APES 330 Insolvency Services: standards for practitioners

APES 330 Insolvency Services is the professional and ethical standard that governs how Australian accountants conduct insolvency work. It is issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (APESB) and applies to members in public practice who accept appointments such as liquidator, voluntary administrator, receiver, restructuring practitioner or trustee in bankruptcy. The standard sets mandatory requirements covering independence, professional fees and expenses, dealing with property, and acting as an expert witness in an insolvency context.

In short: if you are a member of CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) or the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), and you take on insolvency or restructuring engagements, APES 330 is binding on you alongside the underlying law administered by ASIC (corporate insolvency) and AFSA (personal insolvency).

What APES 330 is

APES 330 is a professional standard, not legislation. It is one of the APES series of standards that the three Australian professional accounting bodies require their members to observe as a condition of membership. It translates the broad principles of the profession's Code of Ethics into specific, enforceable requirements for the particular risks of insolvency practice.

The current version of the standard is effective for insolvency services commencing on or after 1 April 2022, superseding the earlier January 2020 edition. (Always confirm you are working from the current version on the APESB website, as APESB periodically revises its standards.)

Because insolvency practitioners hold significant powers over the assets and affairs of insolvent companies and individuals, and act in the interests of creditors as a whole, the standard places a strong emphasis on independence, transparency of remuneration, and rigorous documentation.

Who APES 330 applies to

APES 330 applies to members in public practice who provide insolvency services. That includes accepting or carrying out appointments and engagements such as:

• Liquidator (in a court, creditors' voluntary or members' voluntary winding up)
• Voluntary administrator and administrator of a deed of company arrangement
• Receiver or receiver and manager
• Small business restructuring practitioner
• Controller of property
• Trustee in bankruptcy and controlling trustee under a personal insolvency agreement

The obligations attach to the individual member, not just the firm. Where a member is part of a firm, the standard also expects appropriate firm-level policies and quality controls to support compliance.

Importantly, APES 330 sits on top of the statutory regime. A registered liquidator must still comply with the Corporations Act 2001, the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations), and ASIC's regulatory expectations; a registered trustee must comply with the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and AFSA's requirements. APES 330 does not replace those obligations — it adds a layer of professional discipline enforced by the member's professional body.

Independence and conflicts of interest

Independence is the heart of the standard. Creditors and the courts need confidence that an insolvency appointee is impartial and free of relationships that could compromise judgement.

Key independence themes in APES 330 include:

• Pre-appointment relationships. A member must assess prior connections with the insolvent entity, its directors, secured creditors or referrers before accepting an appointment, and decline where independence is compromised or cannot be adequately safeguarded.
• Threats and safeguards. Consistent with the conceptual framework in the Code of Ethics, members must identify threats to independence (self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, intimidation), evaluate them, and apply safeguards — or decline.
• Declarations of relevant relationships and indemnities. The standard reinforces the statutory practice of disclosing relevant relationships and any indemnities to creditors, supporting the transparency expected at the first meeting and in subsequent reporting.
• Prior professional services. Providing advice to the company or its directors before appointment (for example, restructuring or "pre-insolvency" advice) can create a self-review or familiarity threat that may preclude a later appointment.

The practical test is not only whether the member feels independent, but whether a reasonable and informed third party would conclude that independence is maintained.

Professional fees and expenses

APES 330 sets professional expectations around remuneration that complement the statutory rules on approval of fees. The recurring principles are transparency, reasonableness and proper authorisation.

Members are expected to:

• Charge fees that are fair and reasonable for the work performed
• Be transparent about the basis of remuneration and how it will be calculated and approved
• Follow the relevant statutory approval pathways (for example, creditor or committee approval, or court approval where required)
• Distinguish clearly between the member's professional remuneration and disbursements or expenses recovered from the administration
• Avoid drawing fees that have not been properly approved

Fee transparency is a recurring focus for both ASIC and AFSA, and remuneration disputes are a common source of complaints. Robust time records and clear remuneration reports are the practical defence.

Dealing with property and acting as an expert

Two further areas attract specific requirements:

• Dealing with property. Insolvency appointees control and realise assets that belong to the administration. The standard reinforces obligations to deal with that property properly, to avoid conflicts in any sale or realisation (for example, sales to related parties), and to maintain proper records and accounting for funds.
• Acting as an expert witness. Where a member gives expert evidence in an insolvency-related matter, APES 330 reinforces the need for objectivity and independence in that role, consistent with the profession's broader expert-witness obligations.

How it interacts with the law and the Code of Ethics

APES 330 should be read together with three other layers of obligation:

Where the standard is more demanding than the law, the member must meet the higher requirement. Breach of APES 330 can lead to professional disciplinary action by the member's accounting body, separate from any regulatory action by ASIC or AFSA. For the broader professional-standards context, see the tax practitioners topic hub, which covers adjacent obligations for accounting professionals.

Practical steps and common pitfalls

To stay compliant with APES 330:

1. Run an independence assessment before every appointment and document the threats identified and the safeguards applied. Keep the working papers.
2. Prepare clear relationship and indemnity disclosures and make them available to creditors as required.
3. Set out the remuneration basis early and obtain proper approval before drawing fees.
4. Separate fees from disbursements in your records and reports.
5. Manage property realisations carefully, especially any related-party transactions, with independent valuations where appropriate.
6. Confirm you are using the current version of the standard.

Common pitfalls include accepting an appointment after providing significant pre-insolvency advice (a self-review threat), inadequate documentation of the independence analysis, drawing remuneration before approval, and weak records supporting time-based fees. Each of these is both a professional-standards risk and a frequent trigger for creditor complaints and regulator scrutiny.

If you are uncertain whether a relationship or fee arrangement complies, treat the conservative interpretation as the default and document your reasoning. In insolvency practice, the cost of a perceived independence failure usually outweighs the cost of declining a marginal engagement.