Friendly Societies Act 1974

38 Auditors' report

(1) The auditors of a registered society or branch shall make a report to the society or branch on the accounts examined by them and on the revenue account or accounts and the balance sheet of the society or branch for the year of account in respect of which they are appointed.

(2) The report shall state whether the revenue account or accounts and the balance sheet for that year comply with the requirements of this Act and whether, in the opinion of the auditors—

(a) the revenue account or accounts give a true and fair view, in accordance with section 30 above, of the income and expenditure of the society or branch as a whole for that year of account and, in the case of each such account which deals with a particular business conducted by the society or branch, a true and fair view in accordance with that section of the income and expenditure of the society or branch in respect of that business for that year; and

(b) the balance sheet gives a true and fair view, in accordance with that section, either of the state of the affairs of the society or branch or of the assets and current liabilities of the society or branch and the resulting balances of its funds (as the case may require) as at the end of that year of account.

(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (2) above, where the report of the auditors relates to any accounts other than the revenue account or accounts for the year of account in respect of which they are appointed, that report shall state whether those accounts give a true and fair view of any matter to which they relate.

(4) It shall be the duty of the auditors of a registered society or branch, in preparing their report under this section, to carry out such investigations as will enable them to form an opinion as to the following matters, that is to say,—

(a) whether the society or branch has kept proper books of account in accordance with the requirements of section 29(1)(a) above ; and

(b) whether the society or branch has maintained a satisfactory system of control over its transactions in accordance with the requirements of section 29(1)(b) above; and

(c) whether the revenue account or accounts, the other accounts (if any) to which the report relates, and the balance sheet are in agreement with the books of ; account of the society or branch;

and if the auditors are of opinion that the society or branch has failed to comply with paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 29(1) above, or if the revenue account or accounts, the other accounts (if any) and the balance sheet are not in agreement with the books of account of the society or branch, the auditors shall state that fact in their report.

(5) If the auditors fail to obtain all the information and explanations which, to the best of their knowledge and belief, are necessary for the purposes of their audit, they shall state that fact in their report.