Secretarial Advisory

Section 139 of the Companies Act, 2013 makes it obligatory for every company (whether public or private) to appoint an auditor who is supposed to audit the financial statement of the company and prepare an audit report in a format as prescribed. The same audit report is required to be provided to the shareholders, stock exchanges (in case of a listed entity), and other stakeholders (like Bankers, debenture holders, etc.) as well as filed with mca portal (earlier registrar of companies) in a prescribed form through XBLR (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) or otherwise.

The auditor if appointed under section 139 is also termed as a statutory auditor while for few classes of companies section 138 requires the appointment of an internal auditor whose role is more towards ensuring that the financial controls, checks, and balances, systems are in place and effective for an organization.

The audit or statutory audit (done yearly or quarterly for a certain class of companies) is a pre-condition for any corporate to continue its operation and it’s necessary that the auditor is independent of the promoters so as the financial statement of a company reflects its true state of affairs. Many question marks have been raised recently on the conduct of statutory auditors and its endeavor of the government to ensure that the auditor performs his duty effectively and diligently. Auditors are supposed to follow accounting standards as adopted & prescribed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

There is also a requirement for Cost audit for those organizations who are required to maintain cost records as well as Taxation Audit, Goods & Service Tax audit, and compliance audit. In every case, the applicability may wary depending upon the size of the organization, its functions, its operations, and its reach.

1. Statutory audit, internal audit, tax audit, and GST audit

2. Compliances audit

3. Risk audit

4. Quality audit

5. Process audit of IT, HR, and other support functions

6. Annual filings

• E filing and certification of various forms to be filed with Registrar of Companies.
• Certifying compliance with the requirement for appointment of managerial personnel/Directors.
• Maintenance of statutory records.
• Issue of Compliance certificate as required under the Companies Act.
• Preparation of Minutes of the Board Meetings & Members meetings.
• Advising on various day-to-day secretarial matters.
• Filing of Annual Returns & Balance sheet.
• Appointment of CS & other Board Members as and when required.

7. Compliance Audit under the Companies Act, 2013

• Review of minutes of board/committee / general meetings.
• Review of filings with ROC
• Checking of compliances of various sections under the Act and the Rules as may be applicable
• Review of the composition of the Board of Directors
• Checking Statutory Records maintained under the Act.

8. Audit of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA ) compliance

• Statutory Filings with Reserve Bank of India
• Maintenance of records and documents.
• Realization of exports including compliance with provisions w.r.t. write off / extension
• Compliance with any specific transaction undertaken during the review period.