The AICPA issues the consulting standards.
Many of the services provided by CPAs fall under this standard. For instance, when CPAs provide phone consultations to clients, they usually do so under these standards. Another example is short manual reports that are not financial statements.
The consulting standards don’t require an engagement letter. Even so, it is wise to use one, especially if the project is lengthy. Shorter projects can be documented with memorandums to document what was done, what the client requested, what the client provided, and the results.
Most consulting work is done for the client and not for third parties. If a deliverable is provided to client and third parties, it might be advisable to use other professional standards such as the auditing standards, the attestation standards, or the Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review standards. These alternate standards are more rigorous and may provide additional litigation protection.
The AICPA consulting standards provide a great deal of flexibility in providing services to clients. Additionally, such services are not subject to peer review in most states. So if you are a CPA looking for a simple set of professional standards, this might be what you are looking for.
See the full AICPA Consulting Standards. They are only seven pages long.
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