How ICPAK investigates and disciplines members
Which ICPAK committees investigate and decide complaints, the offences the Accountants Act creates, and how a firm prepares to respond.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Kenya
A letter from ICPAK about a complaint is the kind of post no partner wants to open. A former client is unhappy, a third party believes a report should never have been signed, or a staff member has left on bad terms. The first reaction is usually to look for the file and hope it tells a clear story.
Knowing how the process is structured, and which acts the Accountants Act treats as criminal offences rather than professional misconduct, helps a firm respond calmly and prepare before any complaint arrives.
Two committees with different jobs
IFAC, in its profile of ICPAK, reports that under the Accountants Act, 2008 the work is split between two committees. The Registration Committee handles investigation and the gathering of evidence. The Disciplinary Committee handles disciplinary inquiries and decides on sanctions.
For a member, the split matters. The first contact may well be a request for information or documents as part of the investigation stage. That stage is where the facts are settled, so the quality of the firm's records and the completeness of its first response carry real weight. The inquiry and any sanction come later and rest on what was gathered.
What IFAC says is still missing
IFAC does not describe the arrangement as finished. In assessing ICPAK against its membership obligation on investigation and discipline (SMO 6), IFAC notes that gaps remain in the independence of the investigation and appeals functions. A member facing a complaint should be aware of that observation without reading too much into it: it is a comment on structure by an international body, not a ruling on any individual case.
Offences written into the Act
Some breaches are not left to the disciplinary process alone. The Accountants Act creates criminal offences with fines set in the statute. Three are especially relevant to practising members and their firms.
| Conduct | Where in the Act | Maximum penalty stated |
|---|---|---|
| Practising as an accountant without a practising certificate and a licence to practise in force | Section 18 | A fine of up to five hundred thousand shillings or up to three years' imprisonment |
| Using ICPAK titles or designatory letters without being entitled to them | Section 41 | A fine of up to two million shillings, plus up to two thousand shillings for each day the offence continues |
| Failing to return a practising certificate within fourteen days after registration ends | Section 21(7) and (8) | A fine of up to five hundred thousand shillings |
The section 18 offence refers to the consolidated Accountants Act published on Kenya Law, in the version dated 20 June 2025. The full text, including the sections on registration, practising certificates, licences and discipline, is available on Kenya Law's page for the Accountants Act.
Where firms slip
These offences sound like things that happen to other people, but each has an everyday version inside a practice:
- Lapsed licences. A partner who has not renewed is practising without a licence in force, even if the paperwork is merely late. The boundary of what counts as practising is discussed in what "practising accountancy" means in Kenya.
- Titles on letterheads and e-mail signatures. A new staff member's signature block that copies a partner's designatory letters, or a website biography that was never updated after someone left the institute, can put the firm on the wrong side of section 41. The daily element means the exposure grows while the error stays in place.
- Departing members. When a member's registration ends, the practising certificate has to go back to the Institute within fourteen days. A firm can help by making the return part of its exit checklist.
Ethics complaints and the other routes
Most complaints are not about these offences. They concern the quality of work, independence, confidentiality or conduct, and are judged against the ethical standards members have to follow. How the ethics code applies in Kenya is covered in the ICPAK code of ethics. A newer source of exposure is anti-money laundering supervision, which carries its own statutory penalties; see ICPAK as anti-money laundering supervisor.
Keeping a record that answers questions
When the Registration Committee asks for evidence, the firm will want to show what happened, when, and who decided. Achekam has two features that help with that, each with limits worth knowing.
Quality registers. The firm's quality registers, including professional judgements, quality incidents, complaints and inspection progress, are kept with every version and the name of whoever changed each one. A complaint logged on the day it arrives, with each later step recorded, gives the firm a dated history rather than a reconstruction. One limit: sign-off roles on professional judgements are checked only by the screen, not the server, so the firm should still review who signed each judgement.
Record Governance. This log shows changes to governed records: who did what, when and with what result. It can be filtered and checked for an unbroken chain. Viewing it needs the AUDIT_LOG_VIEW permission, and it covers records placed under record governance, not every screen in the product. It is useful evidence for the records it covers, not a complete history of everything the firm did.
Responding to a complaint: a sequence that works
- Log the complaint in the complaints register on the day it arrives, with the date of the letter and the deadline for a reply.
- Name one partner to own the response who was not involved in the work complained about.
- Lock down the relevant files: no edits to working papers or correspondence after the complaint date.
- Build a timeline from the records, starting with the engagement letter and ending with the last contact.
- Check the people involved held a practising certificate and licence in force throughout.
- Take advice before replying if the complaint touches on any of the statutory offences.
- Reply within the deadline, attaching the evidence the request asks for and nothing that has not been checked.
- Record each later step, including the outcome and any lessons, in the same register entry.
Before any letter arrives
The firms that cope best with a complaint are those whose registers were already in use. Set aside time this month to confirm every partner's licence is current, every designatory letter on the website is accurate, and the complaints register has an owner.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
