Kiran, a CA student, was reviewing an audit report of the company when she noticed an 18-digit alphanumeric code below the auditor's signature and…

The 18-digit alpha numeric number noticed by her at the end of the audit report is Unique Document Identification number (UDIN). It is a system generated unique number. It was noticed that financial documents/ certificates attested by third persons misrepresenting themselves as CA Members were misleading the Authorities and Stakeholders. ICAI also received number of complaints of signatures of CAs being forged by non CAs. To curb the malpractices, ICAI implemented the concept of UDIN i.e. Unique Document Identification Number. Chartered Accountants having full-time Certificate of Practice can register on UDIN Portal and generate UDIN by registering the certificates attested/certified by them. An auditor is required to mention the UDIN with respect to each audit report being signed by him, along with his membership number while signing an audit report and Certificates. It is required to be stated in case of audit reports and certificates.