Page 24 - Family Law Services

Chapter 3

Planning the Engagement

Accepting the Engagement

Expertise, timing, staffing, and conflict of interest are areas to consider when accepting an engagement.

Expertise

Under the “General Standards Rule” of the Code of Professional Conduct (ET sec. 1.300), fn 1 a member
should only undertake those professional services that the member or the member's firm can reasonably
expect to be completed with professional competence. fn 2

Performing family law services may require not only knowledge of accounting and tax law but also
knowledge and understanding of the CPA's state statutory and case law in the area of family law. The
CPA may also be expected to be an effective expert witness and testify at a deposition, trial, or both.

A CPA designation often establishes the overall financial expertise needed by an individual retained for
a family law engagement. There may be instances, however, in which more specialized expertise, such
as business valuation or financial forensics, is required. Thus, the CPA may be precluded from testifying
in a particular area of the case if he or she is unable to demonstrate specific knowledge and expertise on
that particular part of the case, hold a professional designation specific to that area of the case, or obtain
further knowledge through continuing professional education (CPE) in the field of family law that co-
vers those specific areas. For instance, the CPA can earn the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV)
designation and the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) designation granted by the AICPA. fn 3 The
credential shows the attainment of the knowledge and skills that may be necessary in the valuations of
businesses, business ownership interests, or securities that arise in connection with family law matters.

Expertise can refer to the CPA's overall knowledge of financial matters in family law, the CPA's
knowledge of a particular area in a specific case (for example, fraud, knowledge of a spouse's particular
industry, and so on), or both.

Local chapters, state societies, and the AICPA all conduct CPE in family law matters. In addition, the
family law sections of some state societies and state bar associations conduct extensive CPE in financial

fn 1 All ET sections can be found in AICPA Professional Standards .

fn 2 Statement on Standards for Forensic Services (SSFS) No. 1 (FS sec. 100) also contains the “General Standards Rule” and
requires its use for forensic services.

All FS sections can be found in AICPA Professional Standards.

fn 3 Go online to https://www.aicpa.org/membership/join/credentials.html#tab-1=1 for further information on the Accred-
ited in Business Valuation credential and https://www.aicpa.org/membership/join/credentials.html?tab-1=2#tab-2 for fur-
ther information on the Certified in Financial Forensics credential.

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