A year where audit integrity took centre stage

The year 2024 marked a renewal of confrontations between the fledgling audit regulator and the statutory apex body of chartered accountants (CAs), after a spell of harmony.

- MANU KAUSHIK

In August, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) raised concerns on the National Financial Reporting Authority's (NFRA) decision to revise the existing SA 600 (standard on auditing 600) auditing standards, and align them with the International Standard on Auditing 600 (ISA 600).

ICAI contended that changes in the SA 600, as proposed by NFRA, will lead to the concentration of work in the hands of large audit firms.

"There are apprehensions in the minds of small and medium CA firms who are generally entrusted with audit work of the subsidiary companies that the group auditor in the guise of overseeing quality of their work may persuade the managements to replace the small audit firms of subsidiary companies with that of his own firms leading to concentration of the audit work in the hands of few firms.

This would make the survival of the small firms difficult," ICAI noted.

In November, NFRA finalized and recommended 40 SAs, including the SA 600 and SA 299, to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) for notification.