General Information
Chapter 364 of the Laws of 2017 amended the requirements for CPA Firms subject to Mandatory Peer Reviews pursuant to Education Law §7410 which became effective on October 23, 2017. The amendments to the Peer Review Law repealed the exemption from the Mandatory Peer Review requirement for small firms with two or fewer accounting professionals and now requires all CPA firms to undergo a Mandatory Peer Review if the firm performs any attest services.
Education Law §7410 requires public accounting firms to undergo a peer review of the firm's attest services within 18 months of providing its initial attest service and every three years thereafter. Firms must provide the NYS Department of Education (Department) a copy of the peer review documents each time the firm registers with the Department and upon the initial issuance of the peer review documents.
All CPA firms, including sole proprietorships, must register with the Department. For information, please review the Registration of Public Accounting Firms.
Firms can verify their firm’s registration status here.
The rules regarding the Mandatory Peer Review Program are complex and will vary significantly depending upon the type of audits and other attest services provided by your firm. In addition, if your firm’s peer review results are deemed to be substandard, additional remediation and corrective actions will also be applicable. For additional information relative to these statutes and regulations, click here for Education Law §7410, the Regulations of the Commissioner §70.10 and the Rules of the Board of Regents 29.10.j.