Page 3 - Auditing

Audit plays catalytic role in promoting efficiency, effectiveness: CAG

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu on Friday said that the objectives of the audit are not merely to find out the deviations, non-compliance and fault finding in lawful decision-making but to promote efficiency and effectiveness also. Speaking at the SRCC Business Conclave here, the CAG said different types of audit are taken up against the extant policies, rules, and standards prevalent at the time of audit. Murmu stated that accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness are assertions that are tested in audit. Such independent checks on the functioning of the government provide credibility to the executive and confidence to the public at large, he said, and added securing accountability of the government protects its fiscal stability and its image globally. "Although accountability does not start and end with audit, it emphasises the need to fix responsibility for healthy governance. Different types of audits, as mentioned, promote ..

NFRA to set up sandbox for supporting innovation in auditing techniques

NFRA chairperson Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that there is a need to enhance the trust in financial and non-financial reporting systems in India

MCA starts comprehensive review of auditing standards regulations

MCA secretary Manoj Govil urged the corporate sector, including the CEOs and CFOs to improve upon the level of public trust within the business ecosystem as preparers of financial statements

I-T dept gives institutions time till Mar 31 to file correct audit reports

The income tax department on Tuesday allowed trusts and institutions, which filed audit reports for the assessment year 2023-24 in incorrect forms, to file documents in correct forms by March 31. Income of any fund or institution or trust or any university or other educational institution or any hospital is exempt from income tax subject to fulfilment of certain conditions. One of the conditions required to be fulfilled by the trust or institution in order to be eligible to claim exemption, is, that it is required to get its accounts audited and furnish the audit report in the prescribed Form No. 10B / 10BB before the specified date. In a circular, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that in a number of cases trusts or institutions have furnished audit reports in Form No. 1OB, where Form No. 10BB was required to be furnished and vice versa for the A.Y. 2023-24. As per I-T rules, the report of audit of the accounts of a trust or institution, shall be furnished in Form No.

Auditors should engage with stakeholders to gather input, says CAG Murmu

CAG of India Girish Chandra Murmu on Friday said auditors should engage with stakeholders to gather input, address concerns, and promote transparency and accountability. Addressing the three-day International Conference on Strengthening of Grassroots Democracy, he also emphasised on the need to prioritise audit procedures based on identified risks, focusing on areas with the highest potential for fraud, mismanagement, or regulatory non-compliance. "Together we need to advocate transparency and accountability in local government operations, encouraging the adoption of best practices in financial reporting and governance," Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said on the concluding day of the conference. He also stressed that auditors need to consider factors such as the size, complexity, and resources of the local government entity when applying auditing standards. Audit, Murmu said, should be familiar with the political, social, and economic context in which the local ...

NFRA finds certain lapses in audit quality of Walker Chandiok - Co

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) on Friday found certain lapses in the auditing-related activities of audit firm Walker Chandiok & Co LLP during detailed audit quality inspections. The regulator initiated an audit quality inspection of Walker Chandiok & Co LLP in December last year and covered various aspects, including a review of firm-wide quality controls to evaluate their adherence to Standards on Quality Control (SQC-1) and review of selected audit documentation of the annual statutory audit of financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2021, as per the order. The regulator has flagged several deficiencies, where the audit firm failed to adhere to some of the prescribed 'client acceptance and continuance' prerequisites, including verifying the client's integrity and recording the resolution of concerns. NFRA observed that there was a discrepancy between the disclosures made by Walker Chandiok & Co LLP (WCCL) and Grant Thornton Bharat LLP (GTBL)

Edtech company Byju's calls for AGM to approve audited FY22 financials

The company plans to discuss various topics including considering and adopting the audited standalone and consolidated financial statements of the firm for the financial year ended 31st March 2022

More than 3 million audit report filed for assessment year 2023-24

Deadline for e-filing of income tax for companies was extended to November 30, while the deadline to file of audit reports by companies was extended to October 30

SC dismisses PIL seeking independent audit of source code of EVMs

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking an audit of the software used in electronic voting machines (EVMs) used by the Election Commission. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said no actionable material that the poll panel acted in breach of constitutional mandate in holding polls has been placed before it. The Election Commission is entrusted with the control over elections. Presently, the petitioner places no actionable material before this court to show that the poll panel has acted in breach of its constitutional mandate. There is no material before us which casts doubt on EVMs, the bench said. Before filing the petition, PIL petitioner Sunil Ahya had made representations to the Election Commission seeking an independent audit of the source code of the EVMs. The source code is the brain behind the EVM and it is about survival of democracy, Ahya said.

