Who is allowed to audit a Hong Kong company?

Eligibility (s.393) Only a practice unit is eligible to be appointed as the auditor of a company. The Companies Ordinance's s.393 sets disqualifications too (see the independence answer).

What this means in practice

• The auditor signs the report as a certified public accountant (practising), meaning a CPA who holds a practising certificate.
• Since 1 October 2022 the AFRC issues and renews practising certificates and registers practice units (CPA firms and corporate practices). HKICPA still registers CPAs and sets standards.
• The IRD's profits tax return asks whether a Hong Kong practice unit audited the accounts, and for the practising certificate number of the signing accountant, normally printed on the audit report.

What does not qualify

• A bookkeeper, tax agent or accounting service business that is not a registered practice unit.
• A CPA who does not hold a practising certificate.
• The company's own directors, officers or staff.

Check before you engage Search AFRC's public registers of practising CPAs and practice units, and ask for the firm's practising certificate number. If the name is not on the register, the audit would not satisfy the Ordinance.