The audit and accounts provisions of the Companies Act 2006 came fully into force on 6 April 2008. The provisions include new requirements under sections 522 to 525 of the Act for auditors and companies to notify the ‘appropriate audit authority’ when an auditor ceases to hold office. The requirement to notify the ‘appropriate audit authority’ is placed separately on auditors and companies and therefore both need to discharge their notification obligation. It needs to be noted that there are significant differences between the requirements placed on auditors and those placed on companies.
ACCA UK has published guidance to provide support to auditors and companies in respect of the process of notification to the appropriate audit authority under companies legislation when an auditor ceases to hold office. The guidance also provides some examples and explanation in respect of statements of circumstances that auditors need to produce upon ceasing to hold office under section 519 of the Act.
The guidance is available in Technical factsheet 142: Guidance on notification to appropriate audit authority on auditor ceasing to hold office, which can be downloaded from the 'Related documents' section below.