Individual CAs/firms cannot retain two consecutive audit rotation cycles April 18, 2021 Can’t use trade name to bypass company law norms: CA body A proprietary CA firm or an individual chartered accountant will no longer find it easy to retain the audit mandate in a company beyond the stipulated five consecutive years as allowed under the company law. They cannot use their trade name to bypass the norm and bag the audit mandate for the second consecutive term (of five years) in a company, the CA Institute has clarified. The CA Institute has made it clear that a proprietary firm (having a firm registration number) or an individual CA (practising either in his own or trade name) can be appointed auditor of a company only for one term (of five consecutive years). An individual, as a proprietor, cannot use his name, say ABC, as well as his trade name (ABC&Co), to retain the audit mandate for two consecutive audit rotation cycles of five years each.