Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

     (1) "Attest" means providing the following financial statement services:

     (a) Any audit or other engagement to be performed in accordance with the statements on auditing standards;

     (b) Any review of a financial statement to be provided in accordance with the statements on standards for accounting and review services;

     (c) Any examination of prospective financial information to be performed in accordance with the statements on standards for attestation engagements; and

     (d) Any engagement to be performed in accordance with the public company accounting oversight board auditing standards.

     (2) "Board" means the board of accountancy created by RCW 18.04.035.

     (3) "Certificate" means a certificate as a certified public accountant issued prior to July 1, 2001, as authorized under the provisions of this chapter.

     (4) "Certificate holder" means the holder of a certificate as a certified public accountant who has not become a licensee, has maintained CPE requirements, and who does not practice public accounting.

     (5) "Certified public accountant" or "CPA" means a person holding a certified public accountant license or certificate.

     (6) "Compilation" means providing a service to be performed in accordance with statements on standards for accounting and review services that is presenting in the form of financial statements, information that is the representation of management (owners) without undertaking to express any assurance on the statements.

     (7) "CPE" means continuing professional education.

     (8) "Firm" means a sole proprietorship, a corporation, or a partnership. "Firm" also means a limited liability company formed under chapter 25.15 RCW.

     (9) "Holding out" means any representation to the public by the use of restricted titles as set forth in RCW 18.04.345 by a person or firm that the person or firm holds a license under this chapter and that the person or firm offers to perform any professional services to the public as a licensee. "Holding out" shall not affect or limit a person or firm not required to hold a license under this chapter from engaging in practices identified in RCW 18.04.350.

     (10) "Home office" is the location specified by the client as the address to which a service is directed.

     (11) "Inactive" means the certificate is in an inactive status because a person who held a valid certificate before July 1, 2001, has not met the current requirements of licensure and has been granted inactive certificate holder status through an approval process established by the board.

     (12) "Individual" means a living, human being.

     (13) "License" means a license to practice public accountancy issued to an individual under this chapter, or a license issued to a firm under this chapter.

     (14) "Licensee" means the holder of a license to practice public accountancy issued under this chapter.

     (15) "Manager" means a manager of a limited liability company licensed as a firm under this chapter.

     (16) "NASBA" means the national association of state boards of accountancy.

     (17) "Peer review" means a study, appraisal, or review of one or more aspects of the attest or compilation work of a licensee or licensed firm in the practice of public accountancy, by a person or persons who hold licenses and who are not affiliated with the person or firm being reviewed, including a peer review, or any internal review or inspection intended to comply with quality control policies and procedures, but not including the "quality assurance review" under subsection (21) of this section.

     (18) "Person" means any individual, nongovernmental organization, or business entity regardless of legal form, including a sole proprietorship, firm, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or not-for-profit organization, and including the sole proprietor, partners, members, and, as applied to corporations, the officers.

     (19) "Practice of public accounting" means performing or offering to perform by a person or firm holding itself out to the public as a licensee, for a client or potential client, one or more kinds of services involving the use of accounting or auditing skills, including the issuance of "audit reports," "review reports," or "compilation reports" on financial statements, or one or more kinds of management advisory, or consulting services, or the preparation of tax returns, or the furnishing of advice on tax matters. "Practice of public accounting" shall not include practices that are permitted under the provisions of RCW 18.04.350(10) by persons or firms not required to be licensed under this chapter.

     (20) "Principal place of business" means the office location designated by the licensee for purposes of substantial equivalency and reciprocity.

     (21) "Quality assurance review" means a process established by and conducted at the direction of the board of study, appraisal, or review of one or more aspects of the attest or compilation work of a licensee or licensed firm in the practice of public accountancy, by a person or persons who hold licenses and who are not affiliated with the person or firm being reviewed.

     (22) "Reports on financial statements" means any reports or opinions prepared by licensees or persons holding practice privileges under substantial equivalency, based on services performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, standards for attestation engagements, or standards for accounting and review services as to whether the presentation of information used for guidance in financial transactions or for accounting for or assessing the status or performance of commercial and noncommercial enterprises, whether public, private, or governmental, conforms with generally accepted accounting principles or another comprehensive basis of accounting. "Reports on financial statements" does not include services referenced in RCW 18.04.350(10) provided by persons not holding a license under this chapter.

     (23) "Review committee" means any person carrying out, administering or overseeing a peer review authorized by the reviewee.

     (24) "Rule" means any rule adopted by the board under authority of this chapter.

     (25) "Sole proprietorship" means a legal form of organization owned by one person meeting the requirements of RCW 18.04.195.

     (26) "State" includes the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands at such time as the board determines that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is issuing licenses under the substantially equivalent standards in RCW 18.04.350(2)(a).

[2008 c 16 § 2; 2001 c 294 § 2; 1999 c 378 § 1; 1994 c 211 § 1401; 1992 c 103 § 2; 1986 c 295 § 1; 1983 c 234 § 3.]

NOTES:

     Alphabetization--2008 c 16: "The code reviser shall alphabetize and renumber the definitions in RCW 18.04.025 and correct any references." [2008 c 16 § 7.]

     Finding -- Intent -- 2008 c 16: "The legislature finds the multiple state licensing and registering requirements for certified public accountants to be cumbersome and an unnecessary constraint on the consumers of professional certified public accountant services. In the majority of United States jurisdictions, certified public accountants are licensed based on substantially equivalent education, national exam, and experience requirements. Yet in order to serve their various client needs, certified public accountants must often delay service while they first spend countless hours and dollars to register with regulators in the jurisdictions of the client.

     To clarify the legislative intent of chapter 294, Laws of 2001, reduce the administrative licensing burden on certified public accountants licensed in any substantially equivalent jurisdiction, and facilitate consumer choice, the legislature intends to eliminate the requirement for out-of-state certified public accountants to notify the Washington state board of accountancy of intent to practice and pay a fee; however, firms providing audit or opinion-type services would be required to be licensed in this state. The requirement for notification will be replaced with "consent to automatic jurisdiction," which clarifies the legal disciplinary authority of the Washington state board of accountancy over out-of-state certified public accountants practicing in Washington state. This allows the board to more efficiently protect consumers while facilitating practice mobility and consumer choice." [2008 c 16 § 1.]

     Effective date -- 2001 c 294: See note following RCW 18.04.015.

     Effective date -- Severability -- 1994 c 211: See RCW 25.15.900 and 25.15.902.