The companies act requires a company to keep the
following books, in addition to the accounting records as described above.
following books, in addition to the accounting records as described above.
·
A
register of directors-s 162)
A
register of directors-s 162)
·
A
register of charges (fixed and floating)-(s 876).
A
register of charges (fixed and floating)-(s 876).
·
Minute
books of meetings of the company, including meetings of its directors and
meetings of its managers-(s 248).
Minute
books of meetings of the company, including meetings of its directors and
meetings of its managers-(s 248).
·
A
register of members-(s 113). If it has more than 50 members the register must
be indexed-(s 115)
A
register of members-(s 113). If it has more than 50 members the register must
be indexed-(s 115)
·
Public
companies must keep a register of information received from any person to whom
they have sent a notice requiring them to disclose whether or not they have an
interest in the company’s voting shares-(s 808).
Public
companies must keep a register of information received from any person to whom
they have sent a notice requiring them to disclose whether or not they have an
interest in the company’s voting shares-(s 808).
The
auditor’s interest
auditor’s interest
The auditor is interested in the statutory books
being properly maintained because:
being properly maintained because:
·
They are
directly concerned with the accounts.
They are
directly concerned with the accounts.
·
They are
audit evidence to be used in verifying detailed items in the accounts; for
example the total share capital shown by the sum of the individual share
holdings in the register of members must agreed with the share capital recorded
in the books of account.
They are
audit evidence to be used in verifying detailed items in the accounts; for
example the total share capital shown by the sum of the individual share
holdings in the register of members must agreed with the share capital recorded
in the books of account.
Failure to maintain proper records of any sort
casts doubt upon the accuracy and reliability of the records generally.
casts doubt upon the accuracy and reliability of the records generally.
Particular problems that may cause the auditor to
reflect on whether proper accounting records have been kept include:
reflect on whether proper accounting records have been kept include:
·
Delays in
writing up the records;
Delays in
writing up the records;
·
Frequent
alterations in records;
Frequent
alterations in records;
·
Exceptionally
large numbers of errors found by the auditor;
Exceptionally
large numbers of errors found by the auditor;
·
Audit
trail difficulties (audit trail is the ability to follow a transaction through
the records and documentation);
Audit
trail difficulties (audit trail is the ability to follow a transaction through
the records and documentation);
·
Computer
problems including failure of software, chaos, hardware breakdowns, changes of
computer staff, viruses, loss of data etc.
Computer
problems including failure of software, chaos, hardware breakdowns, changes of
computer staff, viruses, loss of data etc.
