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2024 Benchmark Joint Venture Audit Rate

The Board of Directors has approved the following benchmark joint venture audit rate as recommended by the Joint Venture Audit Committee (JVAC).

Recommended Audit Rate: $130.00 per hour
Effective: January 1, 2024

Use of the Benchmark Rate

The intended purpose of this benchmark rate is to provide an equitable rate for companies to bill out the cost of their internal Joint Venture Auditor’s time to a joint account.

Contractual Requirements

Depending on the governing agreement, approval of the joint venture participants may be required to conduct a joint audit and may also require approval of the rate and/or estimated cost to conduct the audit.

Application to Independent Contract Auditors

This benchmark rate is not intended for use in establishing rates paid to contract auditors or auditing firms. Companies may negotiate a higher or lower rate for any audit engagement based on the auditor’s experience and knowledge or based on the type and complexity of the joint venture audit. However, when engaging an independent contract auditor, the rate charged to the audit participants should be the actual cost paid to the independent contract auditor.

Ongoing Review of Criteria

The JVAC’s analysis included several criteria to develop this benchmark rate as set out in the attached commentary. This criteria is reviewed annually for relevancy.

Please update your records accordingly.

Yours truly,

[Original Signed by]

Cody Austin
President

Petroleum Accountants Society of Canada Commentary and Historical Benchmark Joint Venture Audit Rates

Commentary

Annually, The Board of Directors of the Petroleum Accountants Society of Canada sets a benchmark audit rate, as proposed by the Joint Venture Audit Committee (JVAC). The purpose of the benchmark rate is to provide an equitable rate for companies to bill out their internal Joint Venture Auditor’s time to a joint account. This benchmark rate is not intended for use in establishing rates paid to contract auditors or auditing firms. Companies may negotiate a higher or lower rate for any audit engagement based on the auditor’s experience and knowledge or based on the type and complexity of the joint venture audit. However, when engaging an independent contract auditor, at no time should the rate charged to the audit participants exceed the rate actually paid to the independent contract auditor.

Up until 2004, the recommended audit rate had been based on the oil & gas hourly wage index, published every year in June. That index represented the entire Oil and Gas industry, across several provinces. Joint interest auditors are generally not directly part of the population for which the oil & gas hourly wage index data is gathered. This was largely due to the predominance of Contract Auditors vs Staff Auditors in the current marketplace. They also had never been dispersed, being primarily located in Calgary, Alberta. As such, the Joint Interest Audit Committee has felt for some time that the oil & gas wage index no longer represented the best methodology for determining a recommended rate. In 2005, the old index plus other information was used in developing the recommended rate. Beginning with the rate for the calendar year 2006, a new methodology was established.

While the bulk of the auditor population is independent contractors, there are still some companies with staff auditors. The methodology now in place addresses the cluster of auditors being in Calgary and the mix of Contract Auditors and Staff Auditors.

The JVAC reviews the rate and criteria used to determine the rate annually to ensure the relevancy of such criteria in determining future recommended joint venture audit rates.

Historical Benchmark Joint Venture Audit Rates

Year Benchmark Rate Comment
2020 $110.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2019 $106.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2018 $106.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2017 $106.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2016 $110.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2015 $110.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2014 $107.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2013 $97.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2012 $96.00 Hourly Rate Details (PDF)
2011 $93.00 Hourly Rate
2010 $92.00 Hourly Rate; Salary, benefits and costs review done for this year and supports the Statscan Calgary CPI index (Apr08 to Apr09) determined rate decrease. Details (PDF)
2009 $93.00 Hourly Rate; Per Statscan Calgary CPI index. (Apr07 to Apr08). Details (PDF)
2008 $90.00 Hourly Rate; Per Statscan Calgary CPI index. (Apr06 to Apr07) Details (PDF)
2007 $85.00 Hourly Rate; Statscan Calgary CPI index (Apr to Apr) adopted Details (PDF)
2006 $80.00 Hourly Rate; New index not yet set, used old index of Canadian oil & gas salary increases
2005 $75.00 Hourly Rate; Transition year; old method plus consideration of COPAS rates, current market information and possible replacement index
2004 $71.00 Change to hourly rate proposal
2003 $70.67 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $530; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
2002 $70.00 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $525; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
2001 $63.33 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $475; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
2000 $64.00 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $480; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1999 $61.33 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $460; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1998 $62.66 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $470; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1997 $61.33 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $460; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1996 $59.33 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $445; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1995 $58.67 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $440; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1994 $56.00 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $420; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation
1993 $56.67 Hourly Rate; Restated from daily rate of $425; converted to hourly based on 7.5 hours per day for consistent presentation


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