Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services Toolkit

The AICPA’s Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services (SSPFPS No. 1), was issued to provide authoritative guidance and establish enforceable standards for members practicing in PFP. SSPFPS No. 1 was issued in January 2014 and is effective beginning July 1, 2014. It was revised, January 2015, to reflect conforming changes necessary due to the issuance of the revised AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, effective December 15, 2014.

CPAs are licensed and regulated by their state boards of accountancy. Additionally, all AICPA members are required to follow a rigorous Code of Professional Conduct which requires that they act with integrity, objectivity, due care, competence, fully disclose any conflicts of interest (and obtain client consent if a conflict exists), maintain client confidentiality, disclose to the client any commission or referral fees, and serve the public interest when providing financial services. The vast majority of state boards of accountancy have adopted the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct within their state accountancy laws or have created their own.

Over the past three decades, a growing number of CPAs have expanded into providing personal financial planning services to individuals and families. The Compliance Toolkit was designed to provide non-authoritative guidance via checklists, engagement letters, and more to aid in compliance with SSPFPS No.1. For an overview of the challenges facing practitioners and the tools available to provide CPAs with guidance in determining whether SSPFPS No. 1 compliance is required, listen to this podcast on Understanding and Applying the Statement on Standards in PFP Services.

The statement has been developed to assist in delivering personal financial planning services with competence and confidence. Seasoned, experienced practitioners and those new to the service area will benefit from having a framework to guide their work with clients in the development of their personal financial plan. The framework of the statement covers the following topics:

• General professional responsibilities

• Responsibilities of members in PFP engagements

• Planning the PFP engagement

• Obtaining and analyzing information

• Developing and communicating recommendations

• Implementation engagements

• Monitoring and updating engagements

• Working with other service providers

• Using advice provided by other service providers

Download the standard

To aid in determining both applicability of SSPFPS No.1 and compliance with it, the AICPA has developed the Standards in PFP: Compliance Toolkit, which is included with PFP Section and CPA/PFS credential holder membership.

The following resources provide nonauthoritative guidance to assist with compliance with SSPFPS No. 1 (the standard). These resources are provided to assist you in compliance with the standard but are not required.

The sample engagement letters and checklists are intended to be customized for use in any practice format to meet the needs of your practice and individual engagements (see “Terms of use”). You should review language used in the sample engagement letters and checklists in conjunction with reviewing requirements of the standard and add, delete, or otherwise revise as you deem appropriate.