1. THE STRUCTURE OF SOEL The INSTITUTE of CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS of GREECE (SOMA ORKOTON ELEGKTON LOGISTON) operates under the provisions of the Presidential Degree # 226/1992 which was issued according to law # 1969/1991. The General Assembly (GA) of all Certified Public Accountants expresses the will of SOEL. The SOEL is administered and supervised by the Supervisory Council (SC) of SOEL The Scientific Board (SB) of SOEL carries out the quality control over the performance of all CPAs, where as disciplinary action is taken by the Disciplinary Board (DB) of SOEL. The Ordinary General Assembly of the CPAs elects the seven members of the SC, the five members of the SB and its official representative to the three-member DB.
" Any individual that has obtained a degree in the areas of economics, finance and / or accounting, by the corresponding University of the Greek State or by any equivalent foreign University, can and may be registered as a TRAINEE CPA (TCPA) in the respective official TCPA registry of SOEL. No entrance examinations are required. " Any TCPA can and may be registered as an ARTICLED CPA (ACPA) in the respective official ACPA registry of SOEL, provided that he / she has obtained a three-year auditing experience and has passed all examinations on the curriculum subjects of unit A. " Any ACPA can and may be registered as an ASSISTANT CPA (AssCPA) in the respective official AssCPA registry of SOEL, provided that he / she has obtained a two-year auditing experience and has passed all examinations on the curriculum subjects of unit B. " Any AssCPA can and may be registered as CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA) in the respective official CPA registry of SOEL, provided that he / she has obtained a three-year auditing experience and has passed all examinations on the curriculum subjects of unit C. The education and training of all candidates to become CPAs is conducted by the INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION OF SOEL (Instituto Ekpedefsis SOEL), which is an educational institute founded by the SC of SOEL. As of August 12, 1998 the Official Regulations of IESOEL was approved by the SC of SOEL, providing analytically the material under examination included in the curriculum of all educational units A, B and C, as well as for the execution of the professional examinations. The SC of SOEL has delegated to the IESOEL the authority to organize and execute the aforementioned professional examinations. At the beginning of each academic year, the IESOEL appoints a three-member committee, responsible for the just operation of the examinations, always under the supervision of the SC of SOEL.
The main task of a CPA is to audit the financial statements of most economic units. A CPA is also competent for carrying out survey reports on any financial affair. However, according to article #226/1992, the CPA profession is considered incompatible with other professions such as that of a merchant, a civil servant, a public entity servant, a lawyer or a public notary. In the incompatible professions are also included all other forms of payable service in the private sector, in other legal entities or organizations, as well as the participation in the decision-making of any Societe Anonyme or Limited Liability Company as a member of the Board of Directors, except of course for the auditing firms they work with. Keeping books of accounts for any enterprise is also considered incompatible with the auditing profession.
The professional recognition of CPAs is conducted by the SC of SOEL according to the PD #226/1992, which is in complete accordance and harmonization with the directive #48/89 of the former EEC.
In Greece, only auditing firms that are officially registered in the corresponding registry of SOEL perform the audit. According to article #17 of PD#225/1992 as it was amended by PD#341/97, every CPA must work with an auditing firm. There is no limitation regarding the field of professional operations or services. The necessary capital stock for an auditing firm is similar to that provided for all enterprises (societe anonyme, limited liability co., etc). According to article #7 of #623/18.4.1997 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS REGULATION of SOEL members, … an auditor or audit firm should not advertise or project his professional services or his name or title in a way degrading the audit profession, as established and practiced in Greece, or raise doubts about the professional efficiency of other Auditors or audit firms…
The continuous verification of the qualification of CPAs is achieved through the quality control over the performance of all CPAs, carried out by the SB of SOEL, as well as through the education and training held by the IESOEL.
The task of the SB to carry out quality control over the performance of all CPAs, is supplemented with the activity of the DB which, during the last years, has imposed severe penalties of six months to complete cessation from the profession, to auditors who do not perform their duties accordingly.
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