Pursuant to various representations being received from stakeholders, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has in a Circular dated September 10, 2020, provided relaxations with regard to the filing of Form CRA-4 (form for filing of cost audit report) for the Financial Year (FY) 2020 due to the continued impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
- If the Cost Audit Report for the financial year 2019-20 is submitted by the cost auditor to the Board of Directors of the companies by 30th November, 2020 it would not be considered as violation of the timeline period of 180 days from close of FY (as per Rule 6(5) of Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014*).
Accordingly, the cost audit report in e-form CRA-4 for the financial year ended on 31st March, 2020 can be filed by companies within 30 days from the date of receipt of the copy of the cost audit report by the company.
- In case a company has availed extension of time for holding their Annual General Meeting then eform CRA-4 may be filed within the resultant extended period of filing financial statements.
* Rule 6(5) Every cost auditor shall forward his duly signed report to the Board of Directors of the company within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the closure of the financial year to which the report relates and the Board of Directors shall consider and examine such report, particularly any reservation or qualification contained therein.”;
Source: Ministry of Corporate Affairs
