Audit threshold rise leaves companies 'devoid of scrutiny'
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators has voiced concern over the government's decision to raise the audit threshold, despite having originally supported the proposal.
On the 30 March, companies with a turnover of less than £5.6m will no longer be required to undertake an audit for submitting annual reports.
The ICSA has argued that with other measures now being proposed that would remove the requirement for all private companies to appoint a company secretary, nearly 900,000 companies could end up devoid of any independent scrutiny.
‘An audit can pick up wrongdoing after the event, such as the misstatement of financial statements,’ said Caroline Phillips, director of policy at the ICSA.
‘A company secretary, who is responsible for the company’s governance and compliance, can help prevent the wrongdoing happening in the first place. Take away both, and no one is watching over companies with a sole director. It only needs one corporate scandal in a large private company for stakeholders to be asking very publicly why two prime protections have been withdrawn.’