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WHAT?
Provident Fund(PF) is a kind of retirement benefit given from the Company to
its employees.
It consists of a fix monthly amount deducted from employee’s salary and a
matching amount contributed by the employer.
The PF is treated as a separate entity and it earns its profits through investment
of contribution in various saving schemes.
WHY?
The Income Tax Ordinance permits companies to have a recognized* PF into
which both employer and employee contribute and proceeds are invested and
return on it are distributed to employees at the end of the Year.
Income Tax Ordinance also allows the contributions by employee to a
recognized PF as an expense in their profit.
Income earned by a recognized PF is also exempt from tax.
A recognized PF means it is registered with SECP under Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
COMPANY
INVESTMENTS
e.g. TFCs, DSCs
EXPENSES
etc.
BASIC ASPECTS OF PROVIDENT FUND
Treasurer
Clerical Clerical
Staff Staff
RELEVANT TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Definitions are taken from Provident Fund Act 1925 and are simplified for understanding.
LEGAL ASPECTS OF PROVIDENT FUND
The company who created Provident Fund trust cannot use its balance other than
the payment on termination of a member’s contract of employment as per section
227*.
As per Section 227, the company creating the Provident Fund is responsible to
deposit the contribution(deducted from the salaries of its employees) into a
separate bank account(opened in the name of PF) within 15 days of the next
month.
Companies usually create a trust with respect to Provident Fund. Therefore,
subsection (3) of the Section 227 puts the responsibility of depositing the
contribution on Trustees if company fails to do so.
Section 227 also mentions the schemes and securities in which Provident Fund
balance can be invested but SRO 80/2014 now governs the rules of investment in
detail.
SRO 80/2014 issued by SECP laid down the rules regarding investment of
Provident Fund. Key points are summarized in the table below :
Investment Type Limit Of Investment Other Criteria
Listed securities > 50 Million Same as above •Hire an investment advisor for
or more than 20% of PF Provident Fund.
balance
Listed debt securities i.e. Same as above •Company must be rated “AA” by a
debentures registered credit rating firm.
Listed Collective Investment Same as above •ROI equal or more than the
Scheme prevailing risk free rate
In a particular company in the > 10% of PF balance •Shares < 5% of paid up capital.
form of shares and debentures •Debentures < 5% of the issue.
LEGAL RULES REGARDING INVESTMENT
Investment Type Limit Of Other Criteria
Investment
Investment in associated Less than 10%
companies and undertakings of PF balance.
Collective investment scheme 10% of PF
other than money market balance.
Collective money market 30% of PF
investment scheme balance.
Investment in Initial Public Offer 5% of PF 1. In a single IPO, investment must be lower of :
(IPO) balance (every • 1% of paid up capital of that company
six month) • 2% of PF balance.
2. Shall be made in companies having a
profitable record of at least 3 years
3. Must not be underwritten, co-underwritten or
sub-underwritten by group or associated
companies.
Investment can not be made in a listed security if issuer of the security has defaulted or rescheduled any of his
financial obligations.
PF must maintain investment policies explaining Investment limit, investment avenues and risk appetite.
SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTING POLICY RELATED
TO PROVIDENT FUND
IAS 26(Employee Retirement Benefit Plans) governs the measurement and disclosure principles
for the reports of retirement benefit plans.
As you have seen that Provident Fund Accounts are some what different than
annual accounts of a company. So a confusion arises as to how to start audit
procedures on PF. Here is a solution:
1. Cash & Bank
2. Receivables from company
3. Investments
4. Return On Investment(ROI
5. Members’ Account
6. Payables
7. Expenses
This order is not mandatory and you can audit in any way that suits you best.
CASH AND BANK BALANCES
Ask if any Bank A/c is closed or opened during the year or any other changes
happened related to this particular head. After enquiry, send bank
confirmations to all the bank accounts of PF.
Obtain
Cash and Bank Ledgers
Bank Statement
Cash and Bank Receipt and payment vouchers
Match balance of bank ledger with that of bank statement. If they do not match,
ask for reconciliation.
Scan Ledgers to make sure there are no unexplained entries.
BPVs and BRVs have been recorded into proper accounts and are adequately
authorized and supported.
All transactions done in this head are not beyond applicable rules and
regulations.
Cheques deposited to the Bank after reporting date have been cleared
subsequently.
Unpresented cheques have been encashed.
Bank charges occurring in the period have been recorded properly.
RECIEVABLES FROM COMPANY