Companies Act 2014 section 356

Special report of the statutory auditors on abridged financial statements

Section 356 sets out the requirements for a special auditors' report that must accompany abridged financial statements when they are filed with the Registrar as part of a company's annual return.

• Abridged financial statements filed with the Registrar must be accompanied by a special report from the statutory auditors, which includes both a statement on the abridged statements and a copy of the full audit report.
• The auditors must confirm in their special report that the directors are entitled to file abridged financial statements and that those statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the relevant exemptions for small or medium companies.
• The original special report must be signed by the statutory auditors and dated, following the same signing requirements that apply to the standard audit report.
• Every copy of the special report that is circulated, published or issued must name the auditors who prepared it, and if different, the auditors who provided the full audit report; failure to comply is a category 2 offence applying to the company and any defaulting officer, including shadow and de facto directors.