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Firm Profile Datasheet

MEMORANDUM

DATE: OCTOBER 10, 2012

TO: INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS (IPA)

FROM: CARLA C. MARTINEZ, DEPUTY STATE AUDITOR

SUBJECT: REQUEST TO SUBMIT FIRM PROFILES FOR 2013 AUDITS DUE NOVEMBER 16, 2012                  ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Pursuant to Section 2.2.2.8(A) NMAC, (the Audit Rule), a CPA firm must submit a firm profile to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) for review and approval, in order to be added to, or remain on the State Auditor’s list of IPAs approved to conduct audits and agreed upon procedures engagements of New Mexico governmental entities. A hard copy of your completed firm profile must be postmarked or delivered to the OSA no later than Friday November 16, 2012 at 5:00 pm. Firm profiles that are not postmarked or delivered by the due date will not be processed until March 18, 2013 or later.

The firm profile consists of 5 sections that will provide the OSA with the following information:

  • Firm Contact Information;
  • Copy of New Mexico Firm Permit to Practice;
  • Evidence of Professional Liability Insurance;
  • Peer Review Details;
  • Late Audit Report Information;
  • Listing of Professional Service Contracts; and Staff Information and Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

The firm profile forms can be downloaded from the OSA website at www.osanm.org. The IPA firm will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer in order to view the firm profile on the OSA website. Download Acrobat Reader by clicking on the Acrobat Icon. If additional space is required on any of the forms in the firm profile, you may insert a separate sheet in a similar format with the required information. The OSA encourages firms to carefully check the firm profile prior to submission to the OSA. Please note that incomplete, unorganized or unbound firm profiles will be returned to your firm and will not be considered received by the OSA.

If an individual in the firm is completing his or her most recent two-year CPE period between November 16, 2012 and December 31, 2012, and that person fell short of the Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) CPE requirement as of November 16, 2012, then additional documentation of CPE obtained at the end of the calendar year should be submitted to the Office as soon as the individual’s CPE is completed for the two-year period, and the documentation is available.

After OSA staff reviews the firm profiles submitted by the due date, the OSA will publish a new list of approved IPAs for 2013 on the OSA website by February 18, 2013. If a firm is approved to perform audits, then that same firm is automatically qualified to also contract to perform agreed-upon-procedures engagements. On or about February 18, 2013, government agencies will be notified that they may seek proposals for their annual financial and compliance audits of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. If your firm fails to submit a completed firm profile by November 16, 2012, then your firm will not be included on the initial list for 2013. Additionally, firms that submit the firm profile timely, that do not meet the requirements noted in the firm profile, will appear on the approved list, but will be restricted pending OSA receipt of the required missing documentation.

Firms that fail to meet the November 16, 2012 submission deadline are required to submit a special written request to the State Auditor, accompanying the completed firm profile. The request should explain the following in writing: 1) why the IPA did not submit the firm profile by the November 16, 2012 due date; and 2) why the State Auditor should consider the firm for the approved list of IPAs in 2013.

The OSA will be providing Audit rule trainings as usual in the March – April 2013 timeframe. However, attendees must sign in only for themselves. Attendees will not be allowed to sign in for someone else who is arriving late, or for any other reason.

If you have any questions about the download process for obtaining the firm profile form, contact Art Baca at (505) 476-3800. For questions about the firm profile, contracting or other related issues, please contact Denise Duran at (505) 476-3835. Thank you for your attention regarding this matter.

Please submit completed firm profiles to:

Office of the State Auditor
2540 Camino Edward Ortiz, Ste #A
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507