In light of the recent cases of fraudulent actions and misconduct in auditing processes by even renowned firms like Deloitte, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has made it mandatory for CAs to mention the Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) in all audit reports from July 1, 2019.
UDIN is an 18-digit system-generated unique number for the identification of every document attested by practicing chartered accountants.
“With a view to bring uniformity in the manner of signing audit reports by the members of ICAI, it has been decided to require the members of ICAI to also mention the UDIN immediately after the ICAI’s membership number while signing audit reports. This requirement will be in addition to other requirements relating to the auditor’s signature prescribed in the relevant law or regulation and the standards on auditing. This requirement will come into effect from July 1, 2019,” the ICAI said in an announcement.
Currently, full-time practicing chartered accountants have to mandatorily generate UDIN for the documents certified/ issued by them. As per the mandate schedule of ICAI, UDIN was made mandatory for all certificates from February 1, 2019 and for all GST and tax audit reports from 1 April 2019.
UDIN was initially introduced as ICAI observed that certain unscrupulous individuals are posing as CAs and forging signatures to issue certificates and other such documents with the intent of misleading authorities and stakeholders.
The attestation of a CA on a document or any certificate is of enormous value since it generally shows that the CA has ensured that there is no falsification in the issued or submitted document by the company or entity. An audit report issued by the auditor in respect of the financial statements of an entity is the prime example of this. It is because of such attestation that investors and other stakeholders can rely on the performance of an entity.
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