The FRC firms register and signing a Nigerian audit
What the FRC's National Audit and Assurance Firms Register requires from 1 April 2026, and why Achekam blocks signing until registrations are verified.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Nigeria
Since 1 April 2026, an audit carried out in Nigeria by a firm that is not on the Financial Reporting Council's register is invalid. Not late, not open to a penalty: invalid. That changes the stakes of an administrative detail. A firm that has not confirmed its own listing, and the standing of the partner who signs, can produce a report the client cannot use.
Achekam treats the point accordingly. For a Nigerian firm it will not let an audit report be approved, issued or signed until the firm's register entry and the signer's credentials have been recorded and checked by a second person. This article explains the register, what Achekam asks you to record, why the block has no override and how the checking is done by hand.
The register from 1 April 2026
The FRC sets accounting and auditing standards in Nigeria under the FRC Act 2011, amended in 2023. Since 1 April 2026, an audit or assurance firm in Nigeria must be on the FRC's National Audit and Assurance Firms Register, and an engagement by an unlisted firm is invalid. The register also covers actuarial, valuation and other assurance firms.
The obligation runs both ways. Entities must verify the firm and the signing professional before appointment and throughout the engagement. Expect clients, audit committees and lenders to ask for evidence of the listing, and to ask again during the year. Read the FRC's own announcement of the register on its website for the full terms, including the duty on companies to check the firm and the signing professional before appointing them.
What Achekam asks you to record
Before a Nigerian audit report can be signed, Achekam needs four things recorded for the engagement's firm and signer:
- the firm's FRC register entry;
- the signing partner's FRC number;
- the signing partner's good standing with ICAN or ANAN, Nigeria's two statutory accounting bodies;
- the firm's grant of audit signing authority to that partner.
Staff record these under the Nigerian pack's registrations, which a firm sets up when it sets its practice country to Nigeria and activates the pack from Settings. Only a Partner or Admin can activate the pack.
Verified by a second person, with dated evidence
Recording is not enough. A different person must verify each registration against the official register and attach dated evidence. The person who typed the FRC number cannot also be the one who confirms it.
Good evidence answers three questions an inspector might ask: what was looked at, when, and by whom. In practice that means a dated capture of the firm's entry on the FRC register, a dated record of the signer's FRC number, and a current certificate or confirmation of good standing from ICAN or ANAN. Keep the date visible. A confirmation from before the register started proves little about the firm's position now.
Why the block cannot be overridden
For a Nigerian firm, Achekam blocks approving or issuing an audit report, and the partner's signature on financial statements, until a second person has verified the firm's FRC register entry and the signing partner's FRC number, ICAN or ANAN standing and signing authority. The block cannot be overridden, and it applies even while the firm's set-up is still a draft.
That can feel strict on a deadline, but the reasoning is straightforward. Many controls allow a partner to proceed with a recorded reason. This one guards against a report that the law treats as invalid. An override would let the firm produce exactly the document the rule exists to prevent, so there is nothing for a reason to weigh against.
The practical lesson is timing. Do the recording and verification when the engagement is accepted, not on the afternoon the report is due.
Checking the register by hand
Achekam does not look up the FRC register online. Its "check online" call always answers UNAVAILABLE, because no register API was found. A person checks the register by hand and attaches the evidence.
Because entities must verify the firm and signer throughout, a single check at acceptance is thin. Build a recheck into the engagement plan, for example at the start of fieldwork and again before signing, and record each one.
| Step | Who | Recorded in Achekam |
|---|---|---|
| Activate the Nigerian pack | Partner or Admin | Yes |
| Record firm entry, FRC number, ICAN or ANAN standing, signing authority | Staff | Yes |
| Check the official register and bodies' records | A person, by hand | Evidence attached |
| Verify each entry | Someone other than the recorder | Yes |
| Approve, issue and sign | Engagement partner, once all is verified | Blocked until then |
Before the next Nigerian report
- Confirm the firm's own listing on the FRC register and capture it with a date.
- List every partner who may sign a Nigerian audit and collect their FRC numbers.
- Obtain current ICAN or ANAN standing for each.
- Record signing authority for each partner who will sign.
- Assign a verifier who did not do the recording.
- Diary a recheck before each report date.
What to settle this month
Pick the next Nigerian report due for signature and work backwards: are the firm's entry, the partner's FRC number, their standing and their signing authority all recorded and verified today? If not, that is the job for this week. The same engagement will also need the FRC's confirmation e-mail and, for some entities, a key audit matters notice, which are covered in FRC Rule 14 confirmations and Rule 9 key audit matters. Kenyan firms face a similar gate, explained in ICPAK certificates and signing a Kenyan audit.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
