It is our only business.
S H B A & Co LLP is a specialist chartered accountancy firm that practises exclusively in the assurance domain — bringing absolute independence, undivided focus, and deep professional rigour to every engagement.
At S H B A & Co LLP, we have made a deliberate and irreversible strategic choice: we do not offer consulting, advisory, or implementation services. This is not a limitation — it is a commitment.
When an auditor also advises, structures, or implements, the auditor inevitably examines work they have shaped. This fundamental conflict compromises audit quality, whether or not it is ever visible. We have eliminated that conflict entirely — by design, not by policy.
An audit or assurance firm that also earns fees from consulting is placed in an untenable position: it evaluates systems, transactions, and outcomes it may have designed. The financial incentive to protect advisory revenue can — even subtly — colour professional scepticism. S H B A & Co LLP earns no consulting fees. We have no consulting revenue to protect. Our only commercial interest is the quality of our assurance opinion.
"An assurance professional who also consults cannot be fully independent. One who only assures, always is."
Our firm structure, revenue model, and partner incentives are aligned entirely around assurance. There are no cross-selling imperatives, no advisory P&L targets, no consulting rainmakers. Independence is structural, not attitudinal.
Our partners, managers, and staff develop deep, singular expertise in assurance disciplines. They are not rotated across consulting and audit assignments. Their entire professional identity is built on assurance craft.
The ICAI Code of Ethics and the Companies Act, 2013 place significant restrictions on non-audit services provided to audit clients. Our model ensures these provisions are satisfied not through careful management, but through firm-level architecture.
We communicate clearly that we will not advise, structure, or implement on matters within our assurance scope. Clients know exactly what we will — and will not — do. This clarity builds trust that generalist firms cannot offer.
Professional scepticism is the bedrock of assurance. When no advisory revenue is at stake, when no partner has a consulting relationship to preserve, scepticism is unencumbered. We challenge, probe, and question without hesitation.
Our practice is organised around four specialist assurance verticals. Each is led by partners with deep domain expertise and supported by teams trained exclusively in assurance work. Every engagement we undertake sits within one of these verticals — we do not go beyond them.
Our independent audit practice delivers high-quality statutory and financial statement audits to listed companies, unlisted entities, banks, NBFCs, insurance companies, and not-for-profit organisations. We audit with purpose — to provide genuine assurance to shareholders, boards, regulators, and lenders, not merely to sign off on financial statements.
We follow a risk-based audit methodology aligned with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) issued by the ICAI. Engagement planning is led by the signing partner. We use data analytics to identify anomalies, assess controls, and direct testing effort. Every audit file is subject to Engagement Quality Review (EQR) on listed and high-risk engagements.
Our Risk and Internal Audit practice partners with boards and audit committees to evaluate the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls, risk management frameworks, and governance structures. We function as an independent assurance provider — not a process consultant — delivering findings boards can rely on to make informed governance decisions.
Engagements commence with a risk universe mapping exercise in consultation with the audit committee and management. An annual audit plan is developed, risk-ranked, and approved by the audit committee. Findings are rated by severity (Critical / High / Medium / Low) with root cause analysis and time-bound management action plans tracked to closure.
Our Forensic Reviews practice provides independent, objective, and evidence-based forensic accounting services to boards, audit committees, lenders, insolvency professionals, regulators, and legal counsel. We conduct investigations of alleged financial misconduct, fraud, diversion of funds, and related-party manipulation — producing findings that are defensible, documented, and court-ready where required.
All forensic engagements are structured around a defensible evidence chain. We follow a Scoping → Data Preservation → Analysis → Findings → Reporting sequence with robust chain-of-custody protocols. Reports are prepared to meet evidentiary standards for use before the NCLT, SEBI Adjudicating Officers, DRT, and courts. No findings are shared verbally before written documentation is complete.
Our Tax Assurance practice covers the full spectrum of tax-related assurance engagements — tax audits, certifications, and compliance reviews — where the role is one of independent verification and reporting rather than planning or structuring. We provide assurance on the accuracy and completeness of tax positions, not advice on how to construct them, ensuring a clean demarcation between assurance and advisory.
Tax assurance engagements are clearly scoped to exclude tax advisory functions. We verify, certify, and report — we do not plan or structure. All certifications are issued by qualified Chartered Accountants with direct signing responsibility. We maintain contemporaneous working papers for every certificate, subject to peer review before issuance on material engagements.
