ICAI Launches Expert Audit Support Panel for 2025 Audit Season

The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has made an announcement dated July 11, 2025, stating that ICAI is the largest accounting body in the world that plays a significant role in shaping and developing the accounting profession in India. Additionally, it maintains high standards in auditing and contributes to the economic development of the country.

The job of auditing is becoming more significant and challenging as the business world is growing faster with the establishment of new companies, start-ups, and more companies getting registered under the stock exchanges. Today, auditors are expected to meet higher expectations and follow many rules and regulations.

ICAI has a special board called the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) to facilitate auditors’ work better and ensure high-quality audits. This board frequently provides support to its members, mainly during the season of auditing.

Similar to the previous three years’ practice, the AASB has this year also formed a special Expert Panel for the year 2025. This panel is designed to assist chartered accountants (CAs) by solving their technical issues related to statutory audits.

The expert panel has been made available from July 11, 2025, to September 30, 2025. During this period, CAs who have any queries or doubts in performing audits can send their questions and areas of problem to the panel. Queries need to be written to the email ID [email protected].

However, there are some rules and instructions that every member should obey while sending their queries:

• Keep your question short and to the point, but provide all the necessary details and background facts.
• Do not mention the name of the client or company involved, because that information is confidential.
• Don’t send the same question more than once.
• Avoid follow-up replies or rejoinders on the same issue, as the panel may not respond to repeated messages.
• The advice of the panel is not to guide anyone. However, it is your responsibility as a professional to use your own judgment while performing the audit and preparing reports.

It is essential to note that the help provided by the panel is on a “best-effort” basis. This means the panel will try its best to respond to queries, but it is not bound to answer every question. Also, the opinions given by the experts on the panel are their personal views and not the official views of ICAI or AASB. If a member follows the advice, ICAI or AASB will not be responsible for the outcome of those actions. Moreover, these expert opinions cannot be used as legal evidence in courts or any other formal legal process. Finally, AASB also has the right to not respond to a query if they feel it’s not appropriate or necessary, and they won’t be required to give a reason for not replying.

The panel is led by two senior members of AASB–CA: CA. Sripriya Kumar, the Chairperson, and CA. Ravi Patwa, the Vice Chairman. They are responsible for ensuring the smooth functioning of this panel and its operations during the audit season.