Establishing Governance

A strong and well-governed professional accountancy organization (PAO) produces and sustains a strong accountancy profession that is able to serve the public interest and contribute to economic stability and growth. A successful PAO gains much of its strength from the sense of identity, benefits, and rights that members derive from membership; and from the contributions that individual members and firms make to the PAO in recognition of its public interest perspective. This sense of identity can also encourage compliance with professional and ethics standards as well as other membership requirements set by the PAO.

This guidance focuses specifically on the key elements of a PAO’s governing structure and operations. The overall governance structure of a PAO should be designed to deliver on its mission and/or vision, and is typically grounded in a solid legal framework, including an accountants’ act or equivalent, a constitution, and relevant bylaws.