APSCA Newsletter November-December 2020

December 21, 2020

The 2020 online AGM and Stakeholder Events offered an opportunity to reflect on the year’s achievements. Despite immense uncertainty within the industry, we were encouraged by the sustained commitment to the CSCA program with a total of 2,356 Auditors participating in exams (Parts I, II, and III) during 2020. Exam performance remains strong; since the program commenced a total of 4,347 exams have received a passing score, comprising a breakdown of 63% Part I, 34% Part II and 3% Part III.

Significantly, total CSCA Auditors reached 139 during December.

APSCA’s Membership now includes over 4,200 Member Auditors and 53 Member Firms, of which 22 Member Firms successfully completed the process of obtaining ‘full membership’ status in 2020 through APSCA’s enhanced re-application process. We were also pleased to welcome 10 new Member Firms during 2020.
Looking toward the new year, we have outlined a series of initiatives across the five pillars of our strategic plan to continue to drive the momentum of our collective mission – Facing the Future, Together.

In this this issue:

Member Firm Announcements
Annual General Meeting and Stakeholder Online Event
CSCA Examination Progress
Auditor Enrollments
Reminder: Resource Library
Ethics and Integrity – Updates
Thank You and Happy Holidays
FAQs

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Member Firm Announcements

We are pleased to congratulate full APSCA Member Firms Bureau Veritas SA, Intertek Group plc, Openview Service Limited, Social Compliance Service Asia Ltd (SCSA), Sustainable Assurance Solutions Pty Ltd (SAS) and Extensive Standard Technical Services Co., Ltd. (ESTS) on their commitment to the realization of APSCA’s mission “To enhance the Professionalism and Credibility of individuals and organizations performing independent social compliance audits”.

Full Members:

For information on Firm Membership definitions and how your Firm can commence the application process, please visit our website.

APSCA's Annual General Meeting and Stakeholder Online Event

Facing the Future, Together
APSCA’s 2020 Annual General Meeting & Stakeholder Events were held online during December 7-8 and 14-15 with over 268 registered. The online event reflected on achievements across APSCA’s five (5) pillars of Validation, Governance, Ethics & Integrity, Communications and Processes and Systems.

Highlights included recognition of a total of 139 Certified Social Compliance Auditors (CSCAs) along with a year in review of achievements (membership and exams), ethics and integrity, and APSCA progress despite the global challenges and impacts of COVID to our members, community, and industry.

For more on topics covered, visit our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Stakeholder Event page for pre-watch videos, our Annual Report, and other materials shared with attendees for a year in review of APSCA’s progress and continued commitment to strengthening industry credibility – and Facing the Future, Together.

Any questions, please contact: director@theapsca.org

CSCA Examination Progress

During November and December, examination rates maintained momentum with the total number of completed exams exceeding 5,900. Exam performance remained strong with improvement in Part III results contributing to an overall pass rate of 71% for the the year and a cumulative average of 74%.

A summary of cumulative exam results can be downloaded below.

For all CSCA Exams (Parts I – III) Auditors must consult with their Member Firm to confirm eligibility to sit each exam. Please ensure you follow the guidance in the Auditor Handbook and notify APSCA prior to enrolling for any exam; failure to follow the guidance, may see the exam disallowed and being unable to sit for a period up to 12 months.

CSCA Exams Part I and II are available in four Languages (English, Spanish, Simplified & Traditional Chinese).

CSCA Exam Part III interviews commenced in August. The Part III Exam is available in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. The scheduling process has been finalized and we are contacting Firms / Auditors directly. The Part III enrolment process is very different; each eligible Auditor MUST follow the process or risk having their exam cancelled and being disallowed from scheduling for up to 12 months.

Please see our website, Resource Library for more information

Auditor Enrollments

As at 15 December 2020, total enrolled Auditors exceeded 4,300 with a summary by Auditor level provided below.

Reminder – Resource Library

We remind our Members to consult the Resource Library to access the latest membership documents, exam dates, webinars, and more.

Ethics & Intergrity – Updates

Our goal at APSCA is to continuously improve. We are pleased to announce our recent improvements to the ethics and integrity program which includes the Disciplinary Framework, Procedures and Ethics and Integrity Guidance for Member Firms. These documents are available on the Ethics and Integrity page of the APSCA website for easy reference and to provide more clarity and transparency about the rules and requirements of APCSA’s Disciplinary Process.

To learn more, please watch our video on the latest updates on ethics and integrity from our Code and Compliance Manager provided as part of our AGM and Stakeholder event pre-watch materials.

Additional videos from our AGM and Stakeholder Events held online in December include updates on APSCA exams, membership achievements, strategy, and more. To view all videos, visit the event page HERE.

Member Auditors – Due December: 2020 Membership Fees

Due to COVID, APSCA provided an option to delay payment of Member Auditor fees for 2020 to support our Members during this difficult time. Many Members have been able to pay throughout the year and we thank you. For those that have not yet paid these fees, a reminder that membership fees for the 2020 calendar year are due and payable no later than the end of December.

For more on updates to our membership status criteria and definitions, please see visit our APSCA Member Auditors page.

If you are unsure about outstanding invoices, please check your APSCA account (see ‘Invoices’ tab) or contact APSCA team at director@theapsca.org

Thank You, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

On behalf of everyone at APSCA and our Executive Board, we extend our very best wishes for this Holiday Season, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

APSCA Executive Board (Left to right, top to bottom): Rona Starr, Rajan Kamalanathan, Mark Spears, Avedis H Seferian, Justin Bettey, Effie Marinos, Greg Gardner, Randy Rankin, Frank Dorssers, Brendan Morrissey.

FAQs

Check out APSCA’s FAQ page – it has been recently updated.

Don’t see a question / answer you’re looking for? Contact us at d irector@theapsca.org.

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APSCA Newsletter November-December 2020

Member Firm Announcements

APSCA's Annual General Meeting and Stakeholder Online Event

CSCA Examination Progress

Auditor Enrollments

Thank You, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

On behalf of everyone at APSCA and our Executive Board, we extend our very best wishes for this Holiday Season, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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