A financial statement audit is the examination of an entity’s financial statements and accompanying disclosures by an independent auditor. The result of this examination is a report by the auditor, attesting to the fairness of presentation of the financial statements and related disclosures. The auditor’s report must accompany the financial statements when they are issued to the intended recipients.

We – SFAI member firm audit professionals – believe that independent auditors perform the valuable role of being a trusted intermediary between the providers of business information and the users of that information. In the wake of the economic crises and scandals of the past few years, we believe independent auditors are on the verge of a transformative change. Stakeholders are demanding more transparency, and we are responding – changing how we operate, being proactive in listening to our stakeholders, and embracing Data & Analytics and other new processes that are enabling us to make audit more relevant and continue to raise the bar on the quality of our services.

The audit of financial statements is mandatory for all companies in the State of Kuwait under Companies Law No. 1 of 2016 and Executive Regulations thereof, as amended. IFRS standards are required for all listed companies, financial institutions, and other companies that fall under the purview of Kuwait Commercial Companies Law.

Financial statement audits play a critical role in creating and maintaining investors confidence and can unlock valuable insights into the business.

The organizational and regulatory authorities, including Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Capital Markets Authority and Central Bank of Kuwait, require all business entities to provide them with audited annual financial statements. This will promote confidence in the financial statements and financial or non-financial information, which helps shareholders and stakeholders (investors, regulatory authorities such as Central Bank of Kuwait, Capital Markets Authority or Ministry of Commerce & Industry and other parties such as banks, credit rating agencies, finance companies, customers, etc.) make informed decisions as appropriate.

The unaudited interim financial information should be submitted within 45 days from the end of quarter whole the audited annual financial statements should be submitted within 3 months from the end of the company’s financial year.