Audit reports under CAMA 2020 or the Companies Act 2015
How Achekam drafts a Nigerian or Kenyan auditor's report in country wording, and the registration checks that must pass before a partner can sign it.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Nigeria, Kenya
The auditor's report is the one page of an audit that most readers ever see. It has to carry the right opinion, in the right form, citing the right law, over the signature of someone legally entitled to sign it. A report built from a South African template, or signed by a partner whose registration has lapsed, fails on every count however good the audit behind it.
Nigerian and Kenyan firms using Achekam get report wording written for their own law, and signing checks written for their own regulators. Both are worth understanding before the first report goes out.
Country wording from the pack
The engagement team drafts the auditor's report under AUDIT & ASSURANCE > Audit Reports, on standard ISA 700, 705, 706 and 701 wording. The forms available are unmodified, qualified, adverse and disclaimer of opinion, with emphasis of matter, other matter and key audit matter sections where they apply.
Achekam's default wording is South African. For a Nigerian or Kenyan engagement, the country pack supplies its own:
- Nigeria: the report draft cites CAMA 2020 and the FRC Act.
- Kenya: the report draft cites the Companies Act 2015.
The starting point therefore already uses the right statutory references, rather than relying on someone to find and replace South African ones.
The partner owns the final text
A draft is a draft. The partner owns the final text of the report, and only the engagement partner can approve it.
That ownership is more than formal. Country wording gives a correct starting point, but the partner decides whether the basis for opinion describes the audit that was actually done, whether an emphasis of matter is warranted, and whether the key audit matters say something specific to this entity rather than repeating a generic description. A report that reads as if it could belong to any client is a report the partner has not finished.
The partner may approve with working papers still open, by recording a reason. What the partner cannot do is bypass a named quality reviewer: where one has been named, the reviewer's clearance is required.
Placeholders block approval
Report drafts mark the details the team must supply with placeholders in square brackets. Achekam refuses approval while any bracketed placeholder remains.
It is a blunt rule, and a valuable one. It catches the report that would otherwise have gone out with a placeholder still sitting in the opinion paragraph, which is precisely the kind of error that ends up on a regulator's desk.
Nigeria: verified FRC registrations
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;
- the signing partner's FRC number;
- the partner's ICAN or ANAN standing;
- the partner's signing authority.
The block cannot be overridden, and it applies even while the firm's pack set-up is still a draft. Achekam does not look up the FRC register itself. A person checks it by hand and attaches dated evidence, and a different person verifies the record.
The legal background makes the rule necessary. At the time of writing, 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. Separately, under FRC Rule 14, the auditor must confirm by e-mail, before signing an opinion, that the client and its signatories complied with FRC requirements. Achekam does not send that e-mail; the auditor sends it, records it with evidence, and signing stays blocked until it is recorded.
Kenya: a valid ICPAK certificate and licence
For a Kenyan firm, Achekam blocks signing until the signing partner's ICPAK practising certificate and annual licence are verified as valid on the signing date. The verification is recorded by a different person from the one who entered the details, and the firm must also record the partner's audit signing authority. A missing check of the firm's own licence produces only a warning.
The date matters. A licence that was valid when the engagement was accepted, but has since expired, does not satisfy the check on the day of signing. Under section 772 of the Companies Act 2015, a Kenyan statutory auditor, or each partner of an audit firm, must hold an ICPAK practising certificate and a valid annual licence. Achekam does not look up ICPAK's lists; a person checks them and attaches dated evidence.
After approval
Once the report is approved, the partner can send the client a read-and-comment preview link, send the approved report for e-signature, and record it as issued. Recording it as issued binds the report to the statements' fingerprint and starts the file-assembly clock. The client opens the preview without signing in, and the link expires and can be revoked.
A partner's checklist before signing
- Country wording in place, with every bracketed placeholder replaced.
- Opinion, basis and any key audit matters specific to this entity.
- Quality reviewer's clearance, where one is named.
- Nigeria: FRC register entry, FRC number, ICAN or ANAN standing and signing authority verified by a second person; Rule 14 e-mail recorded.
- Kenya: practising certificate and annual licence valid on today's date and verified.
The work that has to be complete before the report can be approved, from the acceptance checklist to key audit matters, is set out in the Audit Control Tower. The registrations themselves are kept visible in the Regulatory Control Centre.
Before your next signing date, ask the person who verifies registrations to check every signing partner's record against the register, and attach fresh evidence where the last check is old.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
