NOTES & NEWS
Regulatory Updates
Please note: It is now mandatory for members to use CPA
with their legacy designations
With the enactment of the CPA Act, all members are now regulated by CPABC. The legacy organizations
no longer exist. Accordingly, members must use CPA, accompanied by their legacy designation. This
means your credential must now be listed as “CPA, CA”; “CPA, CGA”; or “CPA, CMA”.
Members Only Directory Online
A more detailed online directory for members
only is available in the member secure section
of our website, where members can determine,
on a self-serve basis, what information they
want to share with other members. This new
directory is similar to the directories that
were previously available on two of the three
legacy websites. In addition to sharing the
same basic contact information that’s available
in the public directory (as described in the
section above), members have the option of
adding additional information from their
profiles, such as employment information.
14 CPABC in Focus • Nov/Dec 2015
New CPA Certificates
New CPA certificates will be mailed to all members. First, however, we ask that you go online
to confirm or update your personal profile information and ensure that your mailing address
and other information is correct and up to date. Please note that there’s a field indicating the
name to be displayed on your certificate.
Once you confirm or update your information, your new CPA certificate will be mailed to
you. You can keep your legacy certificate—there’s no need to return it to CPABC as long as you
remain a member.
While checking your profile, please take the opportunity to indicate what information you’d
like to share with other members in the Members Only Directory described above.
Use of CPA by Firms
Firms must now use the CPA designation in their name and/or descriptive style, with no legacy
reference, on all audit reports, review engagement reports, compilation engagement reports,
and other material and correspondence that relates to the provision of public accounting services
(such as engagement letters, invoices, management letters, and responses to requests for proposals).
Note: Only firms (including sole proprietors) are permitted to use the CPA logo. Individual
members are not permitted to use the CPA logo. Firms seeking to use and/or display the CPA logo
are advised to read the guidelines and application information on the CPABC website at bccpa.ca.
Transition for Letterhead, Websites, and Signage
In order to avoid wastage and extra printing costs, members and firms are permitted to use up
their existing business cards and letterhead for the remainder of 2015. With respect to legacy
references on firm websites, firms have until June 30, 2016, to change all legacy references to
“CPA.” And recognizing that it can be particularly costly to change signage, the profession is
giving firms until December 2017 to install CPA signage. Please refer to our website at bccpa.ca
for additional information and a set of FAQs.
Note: While there is a grace period for the transition, as detailed above, early adoption is
strongly encouraged for all of these changes.
Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock/Thinkstock
Member Directory Available to the
Public Online
We are pleased to provide a member directory
on our website that enables the public to look
up CPABC members by name and/or city.
To ensure that your privacy is protected,
only basic contact information—your name,
designation, and city of employment—is
provided. The directory does not include
suspended or former members.
While inclusion in the directory is compulsory for all members, you may request to be
excluded for safety or privacy reasons. If you
believe you have a valid security reason to be
excluded from the public directory, please
contact us at [email protected].