• Statutory material governing the conduct, accounts and audit of the enterprise. These documents should be availed so that the nature of the business can be ascertained e.g. for a company, the Companies Act should be in the permanent file, for a partnership, a partnership deed would be necessary.
• Rules and regulations of the enterprise. This means Memorandum of Association for a company or a partnership agreement for a partnership. These documents are necessary at any one time to settle any disputes should they arise.
• An organizational Chart. This shows the various departments and their heads.This information is important to ensure accountability in decision making.
• Lists of books and other records and where they are kept, names, positions,specimen signatures and initials of persons responsible for books and documents. This ensures certain people will be responsible in the event of their loss or destruction.
• List of accounting matters of importance e.g. accounting policies used for material areas such as stock, work-in-progress, depreciation e.t.c. This ensures consistency.
• An outline history of the organization. Special mention should be made of the history of the reserves, provisions, share capital and acquisition of subsidiaries. This verifies that the firm‘s finances are well managed within the proper legal framework.
