Auditing of local financials. If so, must the auditor be located in local jurisdiction, and must the company's books be kept locally?
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Australia
Branch
A foreign company must lodge the following financial statements with ASIC once a year, unless the foreign company satisfies certain criteria which enables it to rely on the financial reporting relief provided under ASIC Corporations (Foreign-Controlled Company Reports) Instrument 2017/204:
- Balance sheet
- Profit and loss statement
- Cash flow statement and
- Any other document the company is required to prepare by the law of its place of origin.
Audit is generally not required provided the statements lodged by the foreign company are considered sufficient by ASIC. ASIC may request audited financial statements to be lodged if previously lodged statements are insufficient.
Proprietary company
A company may decide where to keep the financial records, but, if kept outside Australia, sufficient written information must be kept in Australia to enable true and fair financial statements to be prepared, and the company must give ASIC written notice of the place where the information is kept.
A small proprietary company does not have to have its accounts audited unless:
- It is a "disclosing entity"
- It is controlled by a foreign company and its financial results are not included in any consolidated accounts of the foreign company lodged with ASIC (some exemptions apply) or
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Shareholders holding at least 5 percent of ordinary shares require it to do so, or ASIC requires it to prepare audited financial statements.
All other proprietary companies (eg, large proprietary companies) are required to have their accounts audited unless they obtain audit relief from ASIC. The auditor must be registered in Australia. If various criteria are satisfied, foreign companies are entitled to apply to ASIC for relief from the requirement to have their accounts audited.
Public company
All public companies are required to have their annual financial statements audited. The auditor must be registered in Australia.