APSCA Newsletter – June 2018

July 24, 2018

Auditor enrolments continued to grow with advancement of APSCA’s supporting processes including release of the My Auditors App. APSCA Director, Systems Management, Julie Shaw commented “The release of APSCA’s My Auditors App will enhance efficiencies of auditor administration for Member Firms. The app provides access to APSCA auditor accreditation; promoting professional development under APSCA’s Competency Framework”.

APSCA Ethics & Integrity Program
Pursuant to our Strategy released earlier this year, the development of a credible and efficient Ethics and Integrity Program consistent with APSCA’s Code of Professional Conduct, has been a key priority. The development work for this important initiative commenced under the guidance of our Senior Advisor Tim Lindon and an external consultant.  In summary, our Ethics and Integrity Program will comprise four facets:
 
      1.    education, guidance and support to auditors and the industry; 
      2.    enforcement, investigation and sanction process of individual members; 
      3.    admission and sanctioning process for member firms; and 
      4.    internal APSCA compliance program.  

Each will further establish APSCA’s function as a professional membership body and enhance Member credibility respective of our core mission.

 
Auditor Enrolments
Auditor enrolments continue to grow.  We currently have over 2,100 auditors who have fully completed their enrolment process and have received their APSCA Member number. As part of the enrolment process, APSCA has reviewed and assigned auditor levels as per the Competency Framework.  Auditors are assessed as being either:

• Associate Social Compliance Auditor (ASCA)
• Registered Auditor (ready to sit the Certified Social Compliance Auditor (CSCA) Exam

Note:  Closing date for auditors to be enrolled in our system in order to participate in the initial round of the CSCA exam is 31 July 2018.

We encourage our Member Firms to have their auditor’s subscribe to APSCA’s newsletter to stay up to date here. Further, if you have a friend or colleague that may be interested in APSCA please share this newsletter with them via the link below. Share with my colleagues!
 
My Auditors App
As per APSCA’s May Newsletter, we have initiated the roll-out of the My Auditors App to designated Senior Managers of Member Firms.  This will enable Member Firms to view the information for all auditors associated with their firm who are either employed, subcontractor or freelance auditors and who have completed the on-line auditor registration process.    Member Firms are also able to view the assigned APSCA Auditor Level for each of their auditors.  Firms may also request a reassessment of an auditor’s level via the second pathway documented in the Competency Framework.  

Note:  Reassessment of levels is required to be completed as soon as possible to prepare for the initial round of the CSCA exam.

Please note that APSCA Member Firms are receiving the Auditors Membership number and Levels of their auditors via the release of the My Auditors App, they will be in a position to start sharing this information with you in the coming weeks, please liaise directly with your audit firm for this information.

 My Auditors App is being released over the next couple of months to designated Senior Managers of Member Firms. 

Member Firm Approval Process
As communicated earlier, the approval process for firm membership to APSCA is currently being reviewed and is on schedule to be released in Q3, 2018.  Once approved, pending applications, new applicants and current provisional members will be reviewed under this new process.

Combined Stakeholder & Executive Board Meeting | 4 – 6 June 2018
The Stakeholder & Executive Boards met both individually and jointly, hosted by WRAP in their offices in Arlington Virginia earlier this month to discuss the strategic direction of APSCA and to provide feedback and guidance. 

We had great attendance by our Stakeholder and Executive Boards with many participating via the teleconference.

From Bottom Left Clockwise:  Greg Gardner, Wesley Wilson, Randy Rankin, Rochelle Zaid, Jill Manata, Tim Lindon, Brendan Morrissey, Dan Murray, Pierre-Yves Dupont, Antonio Astone, Fred Waelter, Avedis Seferian. Not pictured but present at meeting:  Rona Starr, Laura Rubbo, Bernardo Cruza, Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman and Andrew Martin. ​

Unleash Opportunity amfori Conference
Our President & CEO Rona Starr joined an insightful panel on defining and delivering audit integrity during the amfori – Trade with Purpose Unleash Opportunity Conference. Together with Richard Boele (KPMG), Andrew Leatuali’i Savini (Member Firm ELEVATE Global) and Christophe Liebon (Member Firm Intertek), the panel explored the challenges and opportunities faced by our growing industry. Under the guidance of moderator Federico Burlon (Impactt), panel members considered the need for increased transparency and reduction of audit fatigue through technological innovation.

From left:  Andrew Savini (ELEVATE Global), Rona Starr (APSCA), Richard Boele (KPMG), Christophe Liebon (Intertek) and Federico Burlon (Impactt).

Meetings on Capital Hill Washington DC
On 31 May APSCA and RBA, with the support from Paul Delaney from Kyle House, met with 9 people from various US government organisations, namely Department of State, Department of Trade, Department of Labour as well as the Democratic Ways and Means.   These discussions were very productive and we all learned a lot throughout our time together.

Our approach with each agency was very similar:

• brief history of APSCA, why we formed, how we have grown,
• brief history of the Social Compliance industry,
• our plan for implementing the certification process and the 2 pilots that have occurred,
• Kyle House presented APSCA as industry experts who they could come to as support in their work in the social compliance space.

We look forward to continuing these ongoing discussions throughout the year.

From left:  Wesley Wilson (APSCA Vice Chair Executive Board), Rona Starr (APSCA PresidentCEO) & Paul Delaney (Kyle House).

From left:  Wesley Wilson (APSCA Vice Chair Executive Board), Rona Starr (APSCA PresidentCEO) & Carlos Busquets (RBA). ​