Under Rule 402 of the Rules of Professional Conduct with Guidance, professional accounting firms (PAFs) are required to solely use “Chartered Professional Accountant(s)” in conjunction with their firm name — what is known as the firm’s descriptive style.
In Alberta, the use of the initials “CPA” as part of the firm name does not meet this requirement – the descriptive style must be spelt in full.
For example:
- Smith & Doe Chartered Professional Accountant(s)
Regardless of the services performed or offered, using “Chartered Professional Accountant(s)” as part of the firm name or as a descriptive style is viewed as carrying on a professional or public accounting practice and firm registration will be required.
In situations where one or more CPAs operate a professional accounting firm in partnership with someone who is not a CPA, the firm cannot practice under the style of “Chartered Professional Accountant(s)” unless the CPAs who are owners of the practice, exercise control of the firm.
Please note: the rules for personal use of the designation are different from those for firm descriptive style. More details on how to use the designation for a member is available here.