Section 40-2-20 - DefinitionsAs used in this chapter:
(1) "AICPA" means the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or successor organizations.(2)(a) "Attest' means providing the following services: (i) any audit or other engagement to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS);(ii) any review of a financial statement to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS);(iii) any examination of prospective financial information to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE);(iv) any engagement to be performed in accordance with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Auditing Standards; or(v) any examination, review, or agreed upon procedure to be performed in accordance with the SSAE, other than an examination described in subitem (c).(b) Any standards specified in this definition shall be adopted by reference by the board pursuant to rulemaking and shall be those developed for general application by national accountancy organizations, such as the AICPA or the PCAOB.(3) "Board" means the South Carolina Board of Accountancy.(4) "Client" means a person or entity that agrees with a licensee or licensee's employer to receive any professional service.(5) "Client records" means those accounting records or other records provided by a client or removed from a client's premises, including hardcopy and electronic reproductions of records, that belong to the client and that were provided to a certified public accountant, public accountant, or accounting practitioner by, or on behalf of, the client.(6) "Compilation" means providing a service of any compilation engagement to be performed in accordance with SSARS.(7) "CPA-prepared records" means accounting or other records that a licensee or firm was not specifically engaged to prepare and that are not in a client's books and records or are otherwise not available to the client, which render the client's financial or tax information incomplete. Examples include adjusting, closing, combining, and consolidating journal entries, including computations supporting journal entries; depreciation schedules and supporting schedules; and documents that were proposed or prepared as part of an engagement.(8) "CPA work papers" are all other records created in the course of an engagement that are not client records, CPA work products or CPA-prepared records.(9) "CPA work products" are deliverables set forth in the terms of an engagement, such as tax returns.(10) "Department" means the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.(11) "Direct" means the person supervised in the usual line of authority or is in a staff position reporting to the supervisor.(12) "Electronic files" means data files in a format created by software commonly available to the general public such as Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Excel or Word, and consumer accounting programs. Electronic files do not include data files in a format created by proprietary software or software commonly unavailable to the general public.(13) "Experience" means providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills whether gained through employment in government, industry, academia, or public practice.(14) "Firm" means a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a partnership, or any other form of organization registered under this chapter. "Firm" includes a person or persons practicing public accounting in the form of a proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or professional corporation or association.(15) "Firm ownership" means one hundred percent of the partners, members, managers, shareholders, and equity owners in a firm, which must be owners.(16) "License" means authorization to practice as issued under this chapter.(17) "Licensee" means the holder of a license.(18) "Manager" means a licensee in responsible charge of an office.(19) "NASBA" means the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy(20) "Non-CPA owner" means any owner in a firm who is not a currently licensed certified public accountant.(21) "Owner" means any person who owns all or part of a firm.(22) "Peer review" means a study, appraisal, or review of one or more aspects of the professional work of a licensee of the board or a firm registered with the board that performs attest or compilation services by a person or persons who hold certificates and who are not affiliated with the certificate holder or certified public accountant firm being reviewed.(23) "Practice of accounting" means:(a) issuing a report on financial statements of a person, firm, organization, or governmental unit or offering to render or rendering any attest or compilation service. This restriction does not prohibit any act of a public official or public employee in the performance of that person's duties or prohibit the performance by a nonlicensee of other services involving the use of accounting skills, including the preparation of tax returns, management advisory services, and the preparation of financial statements without the issuance of reports; or(b) using or assuming the title "Certified Public Accountant" or the abbreviation "CPA" or any other title, designation, words, letters, abbreviation, sign, card, or device tending to indicate that the person is a certified public accountant.(24) "Preparation of financial statements" means any preparation of financial statements engagement to be performed in accordance with SSARS.(25) "Principal place of business" means the office location designated by a licensee for the purposes of substantial equivalency and reciprocity.(26) "Professional" means arising out of or related to the specialized knowledge or skills associated with licensees.(27) "Registration" means an authorization, issued under this chapter, to practice as a firm.(28) "Renewal due date" is February first of a licensing year.(29) '"Renewal lapse date" is a date fifteen days subsequent to the renewal date.(30) "Report", when used with reference to any attest or compilation service, means an opinion, report, or other form of language that states or implies assurance as to the reliability of the attested information or compiled financial statements and that also includes or is accompanied by any statement or implication that the person or firm issuing it has special knowledge or competency in accounting or auditing. This statement or implication of special knowledge or competency may arise from use by the issuer of the report of names or titles indicating that the person or firm is an accountant or auditor. The term "report" includes any form of language which disclaims an opinion when the form of language is conventionally understood to imply positive assurance as to the reliability of the attested information or compiled financial statements referred to or special competency on the part of the person or firm issuing such language, or both; and it includes any other form of language that is conventionally understood to imply such assurance or such special knowledge or competency, or both.(31) "Resident manager" means a responsible party for a firm.(32) "State" means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam; except that "this State" means the State of South Carolina.(33) "Substantial equivalency" or "substantially equivalent" is a determination by the board or its designee that the education, examination, and experience requirements contained in the statutes and administrative rules of another jurisdiction are comparable to, or exceed the completion of, a baccalaureate or higher degree in an accounting concentration that includes one hundred fifty semester hours of education, at least one year of acceptable experience, and successful completion of the Uniform CPA Examination. Any jurisdiction found to be substantially equivalent by NASBA's National Qualification Appraisal Service is considered to be substantially equivalent to this State. In ascertaining substantial equivalency as used in this chapter, the board or its designee shall take into account the qualifications without regard to the sequence in which experience, education, or examination requirements were attained.(34) "Supervision" means having jurisdiction, oversight, or authority over the practice of accounting and over the people who practice accounting.(35) "Uniform CPA Examination" means the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination as prepared by the AICPA.Amended by 2022 S.C. Acts, Act No. 174 (SB 812),s 1, eff. 5/16/2022.Amended by 2019 S.C. Acts, Act No. 68 (HB 3785),s 2, eff. 5/16/2019.Amended by 2015 S.C. Acts, Act No. 51 (SB 301), s 2, eff. 6/3/2015.Amended by 2015 S.C. Acts, Act No. 51 (SB 301), s 2, eff. 6/3/2015.Amended by 2015 S.C. Acts, Act No. 51 (SB 301), s 2, eff. 6/3/2015.2008 Act No. 351, Sections 1, 2; 2004 Act No. 289, Section 1; 1996 Act No. 453, Section 1.