Independent review of company financial statements

Abstract

One of the provisions in the Companies Act 2008 which is particularly significant to the auditing profession in South Africa is the introduction of the independent review of financial statements of certain non-public interest companies as an alternative to the conventional audit of financial statements which is currently required for all companies. The Companies Act 2008 provides for regulations regarding independent reviews to be drawn up by the Minister. This article presents a background study and analysis of what constitutes an independent review in order to provide a better understanding of this alternative to an audit of a company’s annual financial statements. It seems that the Draft Regulations regarding which companies should be audited and which independently reviewed will achieve the Act’s primary objective of the protection of the public interest as they are primarily based on a company’s activities and not on quantitative thresholds such as turnover and assets. A robust and well designed set of assurance standards for independent reviews is needed to provide the necessary guidance to practitioners who will conduct independent reviews. Contrary to the requirements in the Draft Regulations, it is suggested that an independent review should be performed by a person who is a member in good standing of a professional body accredited by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors, and not the International Federation of Accountants.