Indian companies paying less for audits

How much did auditors charge companies to certify that their financial records are in order? Just Rs 16 for every Rs 1 lakh of the company's turnover in 2011, suggests a report by the Chennai-based chartered accountancy training centre, Prime Academy. Audit fees are actually down from Rs 17.4/lakh of turnover in 2010 and Rs 18.2/lakh in 2006. That suggests companies are not really paying more for ensuring compliance, despite an increase in the size/turnover of their business over this period. A report, titled ‘Who are India's top auditors and how much do they charge' has considered a sample of 2,332 listed companies that account for 77 per cent of the total market capitalisation of BSE.But sectors that have plenty of compliance issues to tackle appear to be spending more on audit fees. Companies in sectors such as oil and gas, power and transport and communication paid Rs 84 lakh to Rs 1 crore on an average for an audit. Oil and gas emerged as the top paying industry. In all, audit firms charged an average Rs 21 lakh for each audit they undertook in 2011.