and become professionals that will best represent and promote the fundamentals of the CPA profession, as well as comply with all applicable obligations and requirements.
For more information or if you have any questions on CPA Alberta’s work in this area, email us at PracticalExperience@cpaalberta.ca.
