Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Finance on Soliciting Opinions of the Administrative Measures for Service Fee-charging of Accounting Firms

财政部办公厅关于就会计师事务所服务收费管理办法征求意见的通知

 

Promulgating Institution: General Office of the Ministry of Finance

Document Number: Cai Ban Hui [2009] No. 8

Promulgating Date: 08/24/2009

颁布机关: 财政部办公厅

文   号: 财办会[2009]8号

颁布时间: 08/24/2009

 

Finance departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Finance Bureau of Shenzhen municipality, institutes of certified public accountants of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Shenzhen Institute of Certified Public Accountants,

  各省、自治区、直辖市财政厅(局),深圳市财政局,各省、自治区、直辖市注册会计师协会,深圳市注册会计师协会:

With a view to ensuring the service quality of accounting firms, safeguarding social and public interests as well as the legitimate rights and interests of clients and accounting firms, and promoting the healthy development of the profession of certified public accountants (CPA), the Department of Accounting of the Ministry of Finance (MOF)and the Department of Price of the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly studied and drafted the Administrative Measures for Service Fee-charging of Accounting Firms (Draft for Comments) to solicit public opinions. Please organize opinion solicitation in respective regions, and submit the opinions so solicited to the Department of Accounting of the MOF prior to August 31, 2009.

  为保障会计师事务所服务质量,维护社会公共利益以及委托人、会计师事务所的合法权益,促进注册会计师行业健康发展,我部会计司与国家发展改革委价格司共同研究起草了《会计师事务所服务收费管理办法(征求意见稿)》,现公开征求意见。请组织本地区征求意见工作,并于2009年8月31日前将意见反馈我部会计司。

Contact person: Qin Dong, Office of Certified Public Accountants, Department of Accounting, MOF

  联系人:财政部会计司注册会计师处覃东

Address: No. 3 Nansanxiang, Sanlihe, Xicheng District, Beijing, China, Postal Code: 100820 

Tel: 86-10-68552933 

Fax: 86-10-68552934

Appendix: Administrative Measures for Service Fee-charging of Accounting Firms (Draft for Comments)

General Office of the Ministry of Finance

August 24, 2009

  通讯地址:北京市西城区三里河南三巷3号，100820联系电话:010-68552933传真:010-68552934

  附件:会计师事务所服务收费管理办法（征求意见稿）

财政部办公厅

二〇〇九年八月二十四日

Appendix:

Administrative Measures for Service Fee-charging of Accounting Firms (Draft for Comments)

附件：

会计师事务所服务收费管理办法（征求意见稿）

 Article 1  These Measures are formulated with a view to ensuring the service quality of accounting firms, safeguarding social and public interests, as well as the legitimate rights and interests of clients and accounting firms, and promoting the healthy development of the profession of certified public accounts (CPA), in accordance with the Price Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Certified Public Accountants and other applicable laws and regulations.

   第一条 为保障会计师事务所服务质量，维护社会公共利益以及委托人、会计师事务所的合法权益，促进注册会计师行业健康发展，根据《中华人民共和国价格法》、《中华人民共和国注册会计师法》等有关法律法规规定，制定本办法。

 Article 2  Accounting firms established under the Law of the People's Republic of China on Certified Public Accountants shall charge service fees in accordance with these Measures when providing attestation services and other services in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. 

For the purpose of these Measures, attestation services shall refer to the services wherein an accounting firm, as entrusted by a client, reviews economic activities and relevant information and presents independent, objective and impartial review opinions in accordance with the Practicing Code of Conduct for Certified Public Accountants, including audit and review of historical financial information and other attestation services. 

   第二条 依照《中华人民共和国注册会计师法》设立的会计师事务所，根据相关法律、法规规定，提供鉴证服务和其他服务，应当按照本办法收取服务费用。

  本办法所称鉴证服务，是指会计师事务所接受委托，按照《注册会计师执业准则》对经济事项及相关信息进行审查，发表独立、客观、公正审查意见的服务，包括历史财务信息审计、历史财务信息审阅和其他鉴证服务。

 Article 3  Accounting firms shall charge service fees in compliance with the principles of openness, impartiality, fairness, free will, payable services, good faith and payment by clients.

   第三条 会计师事务所服务收费应当遵循公开、公正、公平、自愿有偿、诚实信用和委托人付费的原则。

 Article 4  Accounting firms shall adopt government-guided prices for attestation services and market regulation prices for other services.

   第四条 会计师事务所提供鉴证服务实行政府指导价，提供其他服务实行市场调节价。

 Article 5  Finance departments of governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall present opinions on the specific chargeable items subject to government-guided prices, benchmark prices and the floating range thereof, and submit the same to the competent price departments at the same level for determination.

Chargeable items, benchmark prices and the floating range thereof shall be adjusted from time to time in light of the changes in social and economic development.

