2006 Minnesota Statutes

326A.10 UNLAWFUL ACTS.
(a) Only a licensee may issue a report on financial statements of any person, firm,
organization, or governmental unit that results from providing attest services, or offer to render
or render any attest service. Only a certified public accountant, a CPA firm, or, to the extent
permitted by board rule, a person registered under section 326A.06, paragraph (b), may issue a
report on financial statements of any person, firm, organization, or governmental unit that results
from providing compilation services or offer to render or render any compilation service. These
restrictions do not prohibit any act of a public official or public employee in the performance of
that person's duties or prohibit the performance by any 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 on them. Nonlicensees
may prepare financial statements and issue nonattest transmittals or information on them which
do not purport to be in compliance with the Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review
Services (SSARS). Nonlicensees registered under section 326A.06, paragraph (b), may, to the
extent permitted by board rule, prepare financial statements and issue nonattest transmittals or
information on them.
(b) Licensees performing attest or compilation services must provide those services in
accordance with professional standards. To the extent permitted by board rule, registered
accounting practitioners performing compilation services must provide those services in
accordance with standards specified in board rule.
(c) A person who does not hold a valid certificate issued under section 326A.04 shall not
use or assume the title "certified public accountant," 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.
(d) A firm shall not provide attest services or assume or use the title "certified public
accountants," the abbreviation "CPAs," or any other title, designation, words, letters, abbreviation,
sign, card, or device tending to indicate that the firm is a CPA firm unless (1) the firm holds a
valid permit issued under section 326A.05, and (2) ownership of the firm is in accordance with
this chapter and rules adopted by the board.
(e) A person or firm that does not hold a valid certificate or permit issued under section
326A.04 or 326A.05 shall not assume or use the title "certified accountant," "chartered
accountant," "enrolled accountant," "licensed accountant," "registered accountant," "accredited
accountant," "accounting practitioner," "public accountant," "licensed public accountant," or any
other title or designation likely to be confused with the title "certified public accountant," or use
any of the abbreviations "CA," "LA," "RA," "AA," "PA," "AP," "LPA," or similar abbreviation
likely to be confused with the abbreviation "CPA." The title "enrolled agent" or "EA" may only be
used by individuals so designated by the Internal Revenue Service.
(f) Persons registered under section 326A.06, paragraph (b), may use the title "registered
accounting practitioner" or the abbreviation "RAP." A person who does not hold a valid
registration under section 326A.06, paragraph (b), shall not assume or use such title or
abbreviation.
(g) Except to the extent permitted in paragraph (a), nonlicensees may not use language in
any statement relating to the financial affairs of a person or entity that is conventionally used by
licensees in reports on financial statements. In this regard, the board shall issue by rule safe harbor
language that nonlicensees may use in connection with such financial information. A person
or firm that does not hold a valid certificate or permit, or a registration issued under section
326A.04, 326A.05, or 326A.06, paragraph (b), shall not assume or use any title or designation
that includes the word "accountant" or "accounting" in connection with any other language,
including the language of a report, that implies that the person or firm holds such a certificate,
permit, or registration or has special competence as an accountant. A person or firm that does not
hold a valid certificate or permit issued under section 326A.04 or 326A.05 shall not assume or use
any title or designation that includes the word "auditor" in connection with any other language,
including the language of a report, that implies that the person or firm holds such a certificate
or permit or has special competence as an auditor. However, this paragraph does not prohibit
any officer, partner, member, manager, or employee of any firm or organization from affixing
that person's own signature to any statement in reference to the financial affairs of such firm or
organization with any wording designating the position, title, or office that the person holds, nor
prohibit any act of a public official or employee in the performance of the person's duties as such.
(h) No person holding a certificate or registration or firm holding a permit under this chapter
shall use a professional or firm name or designation that is misleading about the legal form of
the firm, or about the persons who are partners, officers, members, managers, or shareholders of
the firm, or about any other matter. However, names of one or more former partners, members,
managers, or shareholders may be included in the name of a firm or its successor.
(i) Paragraphs (a) to (h) do not apply to a person or firm holding a certification, designation,
degree, or license granted in a foreign country entitling the holder to engage in the practice of
public accountancy or its equivalent in that country, if:
(1) the activities of the person or firm in this state are limited to the provision of professional
services to persons or firms who are residents of, governments of, or business entities of the
country in which the person holds the entitlement;
(2) the person or firm performs no attest or compilation services and issues no reports with
respect to the financial statements of any other persons, firms, or governmental units in this
state; and
(3) the person or firm does not use in this state any title or designation other than the one
under which the person practices in the foreign country, followed by a translation of the title or
designation into English, if it is in a different language, and by the name of the country.
(j) No holder of a certificate issued under section 326A.04 may perform attest services
through any business form that does not hold a valid permit issued under section 326A.05.
(k) No individual licensee may issue a report in standard form upon a compilation of
financial information through any form of business that does not hold a valid permit issued
under section 326A.05, unless the report discloses the name of the business through which the
individual is issuing the report, and the individual:
(1) signs the compilation report identifying the individual as a certified public accountant;
(2) meets the competency requirement provided in applicable standards; and
(3) undergoes no less frequently than once every three years, a peer review conducted in a
manner specified by the board in rule, and the review includes verification that the individual has
met the competency requirements set out in professional standards for such services.
(l) No person registered under section 326A.06, paragraph (b), may issue a report in standard
form upon a compilation of financial information unless the board by rule permits the report
and the person:
(1) signs the compilation report identifying the individual as a registered accounting
practitioner;
(2) meets the competency requirements in board rule; and
(3) undergoes no less frequently than once every three years a peer review conducted in a
manner specified by the board in rule, and the review includes verification that the individual has
met the competency requirements in board rule.
(m) Nothing in this section prohibits a practicing attorney or firm of attorneys from preparing
or presenting records or documents customarily prepared by an attorney or firm of attorneys in
connection with the attorney's professional work in the practice of law.
(n) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, persons preparing unaudited financial
statements under corresponding provisions of prior law shall be permitted to perform compilation
services until six months after the board adopts rules under section 326A.06.
History: 2001 c 109 art 1 s 12