A Study on the relationship between the particularity of the independence of certified public accountants and the accounting audit to multi-family housing
Authors:   Korean Association of Aggregate Building Law, Choi Kwang-Sun 
Published: February 2023

The duties of a certified public accountant are divided into an accounting audit that provides information to unidentified third parties, and tax agency, accounting-related appraisal that has a linear structure between a mandator and a mandate. In particular, accounting auditing has the characteristics of a mixed contract centered on a mandate contract, but it is distinctive in that it has an obligation to provide information to a third party. The main conceptual elements of accounting audit are the preparation of financial statements and the existence of generally accepted accounting principles, the existence of an independent third-party certified public accountant, the existence of generally accepted audit standards and professional work performance accordingly, and the expression of opinions on information users. The most significant of these was independence. This is because, through independence, the certified public accountant obtains and retains a trust on objectivity and fairness of auditing not only in terms of mental independence but also in appearance.
There are various systems that support the independence of accounting audits, including the general provisions of Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the Certified Public Accountant Act, the restriction of functions of Articles 21 and 33, the designation system of the External Audit Act, and the prohibition of preparing financial statements. Furthermore, the Code of Ethics for Certified Public Accountants also functions as a practical disciplinary code, and since it is influenced by International Ethics Standard Board for Accountants, the independence of CPA is becoming a global standard.
We also reviewed the accounting audit of multi-family housing including apartment houses, which is a representative area of accounting audit other than external audit. Although the purpose of the accounting audit of apartment houses may be somewhat different from that of the company, the basic principle and essence of the audit is the same, and the independence of certified public accountants must be strictly maintained. In particular, it has something in common with Article 21 of the Certified Public Accountant Act in that the simultaneous performance of accounting audit and bookkeeping violates independence.
The independence of a certified public accountant is a mark derived from accounting audit, which is the exclusive mission of a certified public accountant, and plays a role in enabling third-party information users to use correct information by enabling accounting audits to be performed in an objective and fair position. At the same time, it can be seen that disciplinary procedures and criminal punishment are premised in case of violation of the obligation to maintain independence. Therefore, the independence of certified public accountants, especially in accounting auditing, is a concept with unique characteristics that cannot be found in other field.