   第五条 实行政府指导价的具体收费项目、基准价及其上下浮动幅度，由各省、自治区、直辖市政府财政部门提出意见，报同级价格主管部门制定。

  收费项目、基准价及其上下浮动幅度应当根据社会经济的发展变化适时调整。

 Article 6  Government-guided prices may adopt the form of time-based billing, piecemeal-based billing or a combination of the two forms.

   第六条 政府指导价可采取计时收费、计件收费或计时与计件收费相结合的方式。

 Article 7  As for attestation services subject to piecemeal-based billing, service fees may be charged based on indicators reflecting the scale of the attested object, such as the paid-up capital or total assets, and according to the method of progressive calculation of the difference at fixed rates. Namely, the fee-charging shall be graded pursuant to the paid-up capital, total assets or aggregated profits, and whereupon the fees to be charged shall be calculated. The total fees to be charged shall be the sum of the amount of each grade.

   第七条 实行计件收费的鉴证服务，可以实收资本、资产总额等反映鉴证对象规模的指标为计费依据，采取差额定率累进计算的办法收取服务费用。即按实收资本、资产总额、利润总额等划分收费档次，分档计算收费额，各档相加为收费总额。

 Article 8  As for attestation services subject to time-based billing, service fees may be charged based on the number of staff and working days needed to provide the service and the fee-charging rate of each person in each working hour. The number of staff and working hours shall be determined in light of the nature, degree of riskiness, and complexity, etc. of the attestation service. The fee-charging rate of each person in each working hour shall be determined in light of the professional competence of the accountants and the quality of the attestation service.

   第八条 实行计时收费的鉴证服务，可按照提供服务所需工作人时数和每个工作人时收费标准收取服务费用。工作人时数根据鉴证服务的性质、风险大小、繁简程度等确定；每个工作人时收费标准根据会计人员专业技能水平、鉴证工作的服务质量等分别确定。

 Article 9  Fee-charging rates for attestation services shall be determined with full consideration given to local economic development level, social affordability, development of the CPA profession, average social cost of local attestation services and reasonable profit. 

Average social cost of attestation services shall be determined on the basis of the necessary practicing procedures stipulated in the Practicing Code of Conduct for Certified Public Accountants, taking into consideration such hidden costs as professional liability risks and personnel training expenses. The lower floating limit of government-guided prices shall not be lower than the local average social cost for attestation services. 

   第九条 制定鉴证服务收费标准，应当充分考虑本地区经济发展水平、社会承受能力和注册会计师行业的发展，以本地区鉴证服务的社会平均成本和合理利润等因素确定。

  核定鉴证服务社会平均成本，应当以《注册会计师执业准则》规定的必要执业程序为依据，考虑执业责任风险和人员培训费用等隐性成本。政府指导价的浮动下限应不低于本地区鉴证服务的社会平均成本。

 Article 10  In providing services subject to market regulation prices, an accounting firm shall present a range of fee-charging rates in light of the social and economic development of the place where the service is undertaken, and the specific fee-charging rate shall be determined by the accounting firm and the client through consultation. The following major factors shall be taken into consideration to determine the fee-charging rate:

(1) the working hours spent;

(2) complexity of the business;

(3) affordability of the client;

(4) risks and liabilities may be assumed by the accounting firm; and

(5) social reputation of the accounting firm. 

   第十条 提供实行市场调节价的服务，应由会计师事务所根据承办业务所在地社会经济发展状况提出收费标准范围，具体标准由会计师事务所与委托人协商确定。确定收费标准时应考虑以下主要因素：

  （一）耗费的工作时间；

  （二）业务的难易程度；

  （三）委托人的承受能力；

  （四）会计师事务所可能承担的风险和责任；

  （五）会计师事务所的社会信誉。

 Article 11  Branch offices of an accounting firm established in places other than the domicile of the headquarter shall comply with the provisions on fee-charging at their domiciles.

Where an accounting firm (or a branch office thereof ) undertakes business from a region other than its domicile, the fee-charging standards of either the domicile thereof or of the region where the business is undertaken may apply. 

   第十一条 会计师事务所异地设立的分所，应当执行分所所在地的收费规定。

  会计师事务所（分所）异地承办业务，可以执行会计师事务所（分所）所在地或者承办业务所在地的收费标准。

 Article 12  When accepting entrustment, an accounting firm shall enter into contracts (agreements) on service fees with the clients, or specify clauses on service fees in the entrustment contracts (agreements).

Contracts (agreements) on service fees or clauses on service fees shall cover: the chargeable items, fee-charging rates, method of charging, sun of the charges, payment and settlement methods, and dispute resolution methods. In the case of time-based billing, estimated effective number of staff and working hours, and the statement that settlement shall be based on the actual effective number of staff and working hours shall also be included.

