1. In 2009, auditing activities are carried out on the basis of licenses issued by the Ministry of Finance of Russia as the licensing authority in the field of auditing activities. In this regard, until January 1, 2010, auditing activities may be carried out exclusively by audit organizations and individual auditors:

having licenses to carry out auditing activities, the validity of which did not expire before January 1, 2009;

having licenses to carry out auditing activities, the validity of which expires in the period from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010. According to Part 1 of Article 23 of the Federal Law, in this case, auditing activities can be carried out by an audit organization without re-issuing a document confirming the presence of a license;

received licenses to carry out auditing activities in 2009.

Before January 1, 2010, the fact that an audit organization or individual auditor is not a member of a self-regulatory organization of auditors or the audit organization has not brought its constituent documents into compliance with the requirements of the Federal Law is not an obstacle to the implementation of audit activities by such an audit organization or individual auditor.

2. From January 1, 2010, audit organizations and individual auditors who have not joined self-regulatory organizations of auditors are not entitled to conduct audits and provide audit-related services.

3. In accordance with Part 3 of Article 8 of the Federal Law, audit organizations and individual auditors do not have the right to carry out actions that entail a conflict of interest or create a threat of such a conflict. In this case, a conflict of interest is understood as a situation in which the interest of an audit organization or an individual auditor may influence its opinion about the reliability of the accounting (financial) statements of the audited entity. Cases where an audit organization or individual auditor has an interest that leads or may lead to a conflict of interest, as well as measures to prevent or resolve conflicts of interest are established by the Code of Professional Ethics for Auditors (currently the Code of Ethics for Auditors of Russia, approved by the Council on Auditing under the Ministry of Finance Russia May 31, 2007).

4. In 2009, auditors have the right to participate in audit activities (including signing audit reports), and individual auditors to carry out audit activities in accordance with the type of qualification certificate they have.

Before January 1, 2010, the fact that the auditor is not a member of a self-regulatory organization of auditors is not an obstacle to the participation of such an auditor in audit activities.

5. From January 1, 2010, auditors who have not joined self-regulatory organizations of auditors are not entitled to participate in audit activities.

6. Valid auditor qualification certificates issued before January 1, 2011 are not subject to mandatory exchange.

7. Lists of auditor qualification certificates canceled by decisions of the Ministry of Finance of Russia are posted on the official website of the Ministry of Finance of Russia on the Internet www.minfin.ru in the section “Auditing activities - Canceled/suspended licenses and certificates - Canceled auditor qualification certificates”.

8. At the stage of concluding an agreement for the provision of audit services, as well as when receiving from an audit organization (individual auditor) an audit report on the accounting (financial) statements, it is recommended to pay attention to the fact that the auditor who must sign the audit report complies with the requirement of the Federal Law "On audit activities" in relation to annual training in advanced training programs. Confirmation of the auditor’s compliance with this requirement is, in particular, a mark on the back of the auditor’s qualification certificate form. The absence of this mark on the reverse side of the auditor qualification certificate issued before 2006 may mean that the auditor does not comply with the requirements established by the Federal

At the present time - a time of rapidly developing market economy - it is difficult to imagine a more or less large company that can conduct its activities without the services of audit experts. The work of auditors includes checking accountants' statements, tax returns, payment documentation and other types of financial documents.

Based on the recommendations and conclusions of the audit, entrepreneurs provide their business with greater security and stability, since the audit allows them to identify weaknesses in the financial activities of the company and eliminate them in a timely manner.

What is Federal Law 307?

Federal Law No. 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities” was adopted by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council in December 2008.

Law N 307-FZ on auditing activities is the main regulatory act regulating auditing in Russia. The law contains all the basic concepts that exist in the field of auditing, such as: audit, auditor, audit organization, etc., designates the rights, duties and responsibilities of the parties, discloses certification requirements, and so on.

