Audit in Italy

An audit is not required of every Italian company, but the threshold is lower than many founders expect. For an S.r.l., the Civil Code makes the appointment of a control body or an auditor compulsory if the company has exceeded, for two consecutive years, at least one of three limits: EUR 4 million in total assets, EUR 4 million in revenues or an average of 20 employees. It is also compulsory for a company that prepares consolidated accounts or controls a company that must be audited. A group audit for a parent abroad is a separate engagement.

Statutory audit is reserved to people entered in the national register of auditors, so ask the firm who signs the report and whether that person is enrolled. Ask too whether the firm audits to the standards your parent company needs, whether it works in English and how it deals with the board and the control body.

Thirty-eight firms in Italy offer audit: 33 accounting firms, 3 law firms and 2 corporate service providers. Twenty-five are small, 9 medium-sized and 4 part of large networks. Italian is the working language of all 38, and 33 add English. Real estate, start-ups, private equity and financial services are the sectors named most. Twenty-one are in Milan, eight each in Rome and Turin. Read the Italy guide for the entity types behind these rules.