Audit
When examining your financial statements, our role is to give an honest opinion on whether they present an accurate and fair picture of your company, in accordance with OHADA rules. The scope of our audit covers the full set of financial statements: the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement, the Cash Flow Statement, and the Notes.
ECF Expert Comptable is an ONEC-accredited firm. Our audit team performs the fieldwork, and our Certified Public Accountant — the firm's Senior Partner — signs every audit report directly, in full compliance with ONEC regulations.
Two types of audit under OHADA law — we perform both
1. Statutory audit
A mandatory legal examination of a company's financial statements, required for:
- All public limited companies (Inc.)
- Private limited liability companies (Ltd.) with share capital exceeding 10 million FCFA, an annual turnover exceeding 250 million FCFA (converted at the daily exchange rate), or a permanent workforce exceeding 50 employees — a single one of these criteria is sufficient for Ltds
- All companies listed on the BRVM (the West African stock exchange)
- All credit and insurance institutions
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the rule is broader still: every company must have its financial statements audited.
Since 2023, Ministerial Decree N°14/23/05 on Finance states that no corporate tax return can be filed, declared, or paid without legally certified financial statements — meaning every company needs to work with professionals like ECF.
2. Contractual audit
For companies outside these categories: not subject to a statutory audit, but may still be required to undergo a contractual audit at the request of lenders or investors providing capital — keeping in mind the DRC's mandatory audit rule above.
Our audit process, in 5 steps
Planning
A planning framework is developed to ensure the engagement runs optimally.
Budget
The budget is determined by the scope of work assigned. We bill hourly; fees reflect transaction volume, complexity, and engagement risk.
Engagement letter
A letter of assignment is prepared, addressed to and signed by the client, defining the scope of work in line with the client's request.
Fieldwork
Substantive work and verification of all collected documentation and observations, based on the engagement letter.
Report
An audit report is prepared and issued to shareholders, identifying compliance or deficiencies in the financial statements.
Four possible audit opinions
Clean opinion
The financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects.
Qualified opinion
The financial statements are fairly presented except for a few isolated issues, rather than pervasive ones.
Adverse opinion
The financial statements are not presented fairly, with misstatements that affect the overall picture.
Disclaimer of opinion
The auditor was unable to gather enough evidence to form any opinion.
Every client may request a re-audit to verify the effectiveness of the report, or take corrective action after the audit — before the final report is sent to the company's shareholders.