Structurally, the law on activities in the field of audit is represented by 26 articles. Let's look at the summary, listing its main aspects:

• The concept of auditing;
• The legislative framework;
• Auditor, audit organization;
• Mandatory audit;
• Audit report;
• Auditing standards and professional code;
• Independence of specialists and organizations in the field of auditing;
• Auditor confidentiality;
• Quality control of work, including external, carried out by an authorized federal control body;
• Qualification certificate. Grounds and procedure for its cancellation;
• Rights and obligations of individual auditors and specialized organizations;
• Rights and obligations of the audit customer and the person in respect of whom it is carried out;
• Government regulation;
• Council on Auditing, specialized self-regulatory organizations, requirements for membership in SRO;
• Maintaining a register of performers in the field of auditing activities and the state register of self-regulatory organizations;
• Disciplinary and other measures taken against auditors;
• State supervision of SROs in the field of auditing activities.

During its existence, the law on activities in the field of audit has undergone numerous changes (more than 15 amending documents). The current version of the law dates back to May 2017. Let's take a closer look.

Also read the latest changes to Federal Law 61. Link

New amendments

With the release of Federal Law No. 96-FZ “On Amendments...” in May 2017, further amendments were introduced to the law on auditing activities, affecting eight articles at once to one degree or another.

In part 4 of article 5 FZ-307 it was stated that the contract for conducting a mandatory audit of the financial statements of most government institutions and enterprises (for a complete list, see the text of the law on audit, the download link is given in the last subtitle of the article) is concluded based on the results of an open competition, which is held at least once five years.

Part 7 of Article 10 FZ-307 was reduced. The second sentence, which stated that the procedure for appointing and conducting an audit of an audit firm, recording its results and a list of standard questions is established by the authorized federal body, was excluded.

Part 8 of Article 10 on the planned external audit of the quality of work of audit firms and individual auditors was set out in a different wording, adding paragraphs 1 and 2. Such an audit is carried out by a self-regulatory organization starting from the calendar year following the year of entering information about the performer in the field of auditing activities into the register:

1. In relation to audit firms that conduct mandatory audits of the accounting records of organizations specified in Part 3 of Art. 5 of the law - no more than once a year and no less than once every three years;
2. Inspection of individual auditors and specialized companies is also no more than once a year and no less than once every 5 years.

Parts 9 and 11 of Article 10 of Federal Law-307 were declared invalid. IN parts 10 The words “or an authorized federal body for control and supervision” were deleted from the same article of the law.

Law 307-FZ on audit and auditing activities was also supplemented Article 10.1 on external control of the quality of work of audit organizations, carried out by the state control body. The article provides a link to Part 3 of Art. 5, outlining the range of organizations included in this category. The article also spells out the procedure for notifying the start of provision of statutory audit services, the frequency of scheduled inspections of audit firms, the grounds for an unscheduled inspection, the maximum period for scheduled and unscheduled inspections, the grounds for its extension and the obligation of the supervisory authority to inform the relevant self-regulatory organization about the results of the inspection. Read more in the text of the law on auditing.

Clause 6 of part 1 of article 12 on the grounds and procedure for canceling an auditor’s qualification certificate was supplemented with paragraph “b.1”. The certificate may be revoked due to the auditor’s failure to carry out his core activities for 3 consecutive years. Exceptions to this rule include officials of the authorized federal body for control and supervision and its territorial bodies that carry out external quality control of the work of audit firms conducting mandatory audits of the accounting records of organizations specified in Part 3 of Art. 5 of this law.

Clause 3 of part 5 of article 16 after the words “in the field of business development,” was supplemented with the words “authorized federal body for control and supervision.”

Clause 4 of part 5 of article 16 FZ-307 it was changed. Thus, representatives from self-regulatory organizations of auditors who are members of the audit council are subject to rotation once every three years.

Part 9 of Article 19 FZ-307 was supplemented with the words “unless otherwise provided by this law.”

