Public Practice Licence Renewal & Firm Registration Renewal
- Public Practice Individual Licence Renewal and Fee
- Firm Registration Renewal and Fee (Member levy for each CPA)
Public Practice Individual Licence Renewal and Fee
Process and information needed for renewal completion
Each individual licensee will renew their licence and will make declarations to confirm the following:
Licence Category
The category of licence will be shown and the member will be asked to confirm that it is appropriate and that they understand any practice limitations under that category.
IES (8) Declaration
If the member holds an Audit licence, the member will be asked to declare one of the following:
- That they have done a self-assessment of their PD and believe that they have completed sufficient and relevant PD for their development and maintenance of the competencies as an auditor; or
- That they have done a self-assessment of their PD and believe that they have not completed sufficient and relevant PD for their development and maintenance of the competencies as an auditor
Personal Practice Profile
The member will identify the areas of practice that they have worked in during the last three years. In addition, they will confirm how many engagements of each type that they had overall engagement responsibility for in the last twelve months.
Assisting Accountant
A member who is a sole practitioner will be asked to declare one of the following:
- Name and contact information of nominated assisting accountant; or
- The sole practitioner will authorize CPABC to appoint an assisting accountant if needed.
In addition, the member will need to provide Emergency Contact information.
Locality
The member will indicate if they have clients outside of BC (or Yukon), Washington State clients, or international clients.
Payment of individual public practice licence fee
The amount of the fee billed is based on the member’s category of licence.
Additional Support
For your reference, samples of the licence renewal declaration can be found above. One sample is for a member who is a sole practitioner and the other sample is for a practitioner who is not a sole practitioner.
If you have questions about the licence renewal declaration or about your licence category please email: publicpractice@bccpa.ca.
If you have any questions about renewal and payment, please email: finance@bccpa.ca.
Firm Registration Renewal and Fee
(Member levy for each CPA)
Process and information needed for renewal completion
The member set up as Firm Administrator will be required to confirm by declaration of the following:
Home Office
Confirmation of whether you have a home-based practice and daytime phone number
Office Practice Profile
Estimated percentage of gross billings in each of the practice areas. You will also be asked whether the firm maintains electronic or paper client files, or both.
Firm Composition
Information on number of non-CPA staff and CPA students. If you have CPA students, you will need to confirm whether they are in a pre-approved route or an experience verification route.
Firm Questions
The following will be requested:
- Confirmation of whether the office subscribes to CPA Professional Engagement Guide
- Firm’s website address
- Firm’s estimated annual gross billings (can be based on choice of firm’s fiscal year or calendar year)
- Information on any significant changes to your firm.
Firm Directory
At minimum, the Firm Directory will show the firm name, the partner’s name and respective licence category. Confirmation of any additional contact information that the firm wishes to provide.
Trust Accounts
Information on whether the firm holds trust accounts. If the firm does hold trust accounts, there is question asking, “What are these trust accounts relating to?” Options are: retainer for fees, insolvency/bankruptcy proceedings, services as an executor and other (please specify).
Emerging Industries
Information on whether the firm provides services to clients in the cannabis industry or to clients that use cryptocurrency or blockchain.
Professional Liability Insurance
Name of Insurer and confirmation that the firm’s professional liability insurance meets the requirements of Bylaw Regulation 1301/1.
If the Insurer is neither CPA Professional Liability Plan Inc. nor PROLINK, the following additional information is required:
- Name of Insurer
- Insurance effective date
- Insurance expiry date
- $ amount of insurance coverage per claim
- Insurance policy/certificate number
If your firm’s professional liability insurance is expiring prior to September 1, 2025, please ensure that you provide policy details related to the 2025-2026 policy renewal.
If the insurer is neither CPA Professional Liability Plan Inc. nor PROLINK, you are required to forward a copy of the firm’s professional liability insurance certificate to publicpracticelicensing@bccpa.ca. Please include the endorsements required by Bylaw Regulation 1301/1(4). These endorsements include the requirement for the insurance company to notify CPABC in writing forthwith of:
- any cancellation or non-renewal of the policy, or
- any insurance coverage that is below the minimum levels required under Bylaw Regulation 1301/1(1) or (2).
Confirmation of CPA members in firm
Before completing the renewal and paying the firm fee, the Firm Administrator will have the ability to review the roster of partners and CPA staff to ensure that all are correctly listed. This can be done in advance of the firm renewal process.
Payment of Firm registration fee (member levy for each CPA)
$160 + GST member levy for each partner and CPA staff member.
The member levy is only applied to CPA members who work for the firm as of September 1.
Additional Support
For your reference, a sample of the firm registration renewal declaration can be found here.
If you have questions about the firm declaration or wish to update your firm information, please email: publicpractice@bccpa.ca.
If you have any questions about renewal and payment, please email: finance@bccpa.ca.
If changes are required to your CPA staff roster, please email: memberrecords@bccpa.ca.