What are Technical Releases?
Throughout its existence ICAEW has provided guidance to members on issues of importance and given the considered response of the institute on consultation papers, legislation and exposure drafts from government, accounting standard setters and a variety of professional bodies.
At first this material was published as memoranda which were then reproduced in publications such as The Accountant and The Accountant Tax Supplement. From 1972 this material was published in a numbered series and given the label of Technical Releases.
The first Technical Release issued by ICAEW was TR 101 ‘Memorandum on behalf of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland regarding the rights and duties of auditors and changes in their appointment’ on 26 January 1972.
Technical Releases were also issued on behalf of the Accountants Joint Parliamentary Committee (AJPC) and Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) – see below for more details.
Since 1999 there has been a move to separate these guidance documents from the representations published by ICAEW and its faculties. Representations from the Tax Faculty were first published as a separate series in 1999 whilst representations that would previously have been published in the TECH series (covering business law, corporate governance, financial reporting, accountancy markets and ethics, SME issues and international affairs) were first published as a separate series of ICAEW representations in October 2005.
What are representations?
ICAEW now issues responses made to consultation documents from government, accounting standard setters and other bodies through the ICAEW REP series (since October 2005) and TAX REP series (since 1999). Prior to these dates, representations were issued as Technical Releases along with guidance in their respective series.
Representations are also published by the other faculties. Further information can be found on the consultations and representations page.
How do all the different series fit together?
Technical Releases were issued in a numerical sequence until 1992, when the series was split into a number of separate named series. Technical Releases are currently issued in a numerical sequence within a year; for example, AUDIT 2/03 was the second Technical Release in the AUDIT series in 2003.
The newest series to be added are Technical Releases from the Financial Services Faculty, which launched in January 2007. The faculty's first Technical Release, FSF 01/07 ‘Accounting implications of changes to the Financial Services Authority rules for calculating technical provisions’ was issued in February 2007.
The simplified diagram below shows the main sequences and named series from 1972 to date, including the divisions made between guidance and representations:
Where can I find Technical Releases and representations?
The Library & Information Service acts as the archive for ICAEW publications and should have all publicly available books and journals published by ICAEW. As part of this archive, we maintain a complete collection of Technical Releases from 1972 onwards and all representations published in the TAX REP and ICAEW REP series.
Having originally been available by way of a subscription service, Technical Releases have been published on the ICAEW website since the mid-to-late 1990s. The exact coverage varies from series to series. If a Technical Release or representation is available in full text you will find a link in the entry in our search and browse tools. Alternatively, you can take a look at the online archive of Technical Releases and representations on the website.
Some Technical Releases have also been reproduced in the Auditing and Reporting and Accounting Standards volumes which are published by Croner-I (look for the sections headed ‘ICAEW Accounting Recommendations’ and ‘ICAEW Guidance on Auditing and Reporting’ in the respective volumes).
How can I get a copy of a Technical Release or representation?
New Technical Releases and representations are published in full text on the ICAEW website and can be downloaded free of charge.
Single copies of any historical Technical Releases not available to download from this website may be ordered from the ICAEW Library & Information Service.
Contact us by telephone on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com. Please give a contact telephone number in your email so we can call you back.
Our standard document supply charges apply when ordering Technical Releases.
Find Technical Releases and representations by topic
Technical Releases and representations have been issued by faculties and groups over the years under different series titles and numbering sequences. You can find timelines by topic and links to browse each series.
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