For mutual fund operators, the relationship with your Cayman auditor is crucial to your ability to meet the June 30 FAR deadline. The auditor is the only party permitted to submit a mutual fund FAR to CIMA, which means their capacity, their timeline, and their FAR-specific processes directly determine whether your filing lands on time or triggers an extension.
For private fund operators, the auditor's role in the FAR process is slightly different — another service provider may act as designated submitter — but the auditor's delivery of final financial statements remains the gating item for completing the FAR's financial section. In either case, the conversations you have with your auditor before FAR season begins are among the most consequential compliance planning decisions you will make each year.
Here is what to ask — and what the answers should tell you.
"When will we have draft financial statements?"
This is the most important question. The financial section of the FAR cannot be completed until the audited accounts are finalised, and draft accounts must be available first for cross-referencing. Every week of delay in receiving draft accounts is a week removed from your FAR preparation buffer.
What you want to hear: A specific date commitment — ideally by end of March or mid-April for a December year-end fund — not a vague "Q1" or "before the deadline." If the auditor cannot commit to a date, that is itself a signal about how they manage their workload during peak audit season.
What to watch for: An auditor carrying a very large number of December year-end audit clients may be systematically unable to deliver draft accounts for all of them by April. Ask directly: how many December year-end fund audits does the firm complete each year, and what is the typical delivery timeline across that portfolio?
"Is your REEFS access active and current?"
For mutual funds, the FAR is submitted through CIMA's REEFS portal by the auditor. REEFS access must be actively maintained by the audit firm — it is not automatic and can lapse. A newly approved auditor or one that has had a period of reduced activity may face delays in restoring REEFS access, which can directly affect your submission timeline.
What you want to hear: Confirmation that the firm's REEFS access is current and active, and that the specific team member responsible for your fund's submission has the access they need.
What to watch for: Uncertainty or a need to "check on that" — which suggests it is not being actively monitored.
"How do you validate the FAR before submission?"
A completed FAR form that has not been validated before it reaches REEFS is a risk. CIMA's system will automatically reject a form with missing fields, invalid drop-down selections, or financial data that does not align with what the system expects. A rejection this close to the deadline costs time that may push you into extension territory.
What you want to hear: A clear description of the validation process — whether that is a purpose-built validation tool, a structured internal checklist, or a combination of both — and confirmation that validation happens before the form is uploaded to REEFS, not after.
What to watch for: "We review it carefully before submitting" without any specifics. Manual review alone is not a substitute for systematic validation of every field.
"Have the investment strategy classification codes been updated for this year's filing?"
Since November 2023, CIMA uses an updated investment strategy classification list in the FAR. Teams that prepare the FAR by rolling forward the prior year's form risk submitting a form with deprecated classification codes that fail REEFS validation.
What you want to hear: Confirmation that the team is aware of the November 2023 update, that they download a fresh FAR form from REEFS each year rather than rolling forward the prior year's file, and that the investment strategy field is reviewed and updated annually against the current drop-down list.
What to watch for: Unfamiliarity with the 2023 update — a sign that the FAR may be being prepared by team members who are not keeping current with CIMA's form changes.
"Who is the named person responsible for our FAR submission?"
FAR submissions involve multiple people — a preparer who populates the form, a reviewer who checks it, and a submitter who uploads it to REEFS. In a busy audit firm, accountability can become diffuse if it is not clearly assigned.
What you want to hear: A named individual who is the primary point of accountability for your fund's FAR submission — someone you can contact directly if you have questions, and who owns the timeline from draft accounts through to REEFS confirmation.
What to watch for: "The team handles it" or routing through a general inbox without a named owner. Diffuse accountability is how deadlines slip.
"What happens if we need an extension?"
Even well-prepared funds occasionally need an extension — typically because the audit runs later than planned. Understanding your auditor's process for handling this before the season begins means you are not scrambling to understand your options on June 28.
What you want to hear: The auditor should know that extensions of up to three months are available, that the request must be submitted through REEFS before June 30, that each monthly extension costs CI$625, and that a second or third extension requires a detailed supporting letter from them. They should also be able to confirm they will flag the need for an extension well in advance — not at the last minute.
What to watch for: An auditor who is unfamiliar with the extension process or who treats it as the fund's problem rather than a shared responsibility.
One More Step: Validate Before the Auditor Submits
Even the best-run audit firms benefit from an independent validation of the FAR before it reaches REEFS. Running the completed form through a purpose-built validator — before it leaves your hands and before the auditor submits — gives you a final quality check that sits outside the audit firm's own review process. It is the difference between discovering an error on your terms and discovering it on CIMA's.
Validate your FAR in seconds with our drag-and-drop FAR Validator →
All blog posts are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, regulatory, or compliance advice. Fund operators should always confirm current requirements with CIMA or their legal and regulatory advisors.