How to Identify the Costs of Providing Assurance

Many firms are currently considering whether or not they should continue to offer assurance services. This is particularly true in provinces where there are minimum continuing professional development hours required in accounting and assurance, as well as a minimum number of hours spent in performing assurance work. While the standards and regulations for this work are demanding, the costs of doing assurances is also an important factor to consider.

When assessing the business decision to continue to provide assurance services at your firm, consider the following costs. By no means an exhaustive list, these key items will help you wrap your head around the costs of providing assurance. Please note, these are simply estimates that will differ depending on your province and the number of licenses required.

• CPA Provincial Additional Licensing (Review / Audit) – this can cost anywhere from $500 – $1,000*
• Quality Control Manual subscription – $150
• Professional Engagement Guide subscription (formerly PPM or CPEM) –  $500
• Financial statement templates  (Jazz-it / Caseware) –  $500

In addition to these costs, there are other associated financial implications, besides the practitioner’s time, that need to be considered, including:

• Ongoing monitoring requirements
• Cyclical monitoring requirements
  • If you are interested in more information about the monitoring requirements you can download our special report: The 5Ws of Monitoring.
• Meeting continuing professional development requirements
• Time to maintain the firm’s assurance template files
• Additional salary costs for senior staff

All factors, including the financial implications, should be reviewed if you are a small full-service firm that is considering whether or not to continue providing assurance services.

For more insights on whether or not you should continue to offer assurance services, download our Special Report.