Companies Act and Annual Financial Statement requirements

CIPC Annual Financial Statements 

All companies must prepare annual financial statements (“AFS”). Public and State Owned companies (SOC) must have audited AFS while a Private, Personal liability and Non-Profit company is not required to have its AFS audited unless:

• in the ordinary course of its business, it holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for persons who are not related to the company, in excess of R5 million in value at any time during the year;

• it is a non-profit company and was directly or indirectly incorporated by the state, a state owned company or foreign entity;

• it is a non-profit company and was incorporated primarily to perform a statutory or regulatory function in terms of any legislation or to carry out a public function; or

• its public interest score in that financial year, as calculated in accordance with Regulation 26 (2), is 350 or more or is at least 100 if its AFS have been internally compiled.

Any other company must have its AFS independently reviewed in accordance with ISRE 2400 unless:

• it is exempt, in terms of section 30 (2A) to have its AFS audited for that year or reviewed (every person who is a holder or has a beneficial interest in any securities issued is also a director of the company);

• it is required by its own Memorandum of Incorporation (“MoI”) to have its AFS audited; or

• it has voluntarily had its AFS audited for that year.

A company that is required to have its AFS audited, as indicated above, must file a copy of its latest approved audited AFS with its annual return while a company that is not required to have its AFS audited as indicated above, may choose to file a copy of its audited or reviewed AFS with its annual return.