All companies registered under the Companies Act 2013 are mandated to have effective financial controls internally. These controls and their effectiveness are checked in an IFC Audit. The scope of IFC audit is largely limited to financial statements and reports. The companies that have taken loans from banks, financial institutions or other corporates need to maintain internal finance record in a transparent and regulated manner. Whether it is done as per the norms or not is assessed by the IFC Audit firm in India.
In an IFC audit, the checks cover the areas such as standards followed, areas for improvement and system effectiveness. The main steps followed by the IFC Audit firm in India include audit planning and closure, Accounts & Finance records check and verification of reports, etc. Checks also pertain to areas like depots, EXIM- Commercial, Financing, Human Resource, IT Processes and ERP. The IFC auditors take note of Legal & Secretarial compliances and logistics processes involved as well.
Testing
controls – an important part of IFC check
A business cannot take chances with financial controls. The controls applied should deliver the intended purpose. Whether the control adequately covers the purpose or not is prime observation made by an IFC Audit firm in India. Businesses utilize a number of instruments to chalk down the relationships of internal and external nature. The finance is at the core of these relationships, and is useful for understanding the role of these relationships in establishing the robustness of business functions.
For example, the credit and debit notes from vendors can help understand the credit cycle. The support offered by the bank loans needs to be checked in terms of its utility in the process. Also, the banks can extend further loans only when they have the positive feedback about the company from the IFC Audit firm in India.
Checking
plans for contingent liabilities
Anything can go wrong in the course of a business, and so, there has to be a robust contingent liability plan in place. With the help of study of finance allocation to contingencies and of the checks of responsibility assignment, the IFC audit can ascertain the readiness of the business to take on challenges. The check whether the approvals are done by the person with adequate capacity and ownership is also crucial. It helps ascertain that the business is steady, fool-proof in activities and is worthy of receiving the confidence of the creditors.
Thus, businesses need to get IFC audit done and reports for the same maintained. They may be asked for the same by banks or corporate lenders. The reports by IFC auditors are submissible in court and hold a lot of value in the credibility examination of any firm too.