   第十二条 会计师事务所接受委托，应当与委托人签订服务收费合同（协议）或者在委托合同（协议）中载明收费条款。

  收费合同（协议）或收费条款应包括：收费项目、收费标准、收费方式、收费金额、付款和结算方式、争议解决方式，采用计时收费的，还应载明估算的有效工作人时数，结算以实际有效工作人时数计算等内容。

 Article 13  After an accounting firm has entered into a contract (agreement) with a client, where the entrustment relationship terminates due to the fault of one party or without justifiable reasons, refund or make-up of relevant fees and compensation shall be subject to relevant provisions of theContract Law.

   第十三条 会计师事务所与委托人签订合同（协议）后，因一方过错或无正当理由委托关系终止的，有关费用的退补和赔偿依照《合同法》等有关规定办理。

 Article 14  Where attestation services are undertaken through bidding (bids), accounting firms shall make bidding quotation in compliance with these Measures.

   第十四条 采取招（投）标方式取得鉴证服务时，会计师事务所的投标报价应当遵循本办法规定。

 Article 15  Accounting firms shall strengthen internal management and provide services in strict compliance with the Practicing Code of Conduct for Certified Public Accountants.

   第十五条 会计师事务所应当加强内部管理，严格按照《中国注册会计师执业准则》提供服务。

 Article 16  Accounting firms shall issue lawful vouchers for service fees charged from clients.

   第十六条 会计师事务所向委托人收取服务费用，应当出具合法票据。

 Article 17  Accounting firms shall post chargeable service items and fee-charging rates at a prominent place of the business premises, and accept public supervision.

   第十七条 会计师事务所应当在营业场所显著位置公示服务项目、收费标准等信息，接受社会监督。

 Article 18  Accounting firms shall strictly implement the administrative measures for service fee-charging of accounting firms and the fee-charging standards formulated by competent price departments, establish and improve internal fee-charging management system and accept supervision and inspection by competent price departments.

   第十八条 会计师事务所应当严格执行价格主管部门制定的会计师事务所服务收费管理办法和收费标准，建立健全内部收费管理制度，接受价格主管部门的监督检查。

 Article 19  Where an accounting firm commits any of the following violations, the competent governmental price department shall impose administrative punishment in accordance with the Price Law and the Provisions on Administrative Penalties Against Price-related Violations:

(1) where the accounting firm fails to make public its service items and fee-charging rates;

(2) where the service fees of the accounting firm exceed the floating range of the government-guided prices;

(3) where the accounting firm determines service fees of attestation services subject to government-guided prices without authorization;

(4) where, in violation of the provisions, the accounting firm decreases attestation service fees in disguised forms such as offering commission or kickback to the extent that the decreased services fees are lower than the lower floating limit of the government-guided prices;

(5) where the accounting firm charges fees unreasonably by decomposing chargeable items, repeated charging and enlarging the fee-charging scope;

(6) where the accounting firm charges fees without providing the services as required; or

(7) where the accounting firm has any other price-related violations.

   第十九条 会计师事务所有下列情形之一的，由政府价格主管部门依照《价格法》和《价格违法行为行政处罚规定》实施行政处罚：

  （一）未按规定公示服务项目、收费标准的；

  （二）超出政府指导价浮动幅度制定价格的；

  （三）擅自制定属于政府指导价范围内的鉴证服务收费的；

  （四）违反规定以佣金、回扣等形式变相降低鉴证服务收费超出政府指导价浮动下限的；

  （五）采取分解收费项目、重复收费，扩大收费范围等方式乱收费的；

  （六）不按照规定提供服务而收取费用的；

  （七）其他价格违法行为。

 Article 20  Any citizens, legal persons and other organizations may report or complain to the competent price department at the domicile of an accounting firm should the accounting firm or a CPA fails to adopt government-guided prices or commits other price-related violations.

   第二十条 公民、法人和其他组织对会计师事务所或注册会计师不执行政府指导价或其他价格违法行为，可以向会计师事务所所在地价格主管部门举报、投诉。

 Article 21  In the event of a dispute on fee-charging between an accounting firm and a client, the parties shall settle the dispute through consultation. The parties may also apply for arbitration or file a lawsuit with a competent people's court.

   第二十一条 会计师事务所与委托人之间发生收费纠纷，会计师事务所应当与委托人协商解决，也可以申请仲裁或者向人民法院提起诉讼。

 Article 22  Competent price departments at the provincial level shall formulate specific provisions on service fee-charging by accounting firms in accordance with these Measures, and report the same to the National Development and Reform Commission for record-filing.

   第二十二条 省级价格主管部门应依据本办法制定会计师事务所服务收费的具体规定，报国家发展改革委备案。

 Article 23  These Measures shall be interpreted by the National Development and Reform Commission in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance.

   第二十三条 本办法由国家发展改革委会同财政部负责解释。