Sections 522 to 525 of the Companies Act 2006 have set requirements on auditors and on companies to notify the appropriate audit authority when an auditor ceases to hold office. For non-public interest company (essentially unlisted) audits this only applies to auditors who leave office before the expiry of the natural term of office. In turn the appropriate audit authority may need to notify the appropriate accounting authority (section 524).

The appropriate audit authorities are the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and the recognised supervisory bodies. The appropriate accounting authorities are the Department for Business and Trade and the Financial Reporting Review Panel.

An audit firm registered with ACCA who resigns as auditor to a company client before the end of the natural term of office must notify ACCA.

There is no obligation on either the auditor or the company to notify ACCA if the auditor ceases to hold office at the end of the term of appointment.

Notifications to FRC/ACCA by audit firms and companies

For companies where the audit is classified as a public interest company the notifications (auditor and company) must be made to the FRC.

For all other audits the notification must be made to ACCA. Further guidance and details of where to send notification of cessation of an audit office, which can be found on page 9 of the factsheet, can be found in our technical factsheet, Guidance on notification to appropriate audit authority on auditor ceasing to hold office.