Independence checks, conflict screening, client acceptance procedures, and engagement letter execution. We decline engagements where independence cannot be maintained.
Entity understanding, risk identification, materiality determination, analytical procedures, and engagement planning memorandum preparation — all led by the signing partner.
Substantive testing, controls evaluation, data analytics, inquiry, external confirmations, and specialist involvement. All work is documented in structured working papers.
Multi-level working paper review, engagement quality review (EQR) on applicable engagements, partner sign-off, and representation letter process.
Issuance of audit report / assurance opinion, management letter, key audit matters documentation, and post-engagement debrief with the audit committee where applicable.
We run independence checks at engagement acceptance and annually. Any threat to independence — whether self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, or intimidation — results in either safeguard application or engagement withdrawal.
Professional scepticism is mandatory, not optional. We do not accept management representations without corroborating evidence. We challenge, probe, and question — and our independence gives us the freedom to do so without commercial consequence.
Every engagement is subject to our internal quality management system aligned with SQM 1 (ICAI). High-risk and listed company audits are subject to mandatory Engagement Quality Review before report issuance.
The model of large, multi-service professional firms has always carried an inherent tension. As firms grow their advisory revenues, audit becomes a smaller portion of fee income — and independence of thought, however well-intentioned, becomes harder to sustain structurally. S H B A & Co LLP was founded to offer a genuine alternative.
Under the ICAI Code of Ethics (aligned with IESBA), auditors face a self-review threat when they audit systems, processes, or transactions they have designed or implemented. By providing no advisory or implementation services, S H B A & Co LLP eliminates this threat entirely rather than managing it through safeguards.
Section 144 of the Companies Act, 2013 prohibits statutory auditors from rendering specified non-audit services to their audit clients. S H B A & Co LLP does not offer any services covered under Section 144 — to any client, whether or not they are an audit client. Compliance is structural, not managed.
Audit committees are required under SEBI LODR and the Companies Act to consider auditor independence. Engaging an assurance-only firm materially simplifies the audit committee's independence assessment and removes the risk of subsequent regulatory scrutiny over non-audit fee ratios and independence breaches.
Our professionals do not divide their time or develop their careers across consulting and audit. Every partner, every manager, and every associate at S H B A & Co LLP is a specialist in assurance. The depth of technical knowledge — in auditing standards, quality management, forensics, and tax assurance — that emerges from this singular focus is a measurable difference.
Regulators, banks, and institutional investors place higher credence on assurance opinions and certifications issued by independent, conflict-free firms. In an environment of heightened regulatory scrutiny — from NFRA, SEBI, RBI, and the MCA — the provenance of an assurance opinion matters. Ours is unimpeachable.
Forensic investigations, whistleblower inquiries, regulatory inspections, and lender-initiated reviews require an investigator who has no prior advisory relationship with the entity under review, and no commercial incentive to protect. S H B A & Co LLP is uniquely positioned for mandates where objectivity cannot be compromised.
Our assurance expertise spans all major sectors of the Indian economy. We are sector-agnostic in service but sector-informed in approach — bringing contextual understanding of industry-specific accounting treatments, regulatory requirements, and risk profiles to every engagement.
Our quality management system is aligned with SQM 1 as issued by the ICAI, which mirrors the IAASB's ISQM 1. We are prepared for, and welcome, inspection by the National Financial Reporting Authority.
Every engagement is led and signed off by a partner with direct, hands-on involvement. We do not operate as a factory where partners appear only at signing. Partner access is a commitment, not a premium.
We deploy data analytics, automated reconciliation tools, and digital working paper platforms to improve audit quality and efficiency. Technology enhances our scepticism — it does not replace it.
We communicate directly and frankly with audit committees — including matters management may prefer we did not raise. Audit committee independence is only meaningful if their auditor is equally independent.
Audit fees should reflect complexity, risk, and effort — not be artificially compressed as a "door-opener" for consulting revenue. We price audit and assurance work at its true value, which is the only sustainable model.
We clearly document what our engagement covers and what it does not. Scope ambiguity is a source of assurance failure. Every engagement letter, every report, and every certificate is precisely scoped.
Speak with our partners about your assurance requirements. We will tell you clearly what we can do, what we cannot, and whether we are the right firm for your engagement.