Auditors

Individuals who perform issuer audits must hold a licence and audit firms must be registered.

Prescribed minimum standards

An individual applying to be licenced as an auditor must have successfully completed a professional course in auditing approved by the FMA as required by Sections 3(e) of the Auditor Regulation Act (Prescribed Minimum Standards and Conditions for Licensed auditors and Registered Firms) Notice 2012. This notice has been amended on the 9 November 2015.

See the FMA approved professional courses in auditing here

New Zealand auditor licensing and audit firm registration

CPA Australia and NZICA are currently the only accredited bodies. They are the front line regulators and have the primary responsibility for licencing auditors and the registration of audit firms based in New Zealand. New Zealand based auditors and audit firms should contact the following accredited bodies for more information about licencing and audit firm registration.

NZICA: see here for further details about how to apply for a standard licence and audit firm registration
CPA Australia: see here for further details about how to apply for a standard licence and audit firm registration
View the Auditors Register

Overseas auditor licensing and audit firm registration

Application Guide: Licensing and registration of overseas auditors and audit firms

It explains how an overseas audit firm can apply for authorisation of its registration and overseas auditors can apply for licences (which are not transitional licences and are referred to in this guide as ‘standard’ licences). It explains how FMA will assess applications.

Overseas audit firms registration

FMA may authorise the Registrar to register an overseas audit firm where it has met the requirements and conditions for registration. Please complete the following steps:

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1. Download the application guide and template forms

2. Gather the evidence of meeting requirements

The evidence you need to provide is summarised in the application guide. The application guide also has full details of the requirements as well as information about how the FMA assesses the evidence provided.

Please carefully check you provide the expected evidence from both the 'all countries' section of the guide and the section relevant to your home jurisdiction, and that the evidence meets the requirements set out in the application guide.

Incomplete forms or answers which do not take account of the guidance are likely to result in queries and delays in processing your application, as well as additional costs.

Submission instructions

You must submit your forms electronically and in paper form.

Physical copies of all your application material should be addressed to:

Licensing Team
Financial Markets Authority
Level 2, 1 Grey Street
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

In addition, your OAF1.1 form together with the PAF1.1 form must be emailed to us at: auditorregulation@fma.govt.nz

Each application will need to be accompanied by the appropriate fee.

Overseas auditor licensing

FMA may issue an overseas auditor an auditor licence if you meet certain requirements and conditions. Please complete the following steps:

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1. Download the application guide and relevant forms

2. Gather the evidence of meeting requirements

The evidence you need to provide is summarised in the application guide. The application guide also has full details of the requirements as well as information about how the FMA assesses the evidence provided.

Please carefully check you provide the expected evidence from both the 'all countries' section of the guide and the section relevant to your home jurisdiction, and that the evidence meets the requirements set out in the application guide.

Incomplete forms or answers which do not take account of the guidance are likely to result in queries and delays in processing your application, as well as additional costs.

New Zealand orientation topics for overseas licensed auditors

Overseas auditors wishing to be licensed in New Zealand are required to complete an approved course in New Zealand commercial law and taxation. This is to ensure that all licensed auditors have knowledge of the New Zealand commercial environment.

The following table sets out the degree level papers the FMA has approved in both commercial law and taxation that currently meet this requirement at 14 tertiary institutions:

Tertiary Institutions	Commercial Law	Taxation
University of Auckland	COMLAW 203 Company Law	COMLAW 301 Taxation
Auckland University of Technology	416614 - Law for New Zealand Business	367905 Advanced Taxation or 367907 Taxation: Principles, Policies and Processes
UNITEC New Zealand	ACTY 6320 Law of Business Entities	ACTY 6210 Taxation
Manukau Institute of Technology	323.606 Commercial Law 2	311.642 Taxation
University of Waikato	ACCT322 - Law of Business Enterprises	ACCT 351 Taxation
Waikato Institute of Technology	BBSD622 Corporate Law	BBSD603 Taxation
Eastern Institute of Technology	LAWS 6.01 Corporate Law	ACCY7.08 Advanced Taxation
Massey University *	155.203 - Law of Business Organisations	110.289 Taxation or 110.389 Advanced Taxation
Victoria University of Wellington	COML 303 - Law of Organisations	ACCY 305 Advanced Domestic Taxation or TAXN 301 Advanced Domestic Taxation
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand *	71 214 - Law of Business Organisations	71 306 Taxation
Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology	LAW610 - Company Law	ACC 706 Advanced Taxation
University of Canterbury	ACCT 256 Law of Business Organisations	ACCT 358 Advanced Issues in Taxation
Lincoln University	LWST 201 - Commercial Law I	ACCT306 Taxation
University of Otago	BLAW211 Business Law Relating to Entities	ACTP 312 Taxation Practice

* indicates institutions that offer courses by correspondence or distance learning.

Contact information for each tertiary institution is available here.

If you have completed another course in New Zealand commercial law and taxation which you believe meets the requirements for auditor licensing, we are happy to consider whether that course is equivalent to the approved courses. You will need to provide a detailed description of the topics covered and the learning outcomes for the course you have completed.

Submission instructions

You must submit your forms electronically and in paper form.

Physical copies of all your application material should be addressed to:

Licensing Team
Financial Markets Authority
Level 2, 1 Grey Street
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

In addition, your forms must be emailed to us at auditorregulation@fma.govt.nz

Each application will need to be accompanied by the appropriate fee.

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1. Download the application guide and template forms

2. Gather the evidence of meeting requirements

Submission instructions

1. Download the application guide and relevant forms

2. Gather the evidence of meeting requirements

New Zealand orientation topics for overseas licensed auditors

Submission instructions

Application process - overseas auditors and audit firms