Part VI Accounts and Audit
Auditors’ report on annual accounts
I173 Auditors’ report.
1
The auditors of a friendly society 95.or of a registered branch shall make a report to the members on the annual accounts which are to be laid before the society or branch at the annual general meeting during their tenure of office.
2
The auditors of a friendly society or registered branch shall, in preparing their report, carry out such investigations as will enable them to form an opinion as to—
a
whether proper accounting records have been kept under section 68 above;
F1b
whether satisfactory systems of control of the business and records of the society or branch and of inspection and report under that section have been maintained; and
c
whether the annual accounts are in agreement with the accounting records;
and, if the auditors are of the opinion that proper accounting records have not been kept, they shall state that fact in their report.
3
If the auditors fail to obtain all the information and explanations and the access to documents which, to the best of their knowledge and belief, are necessary for the purposes of their audit, they shall state that fact in their report.
4
The auditors shall, in their report, also make a report to the members on the report of the committee of management, in so far as subsection (7) below requires them to do so.
5
The auditors’ report shall state whether in the auditors’ opinion the annual accounts have been properly prepared in accordance with this Act and the regulations made under it and in particular whether a true and fair view is given—
a
in the case of the income and expenditure account, of the income and expenditure of the society or branch for the financial year; and
C1b
in the case of the balance-sheet, of the state of the affairs of the society or branch as at the end of the financial year; and
c
in the case of the group accounts of an incorporated friendly society, of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year of the society and any subsidiaries of the society.
6
Subsection (5) above, in its application to the group accounts of an incorporated friendly society, is to be read as referring to the society and (so far as it concerns the members of the society) the subsidiaries dealt with in the group accounts.
7
The auditors’ report, in so far as it deals with the report of the committee of management, shall state whether in the auditors’ opinion it has been prepared in accordance with this Act and the regulations made under it and whether the information given in the report of the committee of management is consistent with the accounting records and the annual accounts for the financial year.