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A workshop on “Election Expenditure Monitoring and Auditing and Accounts of Political Parties” was organized by Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 10, 2014. The above workshop was attended by representatives of ICAI, officials of ECI and Auditors of some of the Political Parties.
A presentation on “Guidance Note on Accounting and Auditing of Political Parties” was made by ICAI at the workshop. It was highlighted that the Guidance note recommends the following:
- Accrual basis of the accounting to be followed by the political parties in the preparation of their financial statements.
- The Accounting Standards issued by the ICAI to be followed to the extant relevant in preparation of financial statements by the Political Parties.
- General Purpose Financial Statements of a political party should comprise balance sheet, income and expenditure account, cash flow statement and notes forming part of financial statements.
At the workshop “draft guidelines on transparency and accountability in party funds and election expenditure matter” prepared by the ECI were discussed. Some of the proposals from the aforesaid guidelines are as mentioned below:
- Political Parties to follow the “Guidance Note on Accounting and Auditing of Political Parties” issued by the ICAI, in preparation of their financial statements.
- Political Parties would be required hereafter to submit to the Election Commission a copy of audited annual accounts along with the auditors report for financial year March 31 before October 30 of each year.
It was also informed by the ECI at the workshop that Statement of Election Expenditure relating to Lok Sabha /Legislative Assembly is to be certified by the Chartered Accountants for all Elections to be held after Jan 1, 2013.In this regard CA. K. Raghu , President ICAI said :“This endeavour of the ECI and ICAI will go a long way in establishing sound accounting principles for the Political Parties. This will ensure transparency and accountability of party funds and election expenditure.” |
