Statutory Auditors Report Format for Listed Companies Prepared in Accordance with a Fair Presentation Framework:

For purposes of this illustrative auditors report, the following circumstances are assumed:

• Audit of a complete set of financial statements of a listed company (registered under the Companies Act, 2013) using a fair presentation framework. The audit is not a group audit (i.e., SA 600 does not apply).
• The financial statements are prepared by management of the entity in accordance with the accounting Standards prescribed under section 133 of the Companies Act, 2013.
• The terms of the audit engagement reflect the description of managements responsibility for the financial statements in SA
• The auditor has concluded an unmodified (i.e., clean) opinion is appropriate based on the audit evidence
• The relevant ethical requirements that apply to the audit comprise the Code of Ethics issued by ICAI together with the other relevant ethical requirements relating to the audit and the auditor refers to
• Based on the audit evidence obtained, the auditor has concluded that a material uncertainty does not exist related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the entitys ability to continue as a going concern in accordance with SA 570 (Revised).
• Key audit matters have been communicated in accordance with SA
• Those responsible for oversight of the financial statements differ from those responsible for the preparation of the financial
• In addition to the audit of the financial statements, the auditor has other reporting responsibilities required under the Companies Act,

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT

To the Members of ABC Company Limited

Report on the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements

Opinion

We have audited the standalone financial statements of ABC Company Limited (the Company), which comprise the balance sheet as at 31st March 20XX, and the statement of Profit and Loss, (statement of changes in equity)2 and statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information [in which are included the Returns for the year ended on that date audited by the branch auditors of the Companys brancheslocated at (location of branches)].

In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid standalone financial statements give the information required by the Act in the manner so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at March 31, 20XX, and profit/loss, (changes in equity)⁴ and its cash flows for the year ended on that date.

Basis for Opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) specified under section 143(10) of the Companies Act, 2013. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditors Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements under the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Rules thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Key Audit Matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.

[Description of each key audit matter in accordance with SA 701.]

Managements Responsibility for the Standalone Financial Statements

The Companys Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in section 134(5) of the Companies Act, 2013 (the Act) with respect to the preparation of these standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance, (changes in equity)5 and cash flows of the Company in accordance with6 the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including the accounting Standards specified under section 133 of the Act. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financial statement that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Companys ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Those Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Companys financial reporting process.

Auditors Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Paragraph 40(b) of this SA explains that the shaded material below can be located in an Appendix to the auditors report. Paragraph 40(c) explains that when law, regulation or applicable auditing standards expressly permit, reference can be made to a website of an appropriate authority that contains the description of the auditors responsibilities, rather than including this material in the auditors report, provided that the description on the website addresses, and is not inconsistent with, the description of the auditors responsibilities below.

As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:

• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under section 143(3)(i) of the Companies Act, 2013, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the company has adequate internal financial controls system in place and the operating effectiveness of such
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by
• Conclude on the appropriateness of managements use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Companys ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditors report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditors report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.

From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditors report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.

Other Matter

We did not audit the financial statements/ information of . (number) branches included in the stand alone financial statements of the Company whose financial statements/financial information reflect total assets of Rs. .. as at 31st March 20XX and the total revenue of Rs. . for the year ended on that date, as considered in the standalone financial statements/information of these branches have been audited by the branch auditors whose reports have been furnished to us, and our opinion in so far as it relates to the amounts and disclosures included in respect of branches, is based solely on the report of such branch auditors.

Our opinion is not modified in respect of these matters.

Report on Other Legal and Regulatory Requirements

As required by the Companies (Auditors Report) Order, 2016 (the Order), issued by the Central Government of India in terms of sub-section (11) of section 143 of the Companies Act, 2013, we give in the Annexure a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order, to the extent applicable.

As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we report that:

(a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of our

(b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Company so far as it appears from our examination of those books [and proper returns adequate for the purposes of our audit have been received from the branches not visited by us.⁷]

(c) [The reports on the accounts of the branch offices of the Company audited under Section 143(8) of the Act by branch auditors have been sent to us and have been properly dealt with by us in preparing this report⁸.]

(d) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss, and the Cash Flow Statement dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account [and with the returns received from the branches not visited by us⁹].

(e) In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act, read with Rule 7 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules,

(f) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on 31st March, 20XX taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on 31st March, 20XX from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164 (2) of the Act.

(g) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls over financial reporting of the Company and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in Annexure A.

(h) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditors Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:

1. 1. The Company has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its financial statements Refer Note XX to the financial statements; [or the Company does not have any pending litigations which would impact its financial position¹⁰]
   2. The Company has made provision, as required under the applicable law or accounting standards, for material foreseeable losses, if any, on long-term contracts including derivative contracts Refer Note XX to the financial statements; [or the Company did not have any long-term contracts including derivative contracts for which there were any material foreseeable ¹¹]
   3. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company {or, following are the instances of delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company or there were no amounts which were required to be transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company¹²}.

For XYZ & Co

Chartered Accountants

(Firms Registration No.)

Signature

(Name of the Member Signing the Audit Report)

(Designation)

(Membership No.

XXXXX)

Place of Signature:

Date:

Source: icai