Information for CPA Firms and their Reviewers

Provider QCM review reports can be found on the QCM Review Results page.

Quality control materials (QCM) are materials that are suitable for adoption by a firm as an integral part of that firm's system of quality control. Such materials provide guidance to assist firms in performing and reporting in conformity with professional standards. They may include (but are not limited to) engagement aids, including accounting and auditing manuals, checklists, questionnaires, work programs, computer-aided accounting and auditing tools, and similar materials intended for use by accounting and auditing engagement teams.

A QCM Review is a study and appraisal by an independent evaluator, known as a QCM reviewer, of an organization’s (hereinafter referred to as provider) system of quality control to develop and maintain the QCM, and the actual materials that result from that system. The system represents the provider’s policies and procedures that the provider has designed, and is expected to follow, when developing and maintaining the materials. The QCM reviewer has two objectives:

1. determining whether the system is appropriately designed and whether the organization is complying with its system in order to produce reliable aids, and
2. determining whether specific QCM that are listed in the report or in an attachment to the report are reliable aids.

Users of the materials, primarily CPA firms and their peer reviewers, are interested in this type of review to assess whether they can place some degree of reliance on the design of the materials.  In addition, if a provider is

• a firm that performs peer reviews,
• sells the QCM it develops to other firms, and
• wants to perform peer reviews of the firms that purchased its QCM,

then a QCM review is required in order to preserve the peer reviewer's independence and objectivity.

See the Performing and Reporting on Reviews of Quality Control Materials section of the Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews and related Interpretations for additional information.

The National Peer Review Committee (NPRC) is responsible for the administration of QCM reviews on behalf of the entire AICPA Peer Review Program. The QCM Task Force provides an additional layer of involvement in the administration and acceptance of QCM reviews, performing oversight reviews prior to acceptance, developing practice aids, and recommending enhancements to the guidance related to QCM reviews. All QCM reviews administered by the NPRC will be posted online via the QCM Review Results link above.

If you have any questions regarding the scheduling or performance of QCM reviews, please contact the Peer Review Technical Hotline.