Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Welcome to ICPAK, a statutory body established under the Accountants Act, 1977 for the regulation of the profession of accountancy in Kenya. The Institute has achieved recognition as a professional body for its contribution in the fields of education, professional development, maintenance of high accounting, auditing and ethical standards.
BACKGROUND
The Accountancy profession in Kenya is regulated through the Accountants Act, Chapter 531 of the Laws of Kenya. The Act was enacted in 1977 and brought into being three bodies, namely:
1. Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK)
2. Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Board (KASNEB)
3. Registration of Accountants Board (RAB)
4. Plans are afoot for the review of the status to rationalize the regulatory
structure by reducing the bodies to two.
The functions presently performed by each of the existing bodies are outlined below:
Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK)
ICPAK serves as the umbrella body that oversees the activities of qualified and registered Certified Public Accountants (CPAs).
Its mandate includes:
Setting and enforcing standards of professional practice including accounting, auditing and ethical standards.
Enforcing a programme of quality assurance for the audit profession.
Monitoring ethical behavior and adjudicating over cases involving indiscipline through the Statutory Disciplinary Committee.
Providing for the maintenance of competence by updating members' knowledge through publications and the conduct of Continuing Professional Education.
Providing solutions through which training of accountants can be improved. For this purpose, ICPAK established the Kenya College of Accountancy (KCA), which is now one of the leading trainers in accountancy in Kenya.
ICPAK also acts as the profession's mouthpiece in Kenya and in this respect holds membership in international accountancy organizations including:
International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Eastern, Central and Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA)
ICPAK is run through a Council of 11 members, of whom 10 are elected and 1 appointed by the Ministry of Finance.
ICPAK also plays active roles in national life by contributing in the following ways:
Public Finance Management- making recommendations to the Treasury on public finance matters including taxation measures and improvement in expenditure management.
Regulatory linkages - working closely with regulators in various sectors to promote good corporate governance with particular reference to the integrity of the audit process. As part of this, ICPAK is represented in decision-making organs of various regulatory institutions including the Capital Markets Authority.
Financial reporting and disclosure - ensuring that financial disclosure standards in Kenya meet internationally recognized benchmarks. Among other things, ICPAK established the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Award for excellence, an annual competition that showcases best practice disclosures among Kenyan companies. The FiRe Award competition is presently promoted jointly with the Capital Markets Authority and the Nairobi Stock Exchange. It is now the leading competition in Kenya in this regard.
