'Auditors have access to only one set of account'

Chennai: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) - SIRC has said that they maintain only one set of books of accounts. It has stated that the accounts of the SIRC are still in draft form and become final only upon approval and adoption by the Regional Council. The accounts have neither been finalised nor approved by the Regional Council nor been audited, the ICAI said in a statement.
The clarification comes at a time when Sundararajan Associates, the statutory auditors of SIRC and Southern India Chartered Accountants' Students Association (SICASA), had filed a resignation letter with ICAI, withdrawing from the post of statutory auditors.
In their resignation letter (copies of which are with TOI) the auditors' had stated that they had been furnished with three sets of financial statements on various dates with different figures with huge variance for the period 1 April 2015 to 30 September 2015. The Institute, said that that during the finalisation of accounts, the draft accounts undergo changes and it is a normal practice to share draft accounts at various stages with the statutory auditors to speed up the audit process. Changes occurring in the draft accounts do not become dubious, said ICAI.
While committing to maintain the highest standards of financial discipline, governance and transparency, the Institute has stated that their auditors have access to only one set of accounts as maintained at the regional headquarters in Chennai.