Once Satyam, twice shy: Why auditors quitting big clients is complicated

The auditing community feels the burden of increased regulatory oversight, user expectations, and media activism

Auditors should follow due process; auditing is not ticking: NFRA chief

Auditors should follow the due process rather than just rely on expert opinions, NFRA Chairperson Ajay Bhushan Prasad Pandey said on Friday and emphasised that auditing should not be just a "ticking" exercise. Amid instances of auditing lapses at companies and the regulator taking action against erring auditors, Pandey also said that audit documents should evidence that due process has been done. "I would like to assure the audit fraternity that we are not here to be kind of a villian, we are here to assist you and improve the system," he said while speaking at an industry event here. While asserting that trust in the financial reporting system is very important, the chief of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) said, "audit should not be just ticking audit... It should be thinking audit". The watchdog has around 7,000 companies, including unlisted ones, under its purview. According to him, it has been noticed that there is very excessive reliance by auditors on the .

G20 SAIs agree to cooperate to meet challenges of auditing blue economy, AI

Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of G20 nations on Wednesday pledged to cooperate and collaborate to deal with the challenges of auditing frontier spheres of blue economy and artificial intelligence (AI). The communique, issued at the end of the three-day meeting of the Supreme Audit Institutions-20 (SAI20) Engagement Group, set up under India's G20 Presidency, also underlined the need for optimal governance in the use of AIs to ensure transparency and accountability under the existing legal and regulatory framework. The meeting of the SAI20, which was attended by SAIs of G20 countries, guest SAIs, invited SAIs, international organisations, engagement groups and other invitees was inaugurated by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu on Monday. "...we, the SAIs of G20, in accordance with our mandates, agreed to cooperate and collaborate in knowledge sharing endeavours involving an exchange of innovative ideas and best practices, thus equipping SAIs to .

True account: Why Indian companies don't sweat over high audit fees

One segment accounts for the majority of the industry's income, and it is not complaining

NFRA slaps Rs 1.10 cr fine, imposes ban on two auditors, one audit firm

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has imposed a ban as well as penalties totalling Rs 1.10 crore on three entities, including two auditors, for alleged professional misconduct in connection with the audit of Giri Vidhyuth (India) Ltd for 2019-20. Giri Vidhyuth (India) Ltd (GVIL) is a subsidiary of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL). The case pertains to diversion of funds worth Rs 3,535 crore from seven subsidiary companies of CDEL to Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estate Ltd (MACEL), an entity owned and controlled by the promoters of CDEL. After markets watchdog Sebi shared its investigation report in April 2022, the audit regulator started probing the professional misconduct of the auditors of GVIL. Separately, NFRA imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Sundaresha & Associates and slapped a two-year ban on the audit firm. This debarment period of Sundaresha will start after the completion of two years of debarment period imposed by NFRA through its order in April in the case

Audit trail: 5 years of NFRA cracking the whip

The regulator has pulled up erring chartered accountants and firms, but is its work having an impact?

BlackRock racial audit shows struggles to retain leaders from various races

Retention was identified as one of BlackRock's challenges, even as the world's largest money manager met some goals on diversifying its overall workforce since 2020

Companies must have audit trail of transactions from next financial year

Will also have to maintain edit log of changes made in books of accounts; experts say no firm will be able to delete an entry, will only be able rectify it

Adani Group denies reports of hiring Grant Thornton for audits amid crisis

Adani Group | Grant Thornton: Media reports suggested that embattled Adani Grpup had appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for an independent audit of a few of its companies in a bid to come clean

Artificial Intelligence to be a game changer in govt audit space: CAG

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to be a game changer in the public audit space as it will help in quicker and more detailed analysis during both planning and execution stages, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) G C Murmu said on Tuesday. The potential benefits of applying AI techniques to the audit processes are substantial/ and have already been identified through several use cases, he said in his closing remarks at the SCO SAI Leaders meeting here. High-level delegations from eight Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries participated in the 6th meeting of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) to deliberate on issues related to cyber security and artificial intelligence, and the role of auditors of the SCO nations. "Our intent is to use AI not as a one-time solution for a specific audit, but to build an evolving AI model that will allow for quicker and more detailed analysis during both the planning and execution stages through risk assessment straddli

Auditing of local bodies key as India aims to touch $5 trn economy: CAG

Murmu also pointed out that digitisation and expanded use of technology and artificial intelligence have brought its own challenges