CORAA

Management Letter Format — SA 265 Deficiency Communication

The SA 265 management letter ready for your letterhead: significant deficiencies for TCWG, other deficiencies for management, root cause → effect → recommendation → response columns, and prior-year status tracking — editable in Word.

Free · CORAA original — SA-aligned
Updated 18 Jul 2026
Standard
SA 265 — Communicating Deficiencies in Internal Control
Split
Significant (TCWG, in writing) vs other deficiencies
Columns
Root cause → effect → recommendation → response
Tracks
Prior-year point status
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Your firm — letterhead
Appears at the top of the document as the audit firm letterhead.
Used as the letterhead block.
Engagement details
The client and period this document is for.
What’s inside

An excerpt from the template.

MANAGEMENT LETTER — COMMUNICATION OF DEFICIENCIES IN INTERNAL CONTROL (SA 265)

To: The Board of Directors / Those Charged with Governance, ___ · Year ended: ___

In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements, we considered internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control. This letter communicates deficiencies in internal control identified during the audit, as required by SA 265 (Communicating Deficiencies in Internal Control to Those Charged with Governance and Management). It does not modify our report on the financial statements, and the matters below are limited to deficiencies that came to our attention during normal audit procedures.

Part A — Significant deficiencies (communicated to TCWG in writing, SA 265 para 9)

↑ Excerpt only — the full template is what you download as Word
About this template

What you’re downloading, and when to use it.

This template follows the format published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the AASB Audit Working Paper Templates (June 2023), the authoritative reference for Indian statutory-audit documentation. Fill in your firm’s letterhead and the engagement details on the form above, click Download Word file, and you’ll get a fully formatted .docx ready to use.

Everything is generated in your browser and on a stateless API endpoint — no account, no email gate, nothing stored. Edit freely in Word, Google Docs or Pages before sending to your client.

Common questions

FAQs.

What is the difference between a significant deficiency and an other deficiency?
A significant deficiency is one that, in the auditor’s professional judgment, merits the attention of those charged with governance — judged by the likelihood and potential magnitude of misstatement, fraud susceptibility, and exposure. SA 265 requires significant deficiencies to be communicated to TCWG in writing on a timely basis; other deficiencies of merit go to the appropriate level of management.
Is a management letter mandatory in every audit?
The letter itself is convention; the communication is mandatory. SA 265 requires written communication of significant deficiencies to TCWG whenever they are identified. If no deficiencies were identified, no letter is required — but where any exist, the written form protects both the client (actionable detail) and the auditor (documented discharge of the duty).
Does the management letter modify the audit report?
No. It is a by-product communication — deficiencies noted while obtaining an understanding of internal control for the audit, not an opinion on control effectiveness. Where the entity requires ICFR reporting under Sec 143(3)(i), that opinion is separate; material weaknesses there have report consequences the management letter does not.
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