APSCA Newsletter July 2019
July 31, 2019
Key membership metrics continue to strengthen as APSCA welcomed two new provisional Member Firms in July. The Stakeholder Board was reinforced with the addition of a new independent representative while the Disciplinary Board prepare for their first meeting in August.
Stakeholder Board Appointment
During July, we were pleased to welcome Mr Mark Spears as an independent Stakeholder Board member. After nearly thirty years at The Walt Disney Company where Mark served in a number of senior business roles ranging from finance and strategic planning to corporate responsibility and sustainability. He now devotes his efforts to promoting positive environmental and social change. Read more about Mark here.
Provisional Member Announcement
We are pleased to welcome two new provisional Member Firms; NSF International and Global Sustainable Certification Services Ltd. Congratulations on your commitment to the realization of APSCA’s mission “To Enhance the Professionalism and Credibility of individuals and organisations performing independent social compliance audits.
For information on Firm Membership definitions and how your Firm can commence the application process please visit our website.
Save the Date – APSCA Annual General Meeting & Stakeholder Event
Experience a day of discussion, discovery, learning and networking with industry peers at APSCA’s Annual General Meeting December 11, 2019 in Shenzhen, China.
Registration for the event is expected to open in September. Further details to follow in our August newsletter.
Disciplinary Board – First Meeting
APSCA’s Disciplinary Board will meet on the 19th August 2019 with its first review of cases.
Further information will be provided as each case progresses.
Updated – Code & Standards of Professional Conduct
APSCA’s Code & Standards of Professional Conduct (English) were updated during June with the new version available on our website – click here to view.
Translated versions in Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese to follow. Stay tuned!
As you can imagine with anything new we have received a number of questions and requests for clarification of updates. These are summarized below and have also been updated on our FAQ page of the website.
- Yes, the Code is applicable to ALL APSCA Member Firms and Member Auditors. Each member signed at the time of joining.
- The Code articulates the expectations of our Members and client requirements cannot lower these expectations. As an APSCA Member you are held accountable to the Code.
- Registered Level Auditors (RA) have the rights, responsibilities and obligations of a CSCAs. This means that wherever you see CSCA written throughout the Code a RA can fulfil this role during the roll-out period.
- An ASCA auditor conducting an audit on their own without the support of a RA/CSCA will face disciplinary action as this is a violation of the Code and Standards.
- “Signing off” on an audit report means the APSCA Member Auditor puts their APSCA Member Number on the audit report with their applicable “pre-fix” RA , CSCA – the review process and other steps are still to be followed.
Still have questions? See our website for more FAQs or contact us at director@theapsca.org.
CSCA Exam Part 1
A total of 1,148 CSCA Part I exams have been completed to date with a pass rate of 79%. Of the four language offerings, English and Chinese (simplified) comprise the majority of completed exams.
Since examinations commenced, approximately 170 scheduled exams have not been completed with some 52% due to participant forfeiture (failure to present for exam) and 34% due to IT issues.
August Soft-Launch Language CSCA Exam Part II (Spanish and Simplified Chinese)
As APSCA continues to advance the auditor certification program the focus is shifting toward the soft launch of Part II CSCA exam in Spanish and Simplified Chinese in August. Results and details from the language soft launch will be provided our next month’s newsletter.
APSCA Auditor Enrollments
During July, the total number of enrolled auditors reached over 3,700 with strong growth continuing from Q2 2019.
Membership Application Process
APSCA’s Audit Firm Membership Application process was formally released last November. Details can be found on our website. All applications should be sent to applications@theapsca.org.
FAQs – Helpful Resources on the Website
Be sure to check out APSCA’s newly updated FAQ page. Have a question? We’ve got answers here.
Don’t see a question/ answer you’re looking for? Contact us at Director@theapsca.org
APSCA Out and About
August 8: AAFA Traceability Seminar – Minneapolis, MN (USA). If you are attending this event, please connect with APSCA’s President & CEO Rona Starr who will be presenting in the morning.
Our monthly newsletter now reaches over 2,200 subscribers each month! We encourage our Member Firms to have their auditors 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.
