The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016

12.—(1) Standards must ensure that A—

(a) keeps records of any breaches (other than breaches which A reasonably considers to be minor breaches) of any relevant requirement;

(b) keeps records of any consequences of any breach recorded in accordance with paragraph 12(1)(a), the measures taken to address such a breach and to modify A’s internal quality control system;

(c) prepares an annual report containing an overview of any measures taken under paragraph (b) and communicates that report internally;

(d) documents any request for advice from an external expert, together with the advice received;

(e) maintains a client account record, which includes in respect of every statutory audit—

(i) the audited person’s name, address and place of business,

(ii) when the statutory auditor is a firm, the name of the key audit partner or, where there is more than one key audit partner, the names of all the key audit partners,

(iii) the fees charged for carrying out the statutory audit and for other services in any financial year;

(f) creates an audit file for each statutory audit, which meets the requirements of sub-paragraph (2).

(g) keeps records of any complaints made in writing about the performance of any statutory audit that A has carried out

(2) The requirements for an audit file are that—

(a) it documents at least the matters recorded in accordance with paragraph 8;

(b) in relation to a statutory audit of a public interest entity, it documents the matters recorded in accordance with Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Audit Regulation;

(c) it contains any other data and documents that are important in supporting the audit report;

(d) in relation to a statutory audit of a public interest entity, it contains any other data and documents that are important in supporting the report to the audit committee required under Article 11 of the Audit Regulation;

(e) it contains any other data and documents that are important for monitoring compliance with relevant requirements and other applicable legal requirements;

(f) it is closed not more than sixty days after the date the audit report is signed in accordance with section 503 of the Act.

(3) The requirements of standards mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a) to (c) and (g) may be simplified in relation to the statutory audit of companies exempt from the requirements of the Act relating to audit by virtue of section 477 of the Act.