Quality Review Board: First QRB was constituted by central government adhering to notification issued on 28th June 2007. Since then the board has been reconstituted many times.We will discuss about their role and functions in details in the next part. In this article ,we will learn what is meant by Quality review Board (QRB) and roles as well as functions performed by the QRB.We will also learn how the QRB is constituted and the composition of the same.
What is QRB (Quality Review Board)
The quality review board is a body constituted under section 28A of the Chartered Accountants of India Act 1949 by central government of India.
Composition of QRB
QRB is constituted with one chairperson and ten members, who are appointed from eminent persons having experience in the fields of accounts,law,business,economics or finance.
Central government nominates chairperson and five board members,whereas Institute of Chartered Accountants of India nominates rest five members.
Functions of the QRB
QRB is responsible for carrying out following functions as per Chartered Accountants Act 1949
- Recommending to the council with respect to quality of services rendered by the members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
- Reviewing the services rendered by members of the institute , which includes auditing
- Guiding the members of the institute for bringing improvement in quality of services
- Guiding the members of the institute to bring about adherence to different statutory and regulatory requirements
- For exercising all the above functions, QRB would be empowered to determine and lay down the evaluation procedure for evaluating the quality of services rendered or for reviewing the services rendered by the member of the institute.
- The QRB is also empowered to call for information from the institute, Council, clients or members
- QRB can call upon experts for rendering any technical advice or analysis,which may be relevant for carrying out any assessment related to review or evaluation of the services offered by the member of the institute.
Role of QRB
QRB acting as review and evaluation medium
QRB has determined to seek the services from the members of the institute to function as technical reviewers, who are also to be paid an honorarium for their responsibilities.This would facilitate the QRB to carry out the review and evaluation of the services rendered by the members of the institute.
QRB is also required to adhere to procedure drawn out for the purpose of quality review,which would involve inspection and assessment of audit function.This will ensure that the board can assess quality of audit and reporting function and quality control framework adopted by the audit firms.
QRB acting as a guide
QRB is constituted with a primary reason to guide the member of the institute to adhere to regulatory requirements and also to bring about the quality improvement with respect to services rendered by the members.
QRB as an independent reviewer
QRB is involved in independent review of statutory audit services rendered with respect to public entities.This whole review process has been framed by adhering to best international practices.
Conclusion
In all , QRB (Quality Review Board) is the friend , philosopher and guide for the members of the institute .The council will play a guide while advicing about best practices to be adhered for quality improvement.At the same time , QRB is an independent reviewer which performs evaluation and recommendation to the institute with respect to services rendered by members of the institute.The board has also presented the ‘ A report on Audit Quality Review findings (2012-15) ‘ which is published on ICAI website ,which provides summary and analysis of observations by the technical reviewers.This report will be useful for those aspiring improvement in service quality.