Renew Your Membership by 31st October 2024! Renew Now!

May 2022

CERTIFICATION ENGAGEMENTS

By Rahul Shah
Chartered Accountant
Reading Time 15 mins
INTRODUCTION

Chartered accountants in practice are requested to certify and attest multiple documents. These can be a net-worth certificate, turnover certificate, an ITR (Income Tax Return) certificate, ODI (Overseas Direct Investment) certificate, certificate required by banks for loan/renewal/compliance purposes, and certifications for tender purposes as for local inputs or statutory compliance certificates.

Considering the importance of these certificates and the need to bring uniformity in reporting, the ICAI issued a Guidance Note on Reports or Certificates for Special Purposes (Revised 2016) (GN). The purpose of this GN is to guide on engagements requiring a practitioner to issue reports other than those issued in audits/reviews of historical financial information. Guidance Notes assist professional accountants in implementing the Engagement Standards and the Standards on Quality Control issued by the AASB under the authority of the Council of ICAI.

As per the GN, a report or certificate issued by a practitioner can provide either a reasonable or a limited level of assurance depending upon the nature, timing and extent of procedures to be performed based on the facts and circumstances of the case. Therefore, when a practitioner is required to give a certificate or a report for speci