Funds erstwhile auditor needed for hearing (9)
I believe the answer is:
exchequer
'funds' is the definition.
(exchequer is a kind of funds)
'erstwhile auditor needed for hearing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'erstwhile' could be 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime) and 'ex' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'chequer' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exchequer that I've seen before include "National treasury" , "Purse" , "Department in charge of a nation's finances" , "old government office" , "Bank of England account" .)