When performing professional services for which a report expressing assurance is prescribed by professional standards, licensees, as defined in WAC 4-30-010, CPA-Inactive certificate holders, nonlicensee firm owners, and employees of such persons must evaluate and maintain their independence so that opinions, reports, conclusions, and judgments will be impartial and viewed as impartial by parties expected to rely on any report expressing assurance by such persons. Such persons are required:

(1) To comply with all applicable independence rules, regulations, and the AICPA code of conduct as referenced in and required by WAC 4-30-048; and

(2) To decline engagements for which a report expressing assurance is prescribed by professional standards when such persons have a relationship that could lead a reasonable and foreseeable user to conclude that such persons are not independent.

Independence is not required when performing a compilation engagement provided the report discloses a lack of independence.