To determine whether an audit is necessary, companies will have to assess whether they meet the audit exemption criterion. The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014 was passed by Parliament in October 2014 and among the key changes introduced was the “Small Company” concept. The small company qualifying criteria apply to private companies who meet at least 2 of 3 following criteria for the immediate past two consecutive financial years:
• Total annual revenue ≤ S$10m;
• Total assets ≤ S$10m;
• Number of employees ≤ 50
The new audit exemption guidelines are intended to help reduce regulatory costs for smaller companies that do not have wide market impact. If you are uncertain as to whether your company requires an audit, please feel free to contact us and our experts will advise you accordingly.