CA firms charge extra-fees to provide DVS verified financial statement

Al Amin :
Chartered Accountant firms are taking higher charges from the businesses to provide the Document Verification System (DVS) report.
The exorbitant cost involved in getting audited financial statements from chartered accountants hampered their business operation, alleged small individual-owned business entities.
Businesses are also being deprived of getting 38-types of government services including renewal of trade license and bank services for unwanted delay in getting the DVS- verified financial statement, they alleged.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) developed the DVS and introduced the tool in December 2020 to curb malpractice of producing multiple financial statements and the NBR asked all tax offices across the country not to accept any audit report devoid of DVS verification.
Some 30,132 corporate firms obtained the DVS verified financial statement till July, 2022, according to a data of the National
 Board of Revenue (NBR). The ICAB is responsible for monitoring the maintenance of standards for auditors. But, the institution has been accused of incompetence, corruption and personal whim, businesses alleged.
Recently, it canceled the Certificate of Practice (CoP) of nine auditors and locked DVS privileges for many auditors creating huge resentment among the auditing firms. Some of the victims have even filed cases in the Supreme Court against this decision.
They claim that the ICAB is not taking any initiative to increase skill of the CA firms. The audit firms, whose registration has been temporarily suspended, alleged that the ICAB has created chaos instead of bringing discipline in the firms.
Many small and medium businesses are now facing extreme harassment due to the personal whim of the ICAB, they said.
All of us are suffering commercially, especially while doing banking. Whereas ICAB’s job was to strengthen audit firms, increase vigilance to ensure that no audit report goes beyond registered chartered accountants, but they have done the opposite, they added.
Some firms are collecting several times higher fees from the taxpayers by doing syndicates as tax return, bank loan, import export license renewal is not possible without the audit report.
ICAB’s President Md Shahadat Hossain said, “ICAB’s council is taking action against the audit firms for sub-standard audit reports. This process is long. There is no way to punish someone arbitrarily. The level of punishment is different types. Punishment has been given considering depth of offence.”
“Both punishment and warning are going on. So, the audit firms, not to be complied with proper procedures, will be brought under punishment,” he said.
Taslima Miji, the owner of leather accessories company Gootipa, said her small company is a regular taxpayer but this year she is facing difficulties in submitting tax returns.
“Accountants are claiming three times higher charges than that of previous years, which my small company is unable to bear,” she added.
She also claimed insufficient number of accountants engaged to prepare the DVS-verified audit report and unusual delays in doing the job.
Shahadat Hossain, however, refuted such allegation, saying that all of the ICAB members maintain fees schedule of the ICAB that has been determined for private limited companies on the basis of turnover.