Clause 5 of Part 6 of Article 20 on disciplinary measures has been supplemented. A violation of the requirements of Part 2 of Article 10.1 has been added to the list of violations that may entail consequences in the form of an order sent to the SRO of auditors, of which the performer who committed the violation is a member, with a requirement to exclude information about this audit organization from the register. To understand the whole point, we recommend that you read the full text of the article.

Also Article 20 of the law was supplemented with parts 6.1 and 6.2. Self-regulatory organizations working in the field of auditing, upon receipt of the instructions provided for in paragraphs 3 - 5 of Part 6 of Art. 20, are required to make an appropriate entry in the register within 7 working days from the date of receipt. These instructions are sent by the authorized federal control body by letter with acknowledgment of delivery or in another way that allows recording the fact and date of their delivery.

Part 9.2 of Article 23 was also declared invalid.

Let us consider in more detail individual articles of this federal law.

Article 5 of Law 307-FZ on mandatory audit.

Part 1 Article 5 of the law defines the range of companies and the circumstances under which they are subject to mandatory audit:

• Joint-Stock Company;
• Securities participate in organized trading;
• Credit, insurance, clearing companies, professional participants in the securities market, mutual insurance societies, trade organizers, non-state pension and other funds, management companies of joint-stock investment funds (except for state off-budget ones);
• Companies whose revenue from the sale of products, performance of work or provision of services over the previous year exceeded 400 million rubles. or the amount of balance sheet assets at the end of the year amounted to more than 60 million rubles. The exceptions are state and local government bodies, state and municipal institutions and unitary enterprises, as well as agricultural cooperatives and their unions;
• If the company presents (discloses) annual consolidated financial statements. Exceptions also include state and local government bodies, state extra-budgetary funds, state and municipal institutions;
• Other organizations. More details in the mandatory audit (Article 5 307 of the Federal Law).

Part 2 The article prescribes that a mandatory audit must be carried out every year.

Part 3 Article 5 of this law limits the range of companies whose financial statements can only be audited by audit organizations. These are companies whose securities are admitted to organized trading, credit and insurance institutions, non-state pension funds and companies with a state share of at least 25% in the authorized capital. Also, only audit firms have the right to audit financial statements included in the securities prospectus and consolidated statements.

Part 4 Article 5 of the audit law states that an agreement to conduct a mandatory audit of the financial statements of certain companies is concluded on the basis of the result of an open competition in the manner established by the legislation on the contract system in the field of public procurement, at least once every five years. These include organizations in whose authorized capital the share of state property is at least 25%, state corporations and companies, public law companies, state and municipal unitary enterprises.

Part 5 Article 5 of the law in question means that if the volume of proceeds from the sale of a company that is subject to an audit did not exceed one billion rubles in the previous year, then audit organizations that are small and medium-sized businesses.

Part 6 Article 5 of Federal Law 307 prescribes the obligation to enter the results of a mandatory audit into the Unified Register of Information on the Facts of the Activities of Legal Entities. This obligation falls on the audit client.

The message must contain information about the audited entity and the auditor:

• Names, full names;
• Identification data (TIN, OGRN for legal entities, SNILS if available);
• List of financial statements on which the audit was conducted and the period for which it was compiled;
• The audit performer's opinion on the reliability of the financial statements, indicating the material circumstances, unless state or commercial secrets are thereby disclosed.

As a remark, one should also touch upon such a concept as proactive audit - audit conducted at the request of management. It is carried out according to the same methodology as the mandatory one. Its purpose is to express the opinion of an independent auditor on the reliability of the financial statements. The main difference between a proactive audit is that the audit is carried out at the request of the customer of the auditor’s services.

Actually the law on auditing. activity does not contain such a thing as “initiative audit”. Both proactive and mandatory audits must comply with federal standards. If an initiative audit is necessary exclusively for internal use (carried out at the request of management or owners), and there is no need for an audit report, it is more appropriate to conduct such an audit in a different format, for example, as monitoring compliance with tax laws and accounting rules.

