Principals in public practice

Identifying who the principals are in your firm is an important step in determining members who need to hold a Certificate of Public practice (CPP) and whether your firm can practice as a Chartered firm.

Characteristics

The Institute deems a principal to be an individual who:

• is responsible for governance of the practice as a director, partner or trustee
• as an employee, or otherwise, provides or participates as a principal in the provision of the services provided by the practice.

Responsibilities

Principals are those individuals who have responsibility for:

• Client selection, retention and terms of engagement
• The type and quality of services provided
• Signing off on professional engagements
• Ethical and technical judgements
• Governance of the practice and related entities

Actions

Principals of a practice are likely to:

• Bind the practice and other principals of the practice
• Attract the operation of the PI insurance policy
• Undertake actions without review by other principals
  

Article last updated 1 November 2011