Checking your Kenyan auditor's ICPAK credentials
What a Kenyan company should check about its auditor's ICPAK practising certificate and annual licence before appointing the firm, and every year after.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Running a business businesses in Kenya
Most directors choose an auditor the way they choose any adviser: a recommendation, a meeting, a fee quote, a feeling that the partner understands the business. All of that matters. None of it tells you whether the person who will sign your company's audit report is allowed to.
In Kenya, eligibility to act as a statutory auditor turns on two documents issued by ICPAK, and the law asks for them from every partner of an audit firm, not only the one across the table. A company that skips the check is relying on the firm's word for something it can confirm itself.
This article explains what to ask for, where to confirm it, how often to repeat the check, and how the appointment works if you keep your books in Achekam.
Two documents: a practising certificate and an annual licence
Under section 772 of the Companies Act 2015, a statutory auditor in Kenya, or each partner of an audit firm, must hold an ICPAK practising certificate and a valid annual licence.
ICPAK regulates accountants under the Accountants Act 2008. It issues practising certificates under section 21 of that Act and annual licences under section 22. Think of them as two separate questions:
| Document | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Practising certificate | Is this accountant permitted to practise? |
| Annual licence | Is that permission current for this year? |
The word "valid" does the work in the licence requirement. An accountant who held a licence last year and has not renewed it does not meet the test this year, however long their track record.
Every partner of the firm
When the auditor is a firm rather than an individual, the requirement attaches to each partner. A firm with several partners is only as eligible as the partner whose papers lapsed. In practice, ask the firm to confirm the position for all of its partners, and look closely at the partner who will sign your report.
An ineligible auditor is barred
Section 773 of the Companies Act bars an ineligible person from acting as auditor, and section 774 deals with the auditor's independence. The practical point for directors is simple: an audit is only as useful as the eligibility of the person who signed it. Banks, funders, tender committees and the tax authority all read your audited accounts on the assumption that the auditor was entitled to give the opinion.
Independence is a separate conversation from licensing. A properly licensed auditor who also keeps your books, or has a family or financial tie to a director, raises questions of its own. Ask the firm how it has considered its independence before it accepts the appointment.
Where to confirm it: ICPAK, not an oversight board
Some countries have an independent body that registers and inspects audit firms. Kenya does not. ICPAK regulates the profession and runs audit quality reviews itself, so ICPAK's records are where you confirm what a firm tells you.
ICPAK publishes a searchable directory of CPA firms, which you can search by name, practising number or county, with downloadable lists of approved firms. Use it to confirm that the firm you are about to appoint appears, under the name on its letterhead.
A checklist for directors
Before the appointment:
- Ask the firm for copies of the current practising certificate and annual licence of each partner, or at least of the partner who will sign.
- Check the licence year on each one against today's date.
- Search for the firm in ICPAK's directory and compare the name and practising number.
- Ask how the firm has assessed its independence from your company and its directors.
- Save the copies and a dated printout of your search with the board minute appointing the auditor.
Every year after:
- Ask for the renewed annual licences, since a licence covers a single year.
- Repeat the directory search before the audit fieldwork starts.
- Note any change of signing partner and repeat the check for the new partner.
The dated evidence is the useful part. If anyone later asks how the board satisfied itself about the auditor, a printout with a date on it answers the question better than memory.
Appointing the firm in Achekam
If your company keeps its books in Achekam, you appoint your audit firm from inside your own workspace. You find the firm by its Achekam address or firm code, choose the role (accountant, auditor, tax practitioner, payroll provider or adviser) and give it an access level. The firm then accepts or declines. For an audit, appoint the firm as auditor so that its role in your books matches its role in law.
The firm has its own check to pass inside Achekam. Achekam blocks the signing of a Kenyan audit report until the signer's ICPAK practising certificate and annual licence have been recorded and verified by a different person at the firm. A missing firm licence, by contrast, produces only a warning. Achekam does not look up ICPAK's lists: a person at the firm checks them and attaches dated evidence, because no ICPAK lookup service exists for software to use.
That control protects the firm's report. It does not replace your own check, which should come first, before the engagement letter is signed. The way the signing block works on the firm's side is explained in the ICPAK certificate check before signing.
When your company may not need an audit at all
Before you appoint anyone, confirm that your company needs a statutory audit. A Kenyan company is exempt from audit only if it is small, its turnover is at most KES 50 million and its net assets are at most KES 20 million. Public companies, banks and insurers never qualify, and dormant companies have a separate exemption of their own.
All of the conditions must be met together, so a company with modest turnover but large net assets still needs an audit. Your accountant can check the figures against your last set of accounts. Even an exempt company may choose an audit because a lender or a major customer asks for one, and the same eligibility checks then apply.
Before the next board meeting
Put "auditor eligibility" on the agenda for the meeting that appoints or reappoints the auditor. Ask for the papers in advance, run the directory search the week before and minute what you checked. The same meeting is a good moment to confirm your filing position with the Registrar; see filing the annual return with BRS.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