In the article8 of Law 307-FZ on the independence of audit organizations and auditors The following issues are addressed:

• Under what circumstances an audit cannot be carried out;
• How are the payment procedure and amount of monetary remuneration for conducting an audit (including mandatory) determined?
• The function of SRO auditors is prescribed to adopt the rules of auditor independence approved by the board, as well as the right to include their own additional requirements;
• Prohibition on actions that entail a conflict of interest or create a potential risk of such a situation. In short, the auditor should not have an interest that could influence the opinion and conclusion.

Download the latest version of the law

In this article, we tried to reveal the main provisions of the law, the most important aspects, such as mandatory audit and independence of auditing, and also reviewed the latest amendments made in May of this year.

However, in order to understand the main regulatory nuances of this area, we suggest downloading

Federal Law No. 307 regulates all auditing activities. In turn, auditing activity is work aimed at independent verification of companies and organizations, namely the compliance of their accounting documents with Russian regulations. In order to become an auditor, you need three years of accounting experience. Next, you need to pass a test that will meet all the criteria (Article 4).

Federal Law 307 on auditing activities, latest edition as amended 2016

The changes came into force in November 2015. Its basis remains the same. It regulates auditors as entrepreneurs, their work procedure. Changes affected the energy sector, utility bills and penalties for late payments. The document determines the amount of all fines and also the fact that the person responsible can simply be suspended from work for up to 2 years.

You can download Federal Law 307 on auditing activities, the latest edition with amendments 2016

When was the law passed?

This regulatory act was adopted by the State Duma in December 2008. It is the basis for the work of auditors. Explains everything a professional must have and what documents he must have to work. The regulatory act determines which companies are subject to mandatory audit. Finally, there is a code of auditing ethics and standards.

Comments

Auditing activity involves checking the content of the reporting of a commercial entity under conditions of independence and objectivity in order to reflect an expert opinion regarding the reliability of the reporting provided.

From January 1, 2017, the provision of audits is regulated by new rules in connection with the adopted International Auditing Standards, which were approved by orders of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 9, 2016 No. 207-n and dated October 24. 2019 No. 192n.

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• Joint stock companies;
• Insurance companies;
• Credit organizations and others.

The full list can be found directly on the official website of the Ministry of Finance of Russia (reflected in the text of the Information message dated January 11, 2017 No. IS-AUDIT-13).

The list contains:

1. Legal basis for audit;
2. Type of reporting;
3. Entities that have the right to conduct an audit.

Only auditors are capable of providing audit services. In this case, the provision of these services should be the only type of work (clause 6 of Article 1 of Law No. 307-FZ).

Changes 2019-2017

The Federal Law “On Auditing Activities” dated December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ is at the top of the legislative regulation of auditing activities and the rules for the provision of services in terms of auditing enterprises. Thus, all other laws in this aspect are focused specifically on this one and are in accordance with its provisions.

The law contains:

• Basic definitions of concepts;
• A description is given of the procedure for organizing the process of carrying out the activities of auditors;
• An exhaustive list of rights and obligations of audit subjects is given.
• The procedure for carrying out control actions regarding the provision of services by auditors is specified.

One of the innovations is the adjustment of the concept in 2019 of “publication of consolidated statements”, and its subsequent replacement with “disclosure of annual consolidated statements”, which is described in the list of prerequisites for providing a mandatory audit in Article 5.

