What Are the Requirements for a Secretarial Audit?
A secretarial audit is an essential part of a company to make sure it complies with the rules and regulations. It is considered to be an integral and effective part of the overall compliance management of a company in Malaysia.
The purpose of a thorough secretarial audit is to detect non-compliance policies in the company and take suitable measures to solve them.
Generally, you should prefer professional accounting services in Malaysia to conduct a secretarial audit of your company because these experts are well-familiar with the laws and regulations applicable to different types of companies in Malaysia.
Moreover, having an independent professional will ensure maximum transparency to ensure that your company complies with the legal and procedural requirements.
Secretarial audits are also essential when an organization is taking over or merging with another company. As a result, a secretarial audit will ensure that the targeted company is in compliance with the corporate laws and regulations, thereby preventing any legal issues in the future.
The company secretary also plays an important role in assisting the company in performing a quick and thorough review of the statutory forms, registers, and other essential business documents and procedures.
Important Factors in a Secretarial Audit
It is important to hire professional accounting services for a secretarial audit because it can be difficult for inexperienced and unqualified people to keep up with the legal rules and regulations. On the other hand, accounting and audit firms have experts who are well-familiar with the law and can ensure maximum compliance.
Another important factor is that you need maximum transparency during any type of audit of your organization. Professional accountants and company secretaries in Malaysia will make sure that the industry standards are followed during a secretarial audit of an organization. The ultimate goal of such services is to ensure that quality and an independent audit are conducted.
Requirements
Other than the fact that your company secretary should be professional and experienced in handling audits, you should look for the following factors during a secretarial audit:
1. Compliance
The goal of the secretarial audit should be to evaluate the level of compliance with the laws, rules, and policies applicable to the company. All kinds of regulations from different government levels are included in this phase.
It is the responsibility of accounting services and the firm conducting secretarial audits to ensure any laws specific to your type of business are also considered during the audit.
For instance, if a financial institution or a bank has to be audited, the laws applicable to the finance industry have to be considered. A similar pattern is followed in all other types of organizations.
2. Effective Management
It is important to ensure that the company’s programs and activities are not disturbed during the secretarial audit. Instead, such policies have to be designed so that the projects continue efficiently and economically.
3. Advise
The auditor and company secretary should be able to provide reliable advisory services at the end of the secretarial audit to ensure corrective measures are taken to enhance the management performance and compliance of the organization.
Benefits of a Secretarial Audit
The above discussion about the objectives and requirements of a secretarial audit makes it evident that a secretarial audit is an essential procedure for most organizations. A thorough secretarial audit makes sure that proper verification and reporting is done about the legal compliances of the company.
Similarly, it makes sure that corrective measures are taken immediately to sort out any issues in case of non-compliance with any rule or regulation.
Moreover, most organizations also have to go through a secretarial audit to protect the interest of their stakeholders by ensuring maximum transparency and compliance in the business procedures.
Ultimately, a secretarial audit is useful in enhancing the performance of the company and provide confidence to company directors and shareholders.
In a Nutshell
The overall requirements of the secretarial audit depend on the objectives of the secretarial audit. The summary of the most prominent objectives of the secretarial audit are:
- Examine compliance with the applicable laws.
- Develop a thorough report of the audit to ensure maximum compliance with the secretarial standards.
- Protect the interest of the stakeholders.
- Avoid legal penalties by ensuring compliance with the legal regulations.
By keeping these factors in mind, companies should have no issue shirring a suitable company secretary and accounting services in Malaysia who can perform the secretarial audit as per the industry standards.
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