Companies Auditor’s

Report Order

By
B06 Archit Khemka
B22 Kshitiz Sancheti
B26 Mahek Patel
B31 Neil Mandlecha
B54 Yash Kumath
Applicability of
CARO
CARO 2020 is applicable for all statutory audits commencing on or after 1
April 2020 corresponding to the financial year 2019-20. The order is
applicable to every company including a foreign company as defined in clause
(42) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2O13.
Companies exempted from
CARO 2020
One person company
Small companies (Companies with paid up capital less than/equal to Rs 50 lakh and with a last reported turnover which is less than/equal
to Rs 2 crore)
Banking companies
Companies registered for charitable purposes
Insurance companies
The following private companies are also exempt from the requirements of CARO, 2020:
- Whose gross receipts or revenue is less than or equal to Rs 10 crore in the financial year.
- Whose paid-up share capital plus reserves is less than or equal to Rs 1 crore as on the balance sheet date.
- Not a holding or subsidiary of a Public company.
- Whose borrowings is less than or equal to Rs 1 crore at any time during the FY.
 Matters to be included in the
auditor's report

The auditor's report on the accounts of a company to

which this Order applies shall include a statement on the
following matters:-
PROPERTY, PLANT AND 01
EQUIPMENT/INTANGIBLE ASSET

RECORDS
• whether the company is maintaining proper records showing full particulars, including quantitative details and situation of Property, Plant and Equipment;
• whether the company is maintaining proper records showing full particulars of intangible assets;

PHYSICAL VERIFICATION- whether these Property, Plant and Equipment have been physically verified by the management at reasonable intervals; whether any material
discrepancies were noticed on such verification and if so, whether the same have been properly dealt with in the books of account;

TITLE DEEDS- whether the title deeds of all the immovable properties (other than properties where the company is the lessee, and the lease agreements are duly executed in
favour of the lessee) disclosed in the financial statements are held in the name of the company.

REVALUATION- whether the company has revalued its Property, Plant and Equipment (including Right of Use assets) or intangible assets or both during the year and, if so,
whether the revaluation is based on the valuation by a Registered Valuer; specify the amount of change, if change is 10% or more in the aggregate of the net carrying value
of each class of Property, Plant and Equipment or intangible assets;

BENAMI PROPERTY- whether any proceedings have been initiated or are pending against the company for holding any benami property under the Benami Transactions
(Prohibition) Act, 1988 (45 of 1988) and rules made thereunder, if so, whether the company has appropriately disclosed the details in its financial statements;

Inventory
PHYSICAL VERIFICATION- whether physical
verification of inventory has been conducted at
reasonable intervals by the management and
whether, in the opinion of the auditor, the coverage
and procedure of such verification by the
management is appropriate; whether any
discrepancies of 10% or more in the aggregate for
each class of inventory were noticed and if so,
whether they have been properly dealt with in the
books of account;
02
WORKING CAPITAL- whether during any point of time
of the year, the company has been sanctioned
working capital limits in excess of five crore rupees,
in aggregate, from banks or financial institutions on
the basis of security of current assets; whether the
quarterly returns or statements filed by the company
with such banks or financial institutions are in
agreement with the books of account of the
Company, if not, give details;
Loans
03

(i) whether during the year the company has made investments in, provided any guarantee or security or granted any loans or advances in
the nature of loans, secured or unsecured, to companies, firms, Limited Liability Partnerships or any other parties, if so,-
(a)whether during the year the company has provided loans or provided advances in the nature of loans, or stood guarantee, or provided
security to any other entity [not applicable to companies whose principal business is to give loans], if so, indicate-
(A)the aggregate amount during the year, and balance outstanding at the balance sheet date with respect to such loans or advances
and guarantees or security to subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates;
(B)the aggregate amount during the year, and balance outstanding at the balance sheet date with respect to such loans or advances
and guarantees or security to parties other than subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates;
(b)whether the investments made, guarantees provided, security given and the terms and conditions of the grant of all loans and
advances in the nature of loans and guarantees provided are not prejudicial to the company’s interest;
(c)in respect of loans and advances in the nature of loans, whether the schedule of repayment of principal and payment of interest has
been stipulated and whether the repayments or receipts are regular;
(d)if the amount is overdue, state the total amount overdue for more than ninety days, and whether reasonable steps have been taken
by the company for recovery of the principal and interest;
(e)whether any loan or advance in the nature of loan granted which has fallen due during the year, has been renewed or extended or
fresh loans granted to settle the overdues of existing loans given to the same parties, if so, specify the aggregate amount of such
dues renewed or extended or settled by fresh loans and the percentage of the aggregate to the total loans or advances in the nature of
loans granted during the year [not applicable to companies whose principal business is to give loans];
(f)whether the company has granted any loans or advances in the nature of loans either repayable on demand or without specifying any
terms or period of repayment, if so, specify the aggregate amount, percentage thereof to the total loans granted, aggregate amount of
loans granted to Promoters, related parties as defined in clause (76) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013;
 04