Video: Nuances

Comparison of laws

Before the entry into force of Federal Law No. 307-FZ, the Federal Law “On Auditing Activities” dated 08/07/2001 No. 119-FZ appeared on the territory of the Russian Federation, which became invalid on 01/01/2011. Based on the urgent changes in the state economy and the rules and audit standards, Law No. 307-FZ was approved.
If we compare the acts of the legislator, we can identify the following qualitative differences:

1. Differences in the volume of content and number of norms. So Federal Law No. 307-FZ is much larger than its predecessor;
2. Federal Law No. 307-FZ divides the essence of “audit” and “audit activity”, while in the previous one these definitions were equalized;
3. The concept of accounting reporting was introduced;
4. Clause 6, Article 1 of Law No. 119-FZ contains a list of services that are incidental to the audit. The new one (Part 4 of Article 1) refers to the list of those established by government agencies. Currently this is PSAD No. 30,31.33;
5. The types of other services are listed, which is reflected in Part 7 of Article 1, while previously this was not introduced;
6. Clause 2, Part 2, Article 14 expands the legal personality of the auditor during an audit. Thus, he hopes to have the right to fully study documentation that contains trade secrets. The previous law did not have such clauses, so the person who was subject to the audit could refuse to provide such papers;
7. Previously, only organizations were able to carry out mandatory audits (Clause 2, Article 7 of Federal Law No. 119-FZ). At the moment, individual specialists also have this authority;
8. The definition of an audit organization is stated ambiguously (Article 4 of Law No. 119-FZ and Article 3 of Law No. 307-FZ);
9. The new law provides for a mandatory condition for auditors to remain in the SRO; failure to do so may result in not being allowed to work. Previously, it did not contain requirements.
10. Part 2 of Article 23 cancels the mandatory conditions for having a license. Now auditing can be done in the absence of one; it is no longer necessary.

Latest version of the Law “On Auditing Activities”

The latest edition of No. 307-FZ has a number of adjustments, including the addition of Article 23 Part 16.

Among the amendments, the following should be considered the main and worthy of attention:

• An explanation is given of what constitutes auditing activity and what does not apply to it (Part 2 of Article 1);
• It has been approved that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is approving the types and list of audit and related services (Part 4 of Article 1);
• The audit became mandatory for all joint-stock companies, while previously this was the case only for JSCs (clause 1, part 1, article 5);
• Previously, conclusions were drawn up according to the rules that were established by federal standards, but now, as of January 1, 2017, international standards have been introduced, which are endorsed by orders of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 9, 2016 No. 207-n and dated October 24, 2016 No. 192n. Thus, the term “federal” was excluded from the content of the article;
• Article 6 has the addition of Part 6, which contains a list of persons who have the right to go to court to declare an audit report obviously invalid;
• The transition to international auditing standards (ISAs) also reflected this instruction in the content of the law. Previously, the reference point was FSAD. Thus, adjustments were made to Part 1 and paragraphs. 1, 2 hours 2 tbsp. 7;
• The auditor cannot conduct an audit within the credit institution that lends to him or has provided a bank guarantee, etc.
  Cancellation of the auditor's qualification documentation is possible when similar activities have not been undertaken for a period of up to 3 years (previously 2);
• Previously, the service was called “audit”, now it is “provision of audit services” (clause 2, part 1, article 9, paragraph 1, part 1, article 13, clause 1, part 1, article 13, paragraph . 1 part 2 article 13 of law No. 307-FZ);
• The minimum limit on the number of participants in an organization of auditors for registration as an SRO has been increased. So, previously there were 700 people and 500 organizations, now there are 10,000 and 2,000, respectively;

Legislation regulating the activities of auditors has recently been changed and adjusted, which is associated with the transition to ISA. The content of the latest edition of Federal Law No. 307-FZ expands the list of enterprises subject to mandatory audit. Contains qualification requirements for auditors that are specified and expanded. Grants the right to engage in auditing activities to separate specialists, in addition to auditor organizations.

Law No. 307 provides for the rights and obligations of the auditor and the person being audited. The auditor is obliged to draw up an audit report in Russian and conduct a qualified audit. The audited entity must take part in the audit and assist the auditor.

The Auditing Law No. 307 was adopted on December 24, 2008. The Federation Council approved the bill on December 29, 2008. The law came into force on December 30, 2008.

