Audit

Appointing an Auditor 

The appointment of the CRCs auditor is required to be made by members at the AGM.

The CRC should prepare ana Request for Proposal (RFP) outlining their requirements and expectations and send it to at least three auditing firms. Once proposals have been received, auditors should be interviewed by the Audit and Risk Management Committee and a recommendation made to the Board regarding the resolution to be put to members at the AGM.

The CRC should commence the RFP and selection process a few months before the CRCs first AGM. 

Audit

The general CRC auditing scope includes:

• Audit of financial report
• Audit of CRC statement of income and expenditure and quarterly CRC progress report
• Preparation of financial statements
• Preparation of Independent audit report as per CRC guidelines
• Preparation of certification of certain matters by the auditor as per CRC guidelines
• Preparation of adjustments to budget & milestone reporting workbook based on audit
  

The Commonwealth Agreement imposes an obligation to be able to audit the in-kind contribution of participants in the CRC. This requires specialist knowledge by the audit to ensure the obligation is fulfilled but that onerous management is not placed on participants. Many auditors have no experience in accounting for in-kind contributions. They may overreact, requiring timesheets for contributions - something CRC participants generally don't keep and would be resistant to keeping. In choosing an auditor, interrogate their experience and attitude to in-kind contributions before appointment.

Many of the large audit practices find CRCs too small. Mid-tier auditing firms are more likely to be able to provide a service at a price acceptable to a CRC.

The directors can generally initially appoint auditors, but the appointment of auditors is a function for the Members and must be an agenda item at every AGM.