Compliance in In respect of loans, investments,

guarantees, and security,
respect of a loan to whether provisions of sections
185 and 186 of the Companies
directors Act have been complied with, if
not, provide the details thereof.
 05

Compliance in respect of deposits

accepted
In case the company has accepted deposits or deemed deposits, whether the company has
followed the directives of the RBI as under:

Compliance with the provisions Compliance with any order passed

prescribed for accepting deposits
under section 73 to 76 of the
Companies Act, 2013.
The nature of contraventions, if the
above provisions are not followed.
by Company Law Board or
National Company Law Tribunal or
Reserve Bank of India.
Reporting whether the same has
been complied with or not.
 06

In case the company is required

Maintenance of to maintain cost record,
whether the records have been
costing records maintained during the year and
non-compliance if any.
 07

Whether the company has

Regularly deposited undisputed statutory dues
including Goods and Services Tax, provident fund,
employees’ state insurance, income-tax, sales-tax,
Deposit of service tax, duty of customs, duty of excise, value
added tax, cess and any other statutory dues to

statutory the appropriate authorities.

If not, the extent of any statutory dues pending for

liabilities a period more than 6 months from the date they

become payable, shall be indicated.

In case of any disputed statutory dues, the amount

of such dues and the forum where dispute is
pending shall be mentioned.
 08

Unrecorded Income
Whether any transactions not recorded in the books of account
have been surrendered or disclosed as income during the year in
the tax assessments under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

If so, whether the previously unrecorded income has been properly

recorded in the books of account during the year.
 09

Default in repayment of borrowings

If the company has defaulted in repayment of loans or other borrowings or in the payment of interest thereon to
any lender, the period and the amount of default to be reported as per the format below:-
 09

Default in repayment of borrowings

Whether the company is a
declared willful defaulter by any
bank or financial institution or
other lender.
Whether term loans were applied for the
purpose for which the loans were obtained,
if not, the amount of loan so diverted and
the purpose for which it is used may be
reported.
Whether funds raised on short
term basis have been utilised for
long term purposes, if yes, the
nature and amount to be indicated.

Whether the company has taken any funds from any entity or Whether the company has raised any loans during the year on
person on account of or to meet the obligations of its the pledge of securities held in its subsidiaries, joint ventures or
subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures, if so, details thereof associate companies, if so, give details thereof and report if the
with nature of such transactions and the amount in each case. company has defaulted in repayment of such loans raised.
 10

whether money is raised by way of initial public offer

or further public offer during the year were applied for

Funds raised the purposes for which those are raised, if not, the
details together with delays or default and subsequent
rectification, if any, as may be applicable, be reported.

and utilisation whether the company has made any preferential

allotment or private placement of shares or convertible
debentures during the year and if so, whether the
requirements of section 42 and section 62 of the
Companies Act, 2013 have been complied with and the
funds raised have been used for the purposes for which
the funds were raised.
 11

Fraud and whistle-blower

complaints
Whether any fraud by the company or any fraud on the company has been noticed or
reported during the year, if yes, the nature and the amount involved is to be indicated;

Whether the auditors of the company have filed a report in Form ADT-4 with the
Central Government as prescribed under the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules,
2014.

