A statutory audit is a legally required review of the accuracy of a company’s (or government’s) financial statements and records. It is to determine whether an organization is providing a fair and accurate representation of its financial position by examining information such as bank balances, bookkeeping records and financial transactions.

Statutory audit is requested by the company not by any tax authority. It is done prior to the preparation of an Audited Financial Statement.

Statutory audit exercise is to be carried out before the submission of Annual returns to the FIRS or LIRS, i.e six months after the end of the accounting year. In most organisations; on or before the 30^th of June every year.

For financial institutions, it is three months after the end of the accounting year i.e on or before the 31^st of March every year and submitted to SEC (Stock Exchange Commission) and CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria). This is to know the financial position of the Institution.

Bearing in mind that organisation’s year ends differ, the submission date of Annual Returns will also differ.

New companies are given eighteen months before the FIRS or LIRS requests for their Annual Returns.

Other users of Statutory Audit (apart from the FIRS and LIRS) are: –

          * Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)

          * Stakeholders

          * The General Public

          * Financial Industries

          * Banks

          * Investors etc.