Companies may have to postpone their annual financial health checks due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the UK’s accounting regulator has warned, as it grapples with the “practical difficulties in carrying out audits” caused by travel bans and quarantines.

In an update on 16 March, the Financial Reporting Council said: “In current circumstances, additional time may be required to complete audits and it is important that this is taken, even at the risk of delaying company reporting.”