In case of receipt of whistle-blower complaints, whether the

complaints have been considered by the auditor.
 12

Compliance with provisions applicable to a

Nidhi company
Maintaining of net owned funds to deposit ratio of 1:20 for meeting liabilities.

Maintaining 10% term deposits (which are unencumbered) for meeting liabilities.

Details of any default in payment of interest on deposits or repayment of for

any period.
 13

Whether the company has

Compliance on complied with the provisions of
section 188 of the Companies
transactions with Act, 2013 in respect of
related parties transactions with related parties.
Also, whether appropriate
disclosures are made in the
financial statements.
 14

INTERNAL
Whether the company has an internal audit system
commensurate with the size and nature of its
business

AUDIT SYSTEM Whether the reports of the Internal Auditors for the
period under audit were considered by the statutory
auditor
 15

NON-CASH TRANSACTIONS

In case the company has undertaken non-cash transactions with their directors or other persons
connected to the directors, the section prohibits the company from entering the following types of
arrangements unless it meets the condition:
• An arrangement by which a director of the company or its holding, subsidiary or associate company or
a person connected with such director acquires or is to acquire assets for consideration other than
cash, from the company.

The reporting requirements under this clause are in two parts. The first part requires the auditor
to report on whether the company has entered into any non-cash transactions with the directors,
or any persons connected with such director/s. The second part of the clause requires the
auditor to report whether the provisions of section 192 of the Act have been complied with.
 16

REGISTRATION
Is the company required to be registered under the RBI Act and whether the
company has obtained registration.

If the company has carried on any Non-Banking Financial or Housing Finance

activities (NBFC or HFC) without having a valid registration certificate from RBI.

Is the company a Core Investment Company (CIC) under the RBI regulations and
does it continue to fulfil the criteria of a CIC. In case the company is an
exempted or unregistered CIC, does the company continue to fulfil the criteria
for exemption.

Does the group to which the company belongs have more than one CIC as part
of it, then indicate the number of CICs which are in the group.
 17

If the company has incurred cash losses in the

CASH financial year and in the immediately preceding
financial year.

LOSSES The amount of the cash losses should be stated

properly.
 18

RESIGNATION

If there has been any resignation of the statutory auditors Government company, the auditor shall also file such statement
during the year, if so, whether the auditor has taken into with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, indicating the
consideration the issues, objections or concerns raised by reasons and other facts as may be relevant with regard to his
the outgoing auditors. resignation.

As per section 140(2), the auditor who has resigned from In case of failure, the auditor shall be liable to a penalty which
the company shall file within a period of 30 days from the shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees or the remuneration of
date of resignation. the auditor, whichever is less.
 19

Material uncertainty

Existence of any material uncertainty on the date of the audit report on an evaluation of:

The ageing report, financial ratios and expected dates of
realisation of financial assets and payment of financial
liabilities, any other information accompanying the
financial statements, the auditor’s knowledge of the
Board of Directors and management plans.
Opinion whether the company can
meet its the liabilities which exist
as at the balance sheet date when
such liabilities are due in the
future.
 20

Transfer to fund With respect to obligations under Corporate Social

Responsibility, whether the company has transferred
specified under the unspent amount to a Fund specified in Schedule
VII to the Companies Act within a period of 6 months
from the expiry of the financial year.
Schedule VII of
Companies Act, 2013 Whether any amount which remains unspent has been
transferred to a special account in accordance with
provisions of section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013.
 21

Qualifications or adverse auditor remarks in

other group companies
In case there have been any qualifications or adverse remarks in the audit reports issued by the respective
auditors in case of companies included in the consolidated financial statements, to indicate the details of
the companies and the paragraph numbers of the respective CARO reports containing the qualifications or
adverse remarks.
Reasons to be where, in the auditor’s report, the answer to any
questions referred to in paragraph 3 is unfavorable
or qualified, the auditor’s report shall also state the
stated for basis for such unfavorable or qualified answer, as
the case may be.

unfavorable or
qualified where the auditor is unable to express any opinion
in any specified matter, his report shall indicate
such fact together with reasons as to why it is not
answers: possible for him to give his opinion on the same.
Thank You!