Since 6 May 2026, every Singapore company required to have its financial statements audited must ensure that the audit report identifies by name the individual public accountant who was primarily responsible for the audit engagement. This change, introduced by the Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 (CALA 2025), ends decades of practice in which only the audit firm — not the responsible individual partner — was identified in the audit report.

For most companies and their boards, the practical implications of this change are manageable but require proactive attention. This guide explains the new requirement in full, who it applies to, what companies must do, and how boards and audit committees should factor it into their governance processes going forward.

What Has Changed: The Named Engagement Partner Requirement

Previously, audit reports of Singapore-incorporated companies named only the audit firm (for example, “KPMG LLP” or “Deloitte & Touche LLP”) as the signatory to the audit opinion. The identity of the individual public accountant who led the engagement — the engagement partner — was known to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) through its regulatory processes, but was not disclosed to the company’s shareholders or the public through the audit report itself.

Under the CALA 2025 amendment, audit reports signed for financial years ending on or after 6 May 2026 must now identify by name the individual public accountant (i.e., the engagement partner) who is primarily responsible for the audit. The engagement partner’s name must appear alongside or in conjunction with the firm’s signature on the audit report.

This requirement applies across all statutory audits of Singapore companies. It is a fundamental change to what has been a standard audit report format for many years.

Who Does This Apply To?

Companies Required to Have a Statutory Audit

The named engagement partner requirement applies to all Singapore companies that are required by law to have their financial statements audited. This includes:

  • All public companies — whether listed or unlisted
  • Private companies that do not qualify for the small company audit exemption under Section 205B of the Companies Act
  • Companies that are part of a group that does not qualify as a small group for audit exemption purposes
  • Charities and institutions of a public character subject to audit requirements under their own regulatory frameworks

The Small Company Audit Exemption: A Reminder

Many Singapore private limited companies do not require a statutory audit because they qualify as a “small company” under Section 205B of the Companies Act. A company qualifies as a small company if it is a private company that satisfies at least two of the following three criteria in each of the two most recent financial years:

  • Annual revenue of not more than S$10 million
  • Total assets of not more than S$10 million
  • Number of employees of not more than 50

If your company qualifies as a small company and is not part of a group that requires audit, the named engagement partner requirement does not apply to you — because you are not required to have an audit at all. For a more detailed understanding of the full scope of CALA 2025 changes and their implications for directors, please refer to our earlier guide.

What Auditors Must Now Do

The CALA 2025 requirement places obligations on auditors as well as the companies they audit. The changes include:

  • Updated audit report templates: All Singapore public accounting firms that conduct statutory audits must update their standard audit report templates to include the name of the engagement partner alongside the firm signature. Reports issued in the old format — without the named partner — for financial years ending on or after 6 May 2026 would not comply with the requirement.
  • Engagement letter confirmation: Under the new regime, auditors are required to confirm the name of the responsible engagement partner in the engagement letter sent to the client at the start of the audit. This ensures the company and its board know from the outset who the named responsible partner will be.
  • Management representation letter confirmation: The name of the responsible partner must also be confirmed in the management representation letter, which the company’s management signs and provides to the auditor at the conclusion of the audit.

Why Singapore Introduced This Change

The named engagement partner requirement aligns Singapore with international audit transparency standards. Comparable requirements have been in place in the United States (under the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB) and the United Kingdom for listed and public interest entity audits, and Australia has a similar framework. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has also been advocating for greater transparency around individual audit partner responsibility.

The rationale is straightforward: personal accountability drives quality. When the engagement partner is publicly named in the audit report, they bear direct professional and reputational accountability for the audit opinion. This is expected to:

  • Encourage greater diligence and care by engagement partners
  • Enable ACRA to more effectively monitor individual audit quality at the partner level over time
  • Provide investors, shareholders, and creditors with information to assess whether specific partners have a track record of high-quality audits
  • Create a stronger deterrent against sub-standard audit work

Implications for Boards and Audit Committees

Confirm Your Auditor Has Updated Their Templates

The most immediate practical step for boards and audit committees is to confirm with your auditor that their audit report templates have been updated to include the named engagement partner. This should be done before the current year’s audit commences. A simple email to your audit relationship partner asking them to confirm that their firm’s reports now comply with the CALA 2025 requirement is sufficient.

Factor the Named Partner Into Auditor Evaluation

Audit committees typically evaluate auditors annually, considering factors such as quality of service, industry expertise, fee reasonableness, and independence. Now that engagement partners are named publicly, boards may wish to also consider whether the proposed engagement partner for the upcoming audit year has a strong track record and reputation. This is consistent with the CALA 2025 policy rationale of promoting individual accountability.

Annual General Meetings and Auditor Appointment

At the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), shareholders vote to appoint or re-appoint the audit firm. While shareholders vote on the firm rather than the individual partner, audit committees may find it useful to brief shareholders on the identity and credentials of the engagement partner as part of transparency best practice — particularly in companies with engaged minority shareholders or institutional investors.

What If the Engagement Partner Changes Mid-Audit?

Audit partner rotation requirements exist under Singapore’s audit regulatory framework, requiring key audit partners to rotate off engagements after a certain number of years. If a partner change occurs mid-year due to rotation, departure from the firm, or other circumstances, the audit firm must ensure the audit report correctly names the partner who was primarily responsible for the audit — which may require careful determination in transition situations. Boards and audit committees should raise this question with their auditors early if a partner change is anticipated.

Transition: What Financial Years Are Affected?

The named engagement partner requirement applies to audit reports for financial years ending on or after 6 May 2026. For most Singapore companies with a December financial year end, this means the requirement will first apply to audit reports for the financial year ending 31 December 2026, which will typically be finalised and signed in early-to-mid 2027. Companies with earlier financial year ends — for example, those with a 31 March or 30 June year end — should check whether their upcoming audit falls within scope of the new requirement.

If your company’s auditors have not yet confirmed that their report templates reflect the new named partner disclosure, now is the time to raise this with them, before the audit fieldwork commences.

Conclusion

The named engagement partner requirement under CALA 2025 is one of the most visible changes to Singapore’s audit reporting framework in many years. While the compliance burden on companies themselves is limited — the primary changes are to auditor processes and report formats — boards and audit committees should be aware of the requirement and take proactive steps to confirm their auditors are compliant.

For advice on your company’s annual compliance obligations, AGM requirements, and engagement with auditors, the team at Raffles Corporate Services is here to assist. If you need legal advice on your audit committee’s specific obligations under CALA 2025, we can point you to the appropriate specialists. For the latest Singapore business and regulatory updates, there are also useful resources for directors and finance professionals tracking these changes.

To speak with the team at Raffles Corporate Services, you can email [email protected] or call, SMS, or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133. We are happy to assist with any queries.

— The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services