All companies are required to comply with local, national and, where applicable, International statutes. These statutes (or statutory laws) are laws and regulations that pertain to:
Statutory Compliance and statutory record-keeping in:
- Company operations – including consumer protection laws and regulations, and international and national laws pertaining to the operations, and impact of operations, and regional and municipal bylaws.
- Company registrations, legal entity-related regulations and structure
- Labour-related practices and conditions – including general labour law, health & safety regulations, working conditions and insurance requirements.
- Tax compliance – registrations and records of accurate, timely and up-to-date submission of tax returns
- Financial record-keeping, for taxes, and transparency for shareholders and the public for a Public Companies and organisations.
Companies with higher Public Interest Scores (PIS) are subject to intensive monitoring of their compliance, in all the above areas. This includes external reviews and independent audits. The company itself is required to conduct regular internal audits in order to ensure that they ready for external scrutiny – and make sure all relevant records are complete and up to date.
Every size company needs to prove statutory compliance:
However, every size company will need to show some kind, or extent, of statutory compliance. Even the smallest, single person, single owner company must show statutory compliance in their financial reporting and operations. Even if your small company is not subject to a mandatory external audit, you still need to ensure that your records are complete and up to date.
For a pub or restaurant, it could be a valid liquor license, compliant labour contracts, health and safety inspection records and proof of accurate financials. On the other end of the company size scale, record-keeping would need to show those same types of compliance, but on a greater scale – for all departments, operations, franchises and partnerships. They’d need records for many other statutes – in all countries in which they operate.
The consequences for not showing statutory compliance can be crippling legal fees and penalties. You could even be shut down completely. This is why the keeping company statutory records is a core aspect of financial risk management!
So – are your company statutory records up to date? If you not sure and need assistance, please contact us and we can get your statutory compliance for your Company up to date and legal.
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