Types of Engagements for Qualifying Assurance Hours

Types of Engagements for Qualifying Assurance Hours

  • External Audit PPR: CPA Student must obtain 1,250 chargeable assurance hours, of which at least 625 chargeable hours in the audit of historical financial statements.
  • Review PPR: CPA Student must obtain 1,250 chargeable assurance hours, of which at least 625 chargeable hours in the audit/review of historical financial statements.
  • Assurance, Compilation and Tax (ACT) PPR: CPA Student must obtain 425 chargeable assurance hours.

All references below are from areas of the CPA Canada Handbook.

Below is a list of engagements that qualify for chargeable assurance hours:

  • CAS 700 – Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements
  • CAS 805 – Audits of single financial statements and specific elements, accounts or items of a financial statement.
  • CSRE 2400 – Engagements to review historical financial statements.
  • AuG-6 - Examination of a financial forecast or projection included in a prospectus or other public offering document.

The following engagements would not qualify towards chargeable hours in assurance:

  • 7200 – Auditor assistance to underwriters and others
  • 7600 – Reports on the application of accounting principles
  • AuG-16 – Compilation of a Financial Forecast or Projection
  • AuG-49 – Reporting on compliance with specified authorities for transactions coming to the auditor’s notice during the audit of financial statements (replaced: PS 5300 –Auditing for compliance with legislative and related authorities in the public sector)
  • AuG-50 – Conducting a performance audit in the public sector in accordance with CSAE 3001 (replaced: PS 5400, 6410 & 6420 – Value-for-money auditing in the public sector).
  • CSAE 3000 – Attestation engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information (post-June 30, 2017).
  • CSAE 3001 – Direct engagements (post-June 30,2017).
  • (CSAE 3000 and 3001 replaced: 5025 – Standards for assurance engagements other than audits of financial statements and other historical financial information)
  • CSAE 3410 – Assurance engagements on greenhouse gas statements
  • CSAE 3416 – Reporting on controls at a service organization
  • CSAE 3530 – Attestation engagements to report on compliance
  • CSAE 3531 – Direct engagements to report on compliance
    • (CSAE 3530 and 3531 replaced: 5815 – Audit reports on compliance with agreements, statutes and regulations and 8600 – Reviews of compliance with agreements and regulations)
  • CSRS 4200 – Compilation engagements (replaced Section 9200 – Compilation engagements)
  • CSRS 4400 – Agreed-upon procedures engagements (replaced: Section 9100 – Reports on the results of applying specified auditing procedures. This would include Law Society, Real Estate Council and Other Specified Procedures Reports; and 9110 – Agreed-upon procedures regarding internal control over financial reporting).

A listing of engagements that would qualify and not qualify towards chargeable assurance hours can also be found on the CPA Canada’s Resources for CPA PER webpage, and the resource is titled “Chargeable Hours Guidance for Audit and Review Streams”.