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University · Companies Act 2013

Company Audit Ceiling Checker. Checker.

Section 141(3)(g): 20 company audits per partner. Only public companies and private companies with paid-up capital ≥ ₹100 crore count — OPC, dormant, small companies and smaller private companies don't. Firm capacity, used vs available, per partner.

Partner-by-partner

Enter each partner’s company-audit count

PartnerPublic cosPrivate ≥100 CrPrivate <100 Cr (excl)OPC (excl)Dormant (excl)Small co (excl)CountedRemaining
137
713
Firm totalPer-partner cap — each partner tested individually against 202040
Partner 1
WITHIN CAP
13
/ 20
Also handles 21 excluded-category audits (OPC / dormant / small / private < ₹100 Cr) — not counted toward the ceiling.
Partner 2
WITHIN CAP
7
/ 20
Also handles 31 excluded-category audits (OPC / dormant / small / private < ₹100 Cr) — not counted toward the ceiling.

A different ceiling, a different count.

Section 141(3)(g)’s 20-company ceiling is a statutory audit limit under the Companies Act — separate from ICAI’s 60-tax-audit-per-CA ceiling under Section 44AB of the Income-tax Act. A partner can be well within one cap and close to breaching the other; they don’t share a pool and aren’t computed the same way.

ICAI 60 tax-audit cap calculatorSmall company checker
Two ceilings to track

Statutory audits and tax audits don’t share a cap — firm-wide.

CORAA's engagement register tracks both the Sec 141(3)(g) statutory-audit ceiling and the ICAI 60 tax-audit cap against every partner automatically, so neither limit gets discovered at signing.

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How the Section 141(3)(g) 20-company ceiling works

Section 141(3)(g) of the Companies Act 2013 disqualifies a person (or a partner of a firm) from being appointed or reappointed as auditor if, at the date of appointment, they already hold appointment as auditor of 20 or more companies. The ceiling is strictly PER PARTNER — a firm's total capacity is simply partners × 20, with no pooling: one partner cannot "lend" unused capacity to another.

The Explanation to Sec 141(3)(g) narrows what actually counts toward the 20: the number is "reckoned exclusive of one person companies, dormant companies, small companies and private companies having paid-up share capital of less than one hundred crore rupees." In practice, that means only two categories count — public companies of any size, and private companies with paid-up share capital of ₹100 crore or more. Everything else — OPCs, dormant companies, Sec 2(85) small companies, and private companies below the ₹100 Cr paid-up threshold — is excluded from the count entirely, however many of them a partner signs.

This is a materially different ceiling from ICAI's 60-tax-audit-per-CA cap under Section 44AB of the Income-tax Act: different statute, different counted population, different aggregation rules (the tax-audit cap aggregates a CA across every firm they are a partner in; the Sec 141(3)(g) ceiling is tested per firm, per partner, for statutory company audits specifically).

Worked example — one partner near the ceiling

Partner A audits 9 public companies, 6 private companies with paid-up capital of ₹150 Cr each, plus 15 private companies each below ₹100 Cr paid-up and 4 small companies.

Inputs
Public companies9 — counted
Private ≥ ₹100 Cr6 — counted
Private < ₹100 Cr15 — excluded
Small companies4 — excluded
Output
Counted toward the 20 cap9 + 6 = 15
Remaining capacity5
StatusWithin cap
Total audits actually held34 (15 counted + 19 excluded)
Partner A physically signs 34 audit reports but only 15 count against the Sec 141(3)(g) ceiling — the 15 private companies below ₹100 Cr and 4 small companies are excluded by the Explanation, regardless of how many there are. There is still room for 5 more public companies or ₹100 Cr+ private companies before the ceiling bites.

Common mistakes

Counting every audit, not just the ones the Explanation counts
Only public companies and private companies with paid-up capital ≥ ₹100 crore count toward the 20. A partner auditing 100 small companies and 50 OPCs is not anywhere near the ceiling — none of them count.
Pooling capacity across partners
The cap is strictly per-partner. A 4-partner firm has 80 total slots ONLY IF each partner individually stays at or under 20 — one partner at 25 breaches the ceiling even if the firm-wide average is well under 20.
Missing that ₹100 Cr paid-up is the private-company trigger, not turnover
The Explanation is keyed to PAID-UP SHARE CAPITAL, not turnover or net worth. A private company with ₹500 Cr turnover but ₹80 Cr paid-up capital is still excluded from the count.
Confusing this with the ICAI 60 tax-audit cap
Sec 141(3)(g) governs company (statutory) audits under the Companies Act. The 60-audit ceiling is a separate ICAI restriction on Section 44AB tax audits under the Income-tax Act, with its own counted population and its own cross-firm aggregation rule. A partner can be at the ceiling on one and nowhere near it on the other.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Section 141(3)(g) company audit ceiling?+
A person, or a partner of an audit firm, cannot be appointed or reappointed as auditor of more than 20 companies at a time. It is a per-partner ceiling — a firm's total capacity is partners × 20, with no pooling between partners.
Which companies count toward the 20?+
Per the Explanation to Sec 141(3)(g): public companies of any size, and private companies with paid-up share capital of ₹100 crore or more. Everything else is excluded from the count.
Which companies are excluded from the count?+
One Person Companies, dormant companies (Sec 455), small companies (Sec 2(85)), and private companies with paid-up share capital below ₹100 crore. A partner can hold any number of audits in these categories without it affecting the 20-company ceiling.
Can partners pool their unused capacity?+
No. The ceiling is tested individually for each partner. A firm with 5 partners has a theoretical capacity of 100, but only if no single partner individually exceeds 20 — one partner at 25 is a breach regardless of how few audits the other partners hold.
Is this the same as the ICAI 60 tax-audit cap?+
No — different statute, different scope. Sec 141(3)(g) is a Companies Act ceiling on statutory company audits. The 60-audit cap is an ICAI Council restriction on Section 44AB tax audits under the Income-tax Act, aggregated across every firm a CA is a partner in. The two ceilings are tracked independently.
What happens on breach?+
A person who already holds 20 (counted) company audits is disqualified under Sec 141(3)(g) from accepting appointment as auditor of a 21st counted company — the appointment itself would be invalid, and accepting it can expose the auditor to disciplinary consequences under the Chartered Accountants Act 1949.

Authoritative sources

Section 141(3)(g), Companies Act 2013 — Explanation — The Explanation to clause (g) sets out the exclusion list (OPC, dormant, small company, private company with paid-up capital < ₹100 crore) verbatim. A stable, long-standing provision — no recent amendment on record as of this review.
Always confirm against the latest version of the source. Regulations evolve and amendments are common.
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ICAI 60 tax-audit cap calculator →Small company checker — Sec 2(85) →ROC compliance calendar generator →CARO 2020 applicability checker →
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-29 · For informational purposes only — not professional advice.