ICAI issues 4 new standards for internal checks in firms

Apex accounting body ICAI today issued four new standards to help companies streamline internal audits for minimising pilferage, ensuring cost efficiency and mitigating waste.     

This will standardise the process of internal checks in companies, and "companies can now expect that professionals engaged in internal audit will be rendering services of such standards as being issued by the institute," ICAI President Ved Jain told reporters here.     

The institute has already issued three standards for internal audit.     

Management appoints chartered accountants (CA) or non-CAs to conduct such checks for detecting the anomalies in the management system through internal audit.     

In the view of this, the council in its meeting held on August 7, 8 approved four more internal audit standards on analytical procedures, sampling, reporting and quality assurance in internal audit.

The ICAI is expected to come out with six more standards on the same by December. These standards will initially be recommendatory in nature.    

 In the next seven-eight months, the institute will further come out with industry-specific standards keeping in mind different needs of each sector.     

The council also issued an auditing standard relating to management representation in harmony with international norms by International Auditing and Assurance Standard Board (IAASB).

This standard is regarding the acknowledgement by the management that it is fulfilling its responsibility relating to preparation of financial statements and internal control.