A firm of Company Secretaries is to be engaged as professional experts in due diligence process. What are the preconditions of accepting the professional engagement by the firm to maintain the quality?

Pre-conditions of accepting professional engagement by a firm of Company Secretaries Prior to acceptance of any engagement, the firm, in order to establish whether the preconditions for a professional assignment are present, shall: (a) Determine whether the reporting framework to be applied in the preparation, audit, review of the secretarial/ non-financial statements is acceptable; and (b) Obtain the agreement of management that it acknowledges and understands its responsibility: i. For the preparation of the secretarial/non-financial statements in accordance with the applicable reporting framework, including where relevant their fair presentation; ii. For such internal control/systems/procedure as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of secretarial/ non-financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; and iii. To provide the firm with: a) Access to all information of which management is aware that is relevant to the preparation/audit/review etc. of the secretarial/ non- financial statements such as records, documentation and other matters; b) Additional information that the firm may request from management for the relevant purpose; and c) Unrestricted access to persons within the entity from whom the auditor determines it necessary to obtain audit evidence.