Section Accy 1.003 - Definitions As used in chs. Accy 1 to 6:
(1) "Attest service" means any of the following, if performed or intended to be performed in accordance with the statements incorporated under s. Accy 1.205: (a) An audit or any other engagement.(b) A review or compilation of a financial statement.(c) An examination of prospective financial information.(2) "Audit" means an examination of financial statements of a person by a certified public accountant, conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, to determine whether, in the opinion of the certified public accountant, the statements conform with generally accepted accounting principles or, if applicable, with another comprehensive basis of accounting.(2m) "Board" means the accounting examining board.(2r) "Certified public accountant" or "CPA" means a person considered to be in practice as a certified public accountant under s. 442.02, Stats.(3) "Commission" means compensation, except a referral fee, for recommending or referring any product or service to be supplied by another person.(4) "Compilation of a financial statement" means a presentation of information in the form of a financial statement that is the representation of any other person without the undertaking of the certified public accountant to express any assurance on the statement.(5) "Contingent fee" means a fee established for the performance of any service according to an arrangement in which no fee will be charged unless a specified finding or result is attained, or in which the amount of the fee is otherwise dependent upon the finding or result of such service.(6) "CPA-related business" means a business that performs for clients any of the professional services related to accounting, tax, personal financial planning, or litigation support services or those services for which standards are established relating to audits, compilations and reviews of financial statements and examinations or compilations of prospective financial information.(7) "Examination of prospective financial information" means an evaluation by a certified public accountant of a forecast or projection, the support underlying the assumptions in the forecast or projection, whether the presentation of the forecast or projection is in conformity with professional presentation guidelines, or, whether the assumptions in the forecast or projection provide a reasonable basis for the forecast or projection.(7m) "Financial statements" means statements and footnotes related thereto that undertake to present an actual or anticipated financial position as of a point in time, or results of operations, cash flow, or changes in financial position for a period of time, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles or another comprehensive basis of accounting. "Financial statements" does not include incidental financial data included in management advisory service reports to support recommendations to a client; nor does it include tax returns and supporting schedules.(8) "Firm" means a proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, corporation, service corporation, or limited liability company.(9) "Forecast" means a prospective financial statement that presents, to the best of the responsible party's knowledge and belief, an entity's expected financial position, results of operations, and changes in financial position or cash flows that are based on the responsible party's assumptions reflecting conditions it expects to exist and the course of action it expects to take.(10) "Member of a firm" means a director, manager, employee, officer, owner, shareholder, principal, or partner of a firm.(11) "Person" means any natural person, firm, association, or other legal entity.(12) "Projection" means a prospective financial statement that presents, to the best of the responsible party's knowledge and belief, given one or more hypothetical assumptions, an entity's expected financial position, results of operations, and changes in financial position or cash flows that are based on the responsible party's assumptions reflecting conditions it expects would exist and the course of action it expects would be taken given such hypothetical assumptions.(13) "Referral fee" means compensation for recommending or referring any service of a certified public accountant to any person.(14) "Review" means to perform an inquiry and analytical procedures that permit a certified public accountant to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for expressing limited assurance that there are no material modifications that should be made to financial statements in order for them to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles or, if applicable, with another comprehensive basis of accounting.(15) "Significant influence" means the ability of an investor to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies of an investee. The extent of ownership is not conclusive. Direct or indirect ownership of 20% or more of an investee creates a presumption that the investor has significant influence in an investee. Ownership of less than 20% of a CPA-related business creates a presumption that the certified public accountant does not have significant influence in the CPA-related business. An ability to exercise significant influence may be indicated in several ways: representation on the board of directors, participation in policy making processes, material intercompany transactions, interchange of managerial personnel, technological dependency, and the extent of ownership by an investor in relation to the concentration of other shareholdings.Wis. Admin. Code Accounting Examining Board Accy 1.003
CR 03-071: (2) to (5), (7), (9), and (11) to (14) renum. from Accy 1.302(1) (b) to (k) and am. (2), (4), (7), (11), (13) and (14), cr. (intro.), (1), (6), (8), (10) and (15), Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04; 2013 Wis. Act 210: am. (1) Register April 2014 No. 700, eff. 5-1-14.Amended by, 2015 Wis. Act 217: am. (intro.), cr. (2m), (2r), (7m) Register May 2016 No. 725, eff. 6/1/2016Examples of indications that an investor may be unable to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of an investee include:
(a) Opposition by the investee, such as litigation or complaints to government regulatory authorities, challenges the investor's ability to exercise significant influence.
(b) The investor and investee sign an agreement under which the investor surrenders significant rights as a shareholder.
(c) Majority ownership of the investee is concentrated among a small group of shareholders who operate the investee without regard to the views of the investor.
(d) The investor needs or wants more financial information to apply the equity method than is available to the investee's other shareholders, for example, the investor wants quarterly financial information from an investee that publicly reports only annually, tries to obtain that information, and fails.
(e) The investor tries and fails to obtain representation on the investee's board of directors.