Audit

Guruvayur Devaswom audits reveal missing gold checks, ₹25 cr discrepancy

Lack of physical verification of temple valuables, including gold and silver, significant discrepancies between income and expenditure figures, and poor record keeping were among the findings of successive Kerala government audits of the Guruvayur Devaswom for 2019-20 and 2020-21. The audit reports also stated that after July 2012, the Devaswom's decisions were not made available for scrutiny. In 2015, the temple management decided that its decisions need not be submitted for audit, the reports said. Regarding the temple's finances for 2019-20, the report noted major differences between the budgeted and audited revenue and expenditure statements. The discrepancies were observed under several heads, including revenue from investments, capital receipts, donations, taxes, capital expenditure, and recovery remittances, the 2019-20 audit report said. It further stated that physical verification of temple valuables, including gold and silver, was not being conducted properly. According

Flipkart completes self-audit on dark patterns, says compliant with CCPA

Flipkart Group on Thursday said it has completed an independent self-audit on its digital platforms, aimed at ensuring "the highest standards of compliance, accountability" and aligning with Central Consumer Protection Authority guidelines and advisory on prevention and regulation of dark patterns. The comprehensive self-audit completion declaration has been submitted to the Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare, the company said in a statement. The group, which includes Flipkart, Myntra, Flipkart Wholesale, and Cleartrip, affirmed its commitment to ensuring that its customers are treated with fairness and transparency. "Flipkart Group...today announced the completion of a comprehensive, independent self-audit on its digital platforms. The audit has been done to ensure the highest standards of compliance, accountability, and consumer protection with the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Guidelines and Advisory for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 and 2025

CAG to launch portal in November to make entire audit process tech driven

The apex government auditor CAG will launch a portal in November to provide nearly 10 lakh auditee entities with a unified digital interface to directly respond to queries, observations, and inspection reports. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is transitioning to a system-wide strategic shift to remote and hybrid audits to increase audit coverage, reduce time for field audit at auditee premises and improve the quality of audit outputs. This transition is anchored in risk-based planning, secure access to government platforms (such as IFMS, e-Procurement and sectoral databases like WAMIS for public works etc.) and the use of geospatial tools like PM GatiShakti to strengthen evidence and consistency across sectors, Deputy CAG K S Subramanian told reporters here. The pilot studies of remote audits in many audit domains have been concluded, and they are now being replicated across offices. Remote audits in receipts audits are advancing faster due to higher automation, .

Audit committees need to ensure independence of auditors: NFRA chairperson

Audit committees at companies should ensure the independence of auditors, NFRA Chairperson Nitin Gupta said on Thursday, as he stressed the importance of good corporate governance practices. He also listed out various fundamental principles for sound financial reporting, including the key role of external auditors. The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has been taking steps to boost sound financial reporting practices and is also taking action against auditing lapses. A comprehensive, effective internal control and sound risk management system should be areas of interest for good corporate governance, Gupta said. He was speaking at the conference on 'Agile Governance: Fostering Transparency & Building Trust' organised by industry body Ficci in the national capital. According to him, audit committees should ensure the independence of auditors.

Mandatory to conduct audit of safety in schools: Govt tells states, UTs

The Ministry of Education has issued a directive to all states and Union territories mandating them to conduct audits of safety mechanisms and facilities for children in schools, officials said on Saturday. The Education Ministry has also called for schools to ensure structural integrity of buildings. This comes a day after a portion of a government school in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district collapsed on Friday, killing seven children and leaving 28 injured. States and UTs must take urgent steps to ensure student's safety and their well-being. This includes mandatory safety audits of schools and child-related facilities as per national safety codes, training for staff and students in emergency preparedness, and the provision of psychosocial support through counselling and peer networks. Structural integrity, along with fire safety, emergency exits, and electrical wiring, must be thoroughly assessed. It must be ensured that staff and students are trained in emergency preparedness, ...

ICAI to limit individual tax audits by CAs to 60 annually from April 2026

Chartered accountants will be individually allowed to carry out only up to 60 tax audits in a financial year, with the ICAI taking a decision to implement the limit from April 1, 2026. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which also regulates the chartered accountants, has more than four lakh members. ICAI President Charanjot Singh Nanda on Friday said the limit of 60 tax audits is already in place but a chartered accountant is also permitted to carry out the audits for partners also. For example, if there are four partners in an audit firm, each partner can also do the audit for another partner. While the audit firm can carry out up to 240 audits, a partner can do more than 60 audits individually now. The decision has been taken to limit the tax audits to 60 for an individual partner, he said. "It is going to be in force from the next financial year starting from April 1, 2026," Nanda said at a briefing in the national capital. The limit of 60 will be the aggre

DGCA orders special audit of chopper services in U'khand to check accidents

Aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered special audits/enhanced surveillance into helicopter operations involved in shuttle services in Uttarakhand following a spate of "occurrences" involving choppers during the Char Dham Yatra, according to an official statement on Monday. As a precautionary measure, DGCA is also reviewing the necessity of "curtailing" helicopter operations to Char Dham if required, it said. On June 7, six people, including the pilot, had a narrow escape last Saturday when a Kestrel Aviation helicopter on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand after developing a technical snag during take-off. DGCA has also intensified its oversight of Char Dham helicopter operations by actively monitoring live camera feeds provided by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) at Kedarnath, it said. Recently, multiple occurrences involving helicopter operati

