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Duties of an SAO ― introduction

It is the personal responsibility of the SAO, and in fact their main duty, to make sure that the company takes reasonable steps (see below) to establish, maintain and monitor the adequacy of their tax accounting arrangements. This is to ensure the production of accurate tax returns and to enable them to provide a certificate to HMRC after the end of the financial year. The SEO must also identify any areas that do not meet the requirements and disclose these failures to HMRC as part of a certification process. See the Introduction to SAO requirements guidance note for more details on the taxes covered by the regime and the relevant administrative provisions.

The SAO must carry out their duties on an on-going basis. As the certificate covers the systems, processes and controls in place throughout the financial year it is not something that can simply be prepared at the end of the financial year. An issue arising on the first day of the year is as important for SAO