FZ-307 regulates the basis for regulating legal relations in the process of carrying out audit activities in the Russian Federation. The law specifies the basic concepts of auditing activities.

An auditor is an individual who has received an audit certificate and works in private auditing organizations.

Law No. 307 provides for the rights of the auditor :

• establish the form and method of checking the accounting report;
• check the availability of property reflected in the company’s papers;
• study the documentation provided by the audited entity;
• demand a written response to questions raised during the inspection process;
• refuse to conduct an inspection.

Federal Law 307 states that upon completion of the control, the inspector must draw up an audit report.

The law provides for mandatory points that the audit report must contain:

• title of the report;
• name of JSC, LLC or other addressee;
• information about the person being checked: location, identification number and name;
• information about the audit company or its inspector: name of the organization, personal data of the auditor, location of the company’s office and its state registration number;
• auditable financial statements. The period of its compilation must be indicated;
• list of activities carried out by the individual auditor;
• test results;
• date of the report.

Download the text of the law

The Federal Law on Auditing includes 26 articles. Each of them describes the legal norms regulating auditing activities. Federal Law 307 provides the rights and obligations of the auditor and the audited citizen.

For more detailed information about the latest edition of Federal Law No. 307, you can download it.

You can also find out details on Federal Law 172 on strategic planning

Latest changes made to the Law “On Auditing”

The latest amendments to Federal Law 307 on auditing and auditing activities were made on May 1, 2017. The following were subject to change: Art. 5 part 4, art. 10 part 7, part 8, part 10, art. 16 h. 5 p. 3, p. 4, art. 19 hours 9, art. 20 h. 6 p. 5.

Part 9.2 of Article 23 and Part 11 of Art. were excluded from the text of Federal Law-307. 10.

IN Withtatier 5 part 4 The law changed the terms of concluding contracts with audit companies. According to the new amendments, a mandatory audit is carried out based on the results of the previous audit.

From 10 article 7 part Information on the procedure for completing an audit and on the results, which are established by the authorized body of the Federation, was excluded.

IN article 10 part 8 Law No. 307 additions were made regarding the timing of inspections of audit companies:

• if an organization conducts an audit of the financial activities of an enterprise, then the audit of its activities is carried out no later than once every five years and no more often than once a year;
• if an organization is engaged in private auditing, then the audit is carried out at least once every five years and no more than once a year.

According to the new amendments made to Part 10 10 articles, a citizen has no right to file a complaint against an unscheduled audit of an audit organization with the authorized federal body for control and supervision.

According to the editorial news Article 16 part 5 clause 3 The audit commission includes one representative from the authorized federal body for control and supervision.

Clause 4, article 19 part 9 — amendments were made during the rotation period of candidates for self-regulating audit companies. According to the new changes, candidates are subject to rotation every three years.

Article 20 part 6 clause 5 was supplemented with information from Part 2 of Article 10.1.

Article 5 307 Federal Law describes the grounds for conducting a mandatory audit.

When is a mandatory audit required by law?

• if the enterprise has the form of an organizational legal joint-stock company;
• if the company’s securities are participating in trading;
• if the enterprise is associated with loans and operations carried out with them;
• if the amount from sales of the company’s products exceeded 400 thousand rubles and the amount of assets according to accounting data exceeds 60 million rubles;
• if the company publishes consolidated financial statements.

According to the Law on Audit of Activities, it is mandatory to audit the financial statements of a company once a year.

After the last edition of the law, no amendments were made to the article.

Article 8 regulates the independence of audit companies and their representatives.

Who, according to the law, cannot conduct an audit?

• a person who is the chief accountant of the company, director or co-founder;
• a person who is related to the auditee;
• Insurance companies;
• credit institutions associated with the auditee.

The amount of monetary payments to the auditor for carrying out accounting control is indicated in the signed agreement.

With the latest edition of Federal Law-307, no changes were made to the article.