Singapore legislation
Section 52
Section 52
Audit
(1)
The accounts of a Town Council must be audited by the Auditor-General or such other auditor as may be appointed annually by the Town Council with the approval of the Minister after the Minister has consulted the Auditor-General.
(2)
A person is not qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (1) unless the person is a public accountant within the meaning of the Companies Act 1967.
(3)
The remuneration of the auditor must be paid out of the Town Council Fund.
(4)
The auditor must, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit by a Town Council, send a report of the auditor’s audit to the Town Council.
(5)
The auditor must in the auditor’s report state —
whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Town Council;
whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Town Council whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
whether the receipts, expenditure, investment of moneys, and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Town Council during the financial year have been in accordance with this Act; and
such other matters arising from the audit as the auditor considers should be reported.
(6)
The auditor may at any other time submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and the Town Council upon any matter arising out of the performance of the auditor’s audit as may appear to the auditor to be necessary.
(7)
The auditor or any person authorised by the auditor is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of a Town Council.
(8)
The auditor or a person authorised by the auditor may make copies of or extracts from any such accounting and other records.
(9)
The auditor may require any person to provide the auditor with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor considers necessary for the purposes of the auditor’s functions under this Act.
(10)
Any person who fails, without any reasonable cause, to comply with any requirement of the auditor under subsection (9) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.
(11)
The following must be given by a Town Council to the Minister within 6 months after the close of the financial year to which the accounts and financial statements relate, or such longer period as the Minister may in any particular case allow:
a copy of the audited accounts and financial statements of the Town Council, signed by the chairperson of and the secretary to the Town Council;
a copy of the report made by the auditor.
(12)
The Minister must, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of the audited accounts and financial statements and of the auditor’s report mentioned in subsection (11) to be presented to Parliament.
(13)
Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of a Town Council, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor must be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time they are submitted to the Minister under subsection (11).
(14)
Within 30 days after a copy of the audited accounts and financial statements of a Town Council, and a copy of the auditor’s report, mentioned in subsection (11) are presented to Parliament, the Town Council must —
display them for public inspection in such places within the Town as the Town Council may direct; and
publish them at an online location accessible to residents of the housing estates within the Town.
(15)
A Town Council which, without reasonable excuse, is persistently in default in relation to the requirement imposed by subsection (11), shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.
(16)
A Town Council must, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, submit to the Minister an annual report on the activities of the Town Council during that financial year and the Minister must cause a copy of every such report to be presented to Parliament.[38