The Wirtschaftsprüferkammer is Germany's chamber of public auditors, a public law corporation to which membership is compulsory for German public auditors (Wirtschaftsprüfer), sworn auditors (vereidigte Buchprüfer) and their firms. It combines representation with statutory regulatory duties: professional supervision of its members, operation of the quality control procedure, administration of the professional examination, and maintenance of the public register of auditors and audit firms.
What the WPK publishes
- The public professional register of auditors and audit firms
- Professional supervision decisions and disciplinary outcomes
- Quality control requirements and the results of quality assurance reviews
- Guidance on professional obligations, including anti-money-laundering duties
- Communications on sustainability reporting and international auditing standards
- Transparency reports and membership statistics
Why it matters for compliance teams
German audit oversight is split: the WPK handles the profession generally, while the Abschlussprüferaufsichtsstelle oversees auditors of public interest entities. For an entity commissioning an audit, the WPK register is the authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised, and its quality control framework governs how most German audits are actually performed.
Seqlense DOC indexes WPK material alongside IDW's technical standards and the European audit instruments, so audit committees can see supervision and standards together.