ICAI Convocation
As one of the prominent accounting bodies worldwide, The Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has achieved recognition for its
contribution in the fields of education, professional development, maintenance
of high accounting, auditing and ethical standards. The Institute has been
playing a proactive role in formulation and implementation of technical
standards on accounting
Starting with a handful of about 1700 members,today, the strength of Chartered Accountant
fraternity has grown to over 2.36 lakh members. On the education front, the
ICAI began with mere 259 students and today more than 8.52 lakh active students
are a part of ICAI. The ICAI has 5 Regional offices and 147 branches all across
the country.The ICAI overseas Chapters continue to spearhead ICAI work program
in 23 important jurisdictions globally.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
To take part in the cleanliness drive to mark “Good Governance Day” the
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Varanasi on Dec 25’14. During the
visit, Hon’ble Prime Minister nominated the Institute of Chartered Accountants
of India (ICAI) for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in addition to other
personalities and organisations.
While announcing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014, Hon’ble Prime Minister had nominated few eminent personalities to take
forward this campaign. It is an honour that while reviewing the progress of
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Varanasi, Hon’ble Prime Minister has nominated ICAI
among others.
Highlights of the ICAI Contribution in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan would be:
· To have special
cleanliness drive in all offices, branches, ITT Centres, reading rooms, library,
auditoriums etc.
· Awareness campaigns
through the vast network of 5 regional councils and 147 branches.
· Constitution of
special dedicated committees, promoting paperless environment.
· Raising awareness
through competitions, walkathons and workshops.
· Organizing Swachhata Saptah – Cleanliness Week.
· Fixation of sufficient
number of waste bins with slogans and encourage people/staff/visitors to use
them.
2.36 lakh members & over 8.52 lakh students of ICAI are spread
across the country and will play a vital role in taking this initiative of the
Prime Minister forward and make a success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
MoU with Employee’s Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
ICAI through its research arm, ICAI Accounting Research Foundation
(ICAI ARF) has recently signed a MoU with Employee’s Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO). As per the MoU, ICAI ARF will undertake a Pilot Study
Project with EPFO to support it in its initiative to migrate to
Accrual Based Accounting System. The project with EPFO represents the first
phase wherein the ICAI ARF will study EPFO’s existing accounting system with an
intent to design the strategy for a smooth migration and transition to accrual
system of accounting.
ICAI ARF will submit a “Report on the Migration Strategy at EPFO” which
will form the basis of the next phases of the accounting system
migration project. The project offers a unique opportunity to study the complