Criteria for membership

In addition to considering the reputation of a prospective firm and its adherence to the highest professional standards, Grant Thornton has developed a set of criteria that must be met by prospective member firms before they can be considered for membership in the organisation:

• Member firms’ primary market focus must be in line with the global strategy. 
• Member firms must have sufficient resources to meet the core service requirements of one or more of the following services: assurance, tax or specialist advisory services.
• Member firms must be able to communicate effectively in English.
• Member firms must be able to afford both the financial and time commitments of membership of Grant Thornton.
• Member firms must adopt Grant Thornton policies, procedures and methodologies. These include, but are not limited to:
• service line methodologies and quality controls, including client acceptance and re-acceptance;
• engagement protocols; and
• ethical and independence policies.
• Member firms must maintain a system of quality control in accordance with International Standards on Quality Control (ISQC) 1; and must agree to periodic quality assurance inspections by global teams that provide reasonable assurance that:
• its personnel have an appropriate level of competence and experience to comply with applicable professional standards;
• its engagements are performed in accordance with applicable professional standards;
• its leadership demonstrates and supports quality and promotes a culture of high-quality performance;
• its reports related to services performed are appropriate to the circumstances; and
• it complies with the Code of Ethics of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) or , if stricter, Grant Thornton’s ethical and independence policies or local ethical standards.

Before acceptance of a new member firm, Grant Thornton performs due diligence to determine whether the above criteria are met. Admission as a member is dependent on the outcome of this due diligence and the execution of Grant Thornton’s Member Firms Agreement and Name Use Agreement. Member firms must abide by all current Grant Thornton policies and standards.

All member firms are subject to the same global monitoring policies, procedures and practices. Member firms that do not meet expectations are subject to remedial actions by Grant Thornton. These actions can include additional training, concurring reviews from outside the member firm, additional monitoring or temporary prohibition on performing certain work, the imposition of a financial charge, suspension and, for those firms that continue not to perform up to expectations, expulsion. The Global Leadership Board is responsible for agreeing remedial action plans. The imposition of a financial charge and expulsion of a member firm require approval from the Board of Governors.