ICAI's Financial Reporting Review Board to review Gensol's books

The review is being undertaken by the ICAI on a suo motu basis, Charanjot Singh Nanda, president, ICAI, said

IndusInd Bank says conducting internal review of microfinance business

IndusInd's shares, which have fallen 13% since the derivative accounting lapse was disclosed, closed 5% lower on Tuesday

NFRA flags lapses in audit quality of three firms, including Deloitte

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has flagged certain lapses in the audit quality of three audit firms. The observations have been made in NFRA's three separate inspection reports of SRBC & Co LLP, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP and Walker Chandiok & Co LLP. In its report on SRBC & Co LLP, the regulator conducted audit quality inspections in 2024 and the scope included focus on three audit areas -- Internal financial control over financial reporting on revenue, related party transactions and impairment of non-financial assets. SRBC & Co LLP is member of two networks -- Ernst & Young Global network and SR Batliboi & Affiliates. According to the regulator, SRBC & Co LLP should put in place a robust process to address all threats to independence, which may be created due to the exclusion of certain services from the term non-audit services. Further, the audit firm should reconsider its policy to exclude NFRA-regulated audit clients' holding ..

Quality of audits has improved in the past few years: NFRA Chairman

Quality of audits has improved in the past few years: NFRA Chairman

Tax audit is the forte of chartered accountants: ICAI President Nanda

The finance ministry has asked the chartered accountants' body to review the new Income Tax Bill 2025 and suggest improvements

NFRA looks to enhance communication between auditors and audit panels

The first part of the interaction series draws auditors' attention to potential questions that audit committees or boards of directors may ask regarding accounting estimates and judgements

EEPC India proposes 'faceless' GST audit system to boost ease of doing biz

The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), India on Sunday proposed the introduction of a faceless GST audit system to boost ease of doing business in the country. The apex engineering exports promotion body's proposal comes following the successful implementation of faceless assessment' by the Income Tax department. The faceless GST audit system, by using technology and ensuring anonymity, will reduce compliance costs. A faceless system will streamline procedures allowing MSMEs to focus on growth and innovation," said Pankaj Chadha, chairman of EEPC India. The proposal is a part of EEPC India's Budget 2025 recommendation. By introducing a faceless GST audit system, India can further improve its ranking in the Ease of Doing Business index, making it a more attractive destination for foreign investors, it said. It also proposed that Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) related liabilities should be eligible for the Amnesty Scheme' to address challenges faced by exporters, who may b

IMF's handling of large loans to troubled nations under scrutiny

The fund's Independent Evaluation Office studied roughly 20 years of lending under the so-called Exceptional Access Policy and prepared a set of recommendations

74% companies want govt to enable real-time audit reporting, says Deloitte

About 74 per cent of high-end corporate taxpayers want the income tax department to enable near real-time reporting and compliance monitoring, Deloitte India said on Tuesday. Deloitte India's Income Tax Digitalisation in India survey, which took views of about 250 highest corporate taxpayers, also found that 67 per cent of businesses seek tax e-wallets to promptly credit refunds on passing orders, enabling adjustment against outstanding demands or future tax liabilities. The survey said the respondents requested to adopt Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T), which would enable near real-time reporting and compliance monitoring. This signalled their intention to make the tax function tech-enabled. Additionally, 63 per cent of the survey respondents said that taxpayers expect issuance of automated programming interface (API) to fetch data from income tax portals. Opening up of API by the administration would help taxpayers have seamless connectivity with I-T portals to enable efficien

Concerns about new audit norms misplaced: NFRA's Ajay Bhushan Pandey

For a Viksit Bharat, India cannot afford audit standards that are inferior, NFRA Chairperson Ajay Bhushan Pandey said

ICAI to knock on MCA door against proposed audit standard revision

The NFRA, after its board meet, has suggested revisions to 40 Standards on Auditing

Boeing cleaned up on Air Force parts, including soap dispensers: Pentagon

Boeing overcharged the Air Force nearly USD 1 million for spare parts on C-17 cargo planes, including an 8,000 per cent markup for simple lavatory soap dispensers, according to the Pentagon's inspector general. The Defense Department's auditor reviewed prices paid for 46 spare parts on the C-17 from 2018 to 2022 and found that 12 were overpriced and nine seemed reasonably priced. It couldn't determine the fairness of prices on the other 25 items. The Office of the Inspector General said it reviewed the soap dispenser prices after getting a hotline tip. Boeing disputed the findings. We are reviewing the report, which appears to be based on an inapt comparison of the prices paid for parts that meet aircraft and contract specifications and designs versus basic commercial items that would not be qualified or approved for use on the C-17," Boeing said in a statement. We will continue to work with the OIG and the US Air Force to provide a detailed written response to the report in the .

NFRA chairman Pandey stresses the need to adopt global audit standards

Pandey said that NFRA is trying to educate people about the need for adherence to global standards such as ISA 600