This article provides a detailed review of the existing standard-setting process. It notes that: “While the Research Department makes continual efforts to keep the 27,000 CICA members and over 13,000 other subscribers to the CICA Handbook informed on its projects in process, relatively few people appreciate the wide diversity of experience that those responsible bring to bear in the setting of Accounting and Auditing Recommendations, and the care they take in doing so."
"It’s important that those affected by these Recommendations know this background for at least two reasons:
(1) With the advent of the National Securities Administrators’ National Policy 27 and recent corporate legislation, Handbook Recommendations now have “authority” attached to them by federal and provincial government bodies, in addition to the support that has been given to them through the provincial institutes’ / order’s Rules of Professional Conduct.
(2) With the steady increase in the number and complexity of the subjects being dealt with by our research groups and with the resulting increasing demands on the time of volunteer members of these groups, a major study is now to be undertaken to see how our procedures can be improved. After reviewing the following highlight summary of the issues involved, any comments or suggestions you may have on present or prospective procedures and personnel will be very useful to the in-depth review which will be starting shortly.”
(For more information, refer to the CICA Special Committee on Standard-Setting (SCOSS), Report to the CICA Board of Governors on December 19, 1980.)
