To apply to audits of cos in other sectors too
New Delhi: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of In dia (ICAI) will soon firm up new Information Systems Audit Standards for improving the audit quality of entities such as startups, fintech firms, and e-commerce companies that have technology at the core of their operations, said its president Charanjot Singh Nanda.
These standards will enable chartered accountants (CAs) in assessing IT-related risks, in cluding cyber security threats, data breaches, and system fai-lures while auditing these firms and recommend mitiga-tion measures, Nanda told ET.
To be sure, these standards will also apply to financial dits of companies in other tors, given the fast-growing adoption of technology in eve-ry facet of modern businesses.
With businesses relying hea-vily on digital platforms, ERPs and cloud systems, traditional financial auditing is no longer sufficient,” said another per-son privy to the details.
So, the new standards will also provide “astructured approach for evaluating the integrity, confidentiality and availability of IT systems”, the person said.
Various laws and regulations such as the Digital Personal Data
Protection Act in India or GDPR globally mandate IT audits and data protection compliance. So, ICAI plans to equip CAs through these standards to also guide or-ganisations in meeting their va-rious tech-related compliance obligations, said the person.
These norms will focus on ef-fective financial reporting, fraud detection and preven-tion, and robust governance frameworks, among others.
These will eventually enable CAs to offer value-added servi-ces and expand their professio-nal expertise on system audits, IT governance assessments, cy-ber security reviews and ERP implementa-tion audits.
au sector is also growing rapidly. India’s startup eco-system has exploded in recent years. The fintech sec-
The number of startups recog-nised by the industry ministry shot up to 1,57,706 by the end of 2024 from 502 in 2016. The fin-tech sector is expected to grow to $420 billion by 2029 from abo-ut $110 billion last year.
Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General, too, called on auditors to upskill themselves continuously to ensure that “re-levant and actionable inputs are provided to all the stakehol-ders on controls related to in-formation security, data priva-cy, transparency.
