Auditor Duties and Reporting under Companies Act 2013

By | June 20, 2016
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(Last Updated On: June 20, 2016)

Auditor Duties and Reporting under Companies Act 2013

Duty of the Auditor to Inquire [section 143(1)]:-

Amongst other matters, Auditor has to  inquire into the following matters, namely:—

(a)         whether loans and advances made by the company on the basis of security have been properly secured and whether the terms on which they have been made are prejudicial to the interests of the company or its members;

(b)         whether transactions of the company which are represented merely by book entries are prejudicial to the interests of the company;

(c)         where the company not being an investment company or a banking company, whether so much of the assets of the company as consist of shares, debentures and other securities have been sold at a price less than that at which they were purchased by the company;

(d)         whether loans and advances made by the company have been shown as deposits;

(e)         whether personal expenses have been charged to revenue account;

(f)          where it is stated in the books and documents of the company that any shares have been allotted for cash, whether cash has actually been received in respect of such allotment, and if no cash has actually been so received, whether the position as stated in the account books and the balance sheet is correct, regular and not misleading.

Duty of the Auditor to Report to the Company [ section 143(2)]  :-

auditor shall make a report to the members of the company on the accounts examined by him and on every financial statements which are required by or under this Act to be laid before the company in general meeting and the report shall after taking into account the provisions of this Act, the accounting and auditing standards and matters which are required to be included in the audit report under the provisions of this Act or any rules made thereunder or under any order made under section 143 (11) and to the best of his information and knowledge, the said accounts, financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs as at the end of its financial year and profit or loss and cash flow for the year and such other matters as may be prescribed.

Duty of the Auditor to Report on the Certain matters [ section 143(3)]  :-

The auditor’s report shall also state—

(a)         whether he has sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of his knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of his audit and if not, the details thereof and the effect of such information on the financial statements;

(b)         whether, in his opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the company so far as appears from his examination of those books and proper returns adequate for the purposes of his audit have been received from branches not visited by him;

(c)         whether the report on the accounts of any branch office of the company audited under section 143 (8) by a person other than the company’s auditor has been sent to him under the proviso to that sub-section and the manner in which he has dealt with it in preparing his report;

(d)         whether the company’s balance sheet and profit and loss account dealt with in the report are in agreement with the books of account and returns;

(e)         whether, in his opinion, the financial statements comply with the accounting standards;

(f)          the observations or comments of the auditors on financial transactions or matters which have any adverse effect on the functioning of the company;

(g)         whether any director is disqualified from being appointed as a director under sub-section (2) of section 164;

(h)         any qualification, reservation or adverse remark relating to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith;

(i)          whether the company has adequate internal financial controls system in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls

(j)          such other matters as may be prescribed (See rule 11 of the Companies (Audit & Auditors) Rules, 2014 )

 Rule 11 :- Other matters to be included in auditors report

The auditor’s report shall also include their views and comments on the following matters, namely:-

(a) whether the company has disclosed the impact, if any, of pending litigations on its financial position in its financial statement;

(b) whether the company has made provision, as required under any law or accounting standards, for material foreseeable losses, if any, on long term contracts including derivative contracts;

(c) whether there has been any delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the company.

Duty of the Auditor to give reasons for Qualifications in Report [ section 143(4)] 

 Where any of the matters required to be included in the audit is answered in the negative or with a qualification, the report shall state the reasons therefor.

Duty of the Auditor to comply directions of Comptroller and Auditor-General of India [ Section 143(5)]

In the case of a Government company or any other company owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the Central Government, or by any State Government or Governments, or partly by the Central Government and partly by one or more State Governments, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India shall appoint the auditor under sub-section (5) or sub-section (7) of section 139 and direct such auditor the manner in which the accounts of the company are required to be audited and thereupon the auditor so appointed shall submit a copy of the audit report to the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India which, among other things, include the directions, if any, issued by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, the action taken thereon and its impact on the accounts and financial statement of the company.

Duty of Auditor in case of Branch Office of Company [ Section 143(8)]

Where a company has a branch office, the accounts of that office shall be audited either by the auditor appointed for the company (herein referred to as the company’s auditor) under this Act or by any other person qualified for appointment as an auditor of the company under this Act and appointed as such under section 139, or where the branch office is situated in a country outside India, the accounts of the branch office shall be audited either by the company’s auditor or by an accountant or by any other person duly qualified to act as an auditor of the accounts of the branch office in accordance with the laws of that country and the duties and powers of the company’s auditor with reference to the audit of the branch and the branch auditor, if any, shall be such as may be prescribed (see Rule  Rule – 12, Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014)

The branch auditor shall prepare a report on the accounts of the branch examined by him and send it to the auditor of the company who shall deal with it in his report in such manner as he considers necessary.

Duty of Auditor to comply auditing standards. [ Section 143(9)]

Every auditor shall comply with the auditing standards.

