RERA audit
A RERA audit is the audit of a registered project’s accounts under the third proviso to section 4(2)(l)(D) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Company Suggestion arranges the chartered accountant’s certificate. The promoter produces it within six months after the end of every financial year.
What is a RERA audit?
The Act uses a chartered accountant in two places. They are not the same certificate. The second proviso covers a withdrawal from the separate project account. The third proviso covers the annual audit of that project.
The annual audit checks that money collected for a particular project was used for that project, and that withdrawals matched the percentage of completion. It is not an income-tax audit, and it is not the statutory audit of a company. A promoter that is a company still has those audits where the other laws require them. The project itself must already be registered.
Who signs it, and by when?
The signer is a chartered accountant in practice, and the clock runs from the financial year.
- Annual certificate: within six months after the end of every financial year.
- Withdrawal certificate: before money is taken out of the separate account, and only in proportion to completion. An engineer and an architect certify that withdrawal as well.
- The form is the certificate the state authority prescribes. There is no single national form number.
What does the certificate verify?
The accountant looks at the project, not at the promoter’s other businesses.
- Amounts collected from allottees for that project
- The 70 per cent deposited in the separate account
- Withdrawals, matched to the percentage of completion
- That the amounts collected were utilised for that project
What are the audit steps?
Company Suggestion coordinates the certificate in four steps.
- The project ledger, the separate account, and the bookings are collected after the year end.
- The chartered accountant verifies collections, deposits, and withdrawals against completion.
- The certificate the state authority prescribes is signed.
- It is filed with the authority inside the six months, along with the other updates on the compliance page.
Frequently asked questions
4 questions cover the rules that decide this registration.
Is a RERA audit a tax audit?
No. It is the certificate under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. A tax audit under section 44AB, and a company’s statutory audit, are separate. A company promoter still has those where they apply.
When is it due?
Within six months after the end of every financial year. For a year ending 31 March, that is 30 September.
Who can sign the certificate?
A chartered accountant in practice. The annual certificate and the certificate for a withdrawal from the separate account are both signed by a chartered accountant in practice. The withdrawal also needs the engineer and the architect.
Is there one national form number?
No. The state authority prescribes the certificate. The Act fixes what the certificate must verify. The form number is the one that state publishes.