Introduction:
Register, in general, refers to making a record of information or data in an organised manner. The record may be of a financial transaction, minutes of board meetings, employee health and family records, and so on. A record once created makes information and data available to all users in the desired format.
Understanding Register:
The act of registering information can happen for one’s own use or for business purposes, such as data collection, data processing, and sharing. Many corporates are involved in data mining to transform data into information. Such companies are involved in data analysis, batch processing, and data storage for specific purposes.
In an era of information technology, data assets are more valuable than financial assets. Creation of records out of data enables future retrieval and further processing for different uses. A register with electronic information can be updated and processed easily. A common example of a register would be a customer register containing the personal details, various shopping dates, average bill value, and so on. Such a register can be used for further analysis and can facilitate business promotion.
From a legal perspective, different types of registers have to be maintained for ensuring compliance with different laws. For example, a company has to maintain a shareholders’ register consisting of names, addresses, PAN, number of shares held, date of purchase, and so on.
Similarly, a company is also required to maintain loan register in respect of amounts lent to various borrowers. The register will contain details of borrower, tenure of the loan, interest rate, collateral, and so on. A register of charges is also maintained by companies containing details of all mortgages and charges against the property of the company.
Conclusion:
A register maintained will serve as a record for the external and internal purposes of the company. The registers can be used for verification of data and information and can be presented before statutory authorities. Certain registers are mandatorily audited during a statutory audit.
