As used in this chapter:

(1) "AICPA" means the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or successor organizations.

(2) "Attest" means providing the following services:

(a) an audit or other engagement to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS);

(b) a review of a financial statement to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS);

(c) an examination of prospective financial information to be performed in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE);

(d) any engagement to be performed in accordance with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Auditing Standards; or

(e) any examination, review, or agreed upon procedure to be performed in accordance with the SSAE, other than an examination described in subitem (c).

(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) "Compilation" means providing a service to be performed in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) in which the objective of the accountant is to apply accounting and financial reporting expertise to assist management in the presentation of financial statements and reports in accordance with this section without undertaking to obtain or provide any assurance that there are no material modifications that should be made to the financial statements in order for them to be in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.

(6) "Department" means the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

(7) "Direct" means the person supervised in the usual line of authority or is in a staff position reporting to the supervisor. Direct supervision means a clear-cut personal connection to the employee being supervised, marked by a firsthand knowledge and association.

(8) "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.

(9) "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.

(10) "License" means authorization to practice as issued under this chapter.

(11) "Licensee" means the holder of a license.

(12) "Manager" means a licensee in responsible charge of an office.

(13) "NASBA" means the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

(14) "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.

(15) "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.

(16) "Professional" means arising out of or related to the specialized knowledge or skills associated with licensees.

(17) "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 statement and that also includes or is accompanied by a 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.

(18) "Resident manager" means a responsible party for a firm.

(19) "Registration" means an authorization to practice as a firm issued under this chapter.

(20) "State" means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam; except that "this State" means the State of South Carolina.

(21) "Substantial equivalency" is a determination by the Board of Accountancy 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 education, examination, and experience requirements contained in Section 40-2-245(A)(1), or that an individual licensee's education, examination, and experience qualifications are comparable to or exceed the education, examination, and experience requirements contained in Section 40-2-245(A)(2). 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.

(22) "Supervision" means having jurisdiction, oversight, or authority over the practice of accounting and over the people who practice accounting.

(23) "Home office" means the location specified by the client as the address to which an attest or compilation service is directed.

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

HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 453, Section 1; 2004 Act No. 289, Section 1; 2008 Act No. 351, Sections 1, 2; 2015 Act No. 51 (S.301), Sections 2.A, 2.B, 2.C, eff June 3, 2015; 2019 Act No. 68 (H.3785), Section 2, eff May 16, 2019.

Effect of Amendment

2015 Act No. 51, Sections 2.A, 2.B, 2.C, in (2), deleted "financial statement" before "services", and added (e); in (15)(a), deleted "on the financial statement" following "without the issuance of reports"; and in (17), substituted "any attest or compilation service" for "financial statements" and "reliability of the attested information or compiled financial statement" for "reliability of a financial statement" in the first sentence, and inserted "attested information or compiled" before "financial statements referred to" in the third sentence.

2019 Act No. 68, Section 2, rewrote (5).