Finding the Right Peer Reviewer for Your Business

Selecting a quality peer reviewer is a critical step in ensuring that a firm’s peer review is efficient, cost-effective and adds value to the firm’s quality control policies and procedures. 

In a peer review, a CPA firm (like us) reviews the practices and procedures of another CPA firm to ensure that their operations are meeting general industry standards. The peer reviewer may also look over standards specific to the firm’s state or specialty area of practice.

What are the benefits of receiving a peer review?

• Participation in the AICPA Peer Review Program allows you to enhance your firm’s quality control policies and procedures. 
• You’ll be able to see how your firm measures up to other firms, and have the opportunity to learn from other firms’ best practices. 
• Many firms use peer reviews as a marketing tool to showcase their commitment to quality. 
• You’ll have a better understanding of recent professional pronouncement.

What should you look for when searching for a peer reviewer? 

Whether this is your first peer review or your fifth, it’s a good idea to periodically evaluate your peer reviewer. A quality peer review should convey honesty, professionalism, and trustworthiness. At the end of the day, you want to be able to trust your reviewer and build a long-term relationship. Never hesitate to ask questions, and do your due diligence when reading reviews and services pages on their websites. 

If you aren’t sure what to look for, here are some items to look out for in your research: 

• Look out for the number of audits the CPA firm has performed and for what industries. It will definitely give you peace of mind if they’ve completed audits in the same industry as yours! 
• How many years the CPA firm has been a peer reviewer.

Why is hiring the right peer reviewer important? 

Selecting the right peer reviewer takes time, persistence and careful consideration of qualifications. A firm should hire a reviewer who possesses skills in accounting, auditing and quality control matters, etc. in addition to the points we made above. Finding a firm whose practice size and industry specializations are similar to yours is ideal. Additionally, the reviewer should have significant experience in all of the key areas in which the firm operates.

Note: It’s important for firms to know that you can improve the efficiency, quality, and costs of your peer review by providing specific items for the peer reviewer in advance. Some of these items might include license information, communications from regulatory agencies, monitoring documentation, and more. To learn more about what questions to ask the peer reviewer and what documentation to provide, visit this link from AICPA.

 

At Taurus CPA Solutions, we are up-to-date on the latest regulations and can perform an efficient Peer Review for your CPA firm, including system reviews, engagement reviews, and internal inspection consultations. Contact us online to find out more, or give us a call at (410) 465-4600.