Duty of Auditor to Report Fraud [Section 143 (12) ]

if an auditor of a company in the course of the performance of his duties as auditor, has reason to believe that an offence of fraud involving such amount or amounts as may be prescribed, is being or has been committed in the company by its officers or employees, the auditor shall report the matter to the Central Government within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed:

In case of a fraud involving lesser than the specified amount, the auditor shall report the matter to the audit committee constituted under section 177 or to the Board in other cases within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed:

The companies, whose auditors have reported frauds to the audit committee or the Board but not reported to the Central Government, shall disclose the details about such frauds in the Board’s report in such manner as may be prescribed.

Duty of the Auditor to report as per CARO 2016 :-

As per Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order 2016 Notified on 29.03.2016, CARO 2016 will apply for the audit of Financial Year 2015-16 and onwards. It has 16 clauses. Also Read  CARO 2016 Applicability Conditions .16 Points to be reported by Auditor as per CARO 2016

(i) (a) whether the company is maintaining proper records showing full particulars, including quantitative details and situation of fixed assets;

(b) whether these fixed assets have been physically verified by the management at reasonable intervals; whether any material discrepancies were noticed on such verification and if so, whether the same have been properly dealt with in the books of account;

(c) whether the title deeds of immovable properties are held in the name of the company. If not, provide the details thereof;

(ii) whether physical verification of inventory has been conducted at reasonable intervals by the management and whether any material discrepancies were noticed and if so, whether they have been properly dealt with in the books of account;

(iii) whether the company has granted any loans, secured or unsecured to companies, firms, Limited Liability Partnerships or other parties covered in the register maintained under section 189 of the Companies Act, 2013. If so,

(a) whether the terms and conditions of the grant of such loans are not prejudicial to the company’s interest;

(b) whether the schedule of repayment of principal and payment of interest has been stipulated and whether the repayments or receipts are regular;

(c) if the amount is overdue, state the total amount overdue for more than ninety days, and whether reasonable steps have been taken by the company for recovery of the principal and interest;

(iv) in respect of loans, investments, guarantees, and security whether provisions of section 185 and 186 of the Companies Act, 2013 have been complied with. If not, provide the details thereof.

(v) in case, the company has accepted deposits, whether the directives issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the provisions of sections 73 to 76 or any other relevant provisions of the CompaniesAct, 2013 and the rules framed thereunder, where applicable, have been complied with? If not, the nature of such contraventions be stated; If an order has been passed by Company Law Board or National Company Law Tribunal or Reserve Bank of India or any court or any other tribunal, whether the same has been complied with or not?

(vi) whether maintenance of cost records has been specified by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 148 of the Companies Act, 2013 and whether such accounts and records have been so made and maintained.

(vii) (a) whether the company is regular in depositing undisputed statutory dues including provident fund, employees’ state insurance, income-tax, sales-tax, service tax, duty of customs, duty of excise, value added tax, cess and any other statutory dues to the appropriate authorities and if not, the extent of the arrears of outstanding statutory dues as on the last day of the financial year concerned for a period of more than six months from the date they became payable, shall be indicated;

(b) where dues of income tax or sales tax or service tax or duty of customs or duty of excise or value added tax have not been deposited on account of any dispute, then the amounts involved and the forum where dispute is pending shall be mentioned. (A mere representation to the concerned Department shall not be treated as a dispute).

(viii) whether the company has defaulted in repayment of loans or borrowing to a financial institution, bank, Government or dues to debenture holders? If yes, the period and the amount of default to be reported (in case of defaults to banks, financial institutions, and Government, lender wise details to be provided).

(ix) whether moneys raised by way of initial public offer or further public offer (including debt instruments) and term loans were applied for the purposes for which those are raised. If not, the details together with delays or default and subsequent rectification, if any, as may be applicable, be reported;

(x) whether any fraud by the company or any fraud on the Company by its officers or employees has been noticed or reported during the year; If yes, the nature and the amount involved is to be indicated;

(xi) whether managerial remuneration has been paid or provided in accordance with the requisite approvals mandated by the provisions of section 197 read with Schedule V to the Companies Act? If not, state the amount involved and steps taken by the company for securing refund of the same;

(xii) whether the Nidhi Company has complied with the Net Owned Funds to Deposits in the ratio of 1: 20 to meet out the liability and whether the Nidhi Company is maintaining ten per cent unencumbered term deposits as specified in the Nidhi Rules, 2014 to meet out the liability;

(xiii) whether all transactions with the related parties are in compliance with sections 177 and 188 of Companies Act, 2013 where applicable and the details have been disclosed in the Financial Statements etc., as required by the applicable accounting standards;

(xiv) whether the company has made any preferential allotment or private placement of shares or fully or partly convertible debentures during the year under review and if so, as to whether the requirement of section 42 of the Companies Act, 2013 have been complied with and the amount raised have been used for the purposes for which the funds were raised. If not, provide the details in respect of the amount involved and nature of non-compliance;

(xv) whether the company has entered into any non-cash transactions with directors or persons connected with him and if so, whether the provisions of section 192 of Companies Act, 2013 have been complied with;

(xvi) whether the company is required to be registered under section 45-IA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and if so, whether the registration has been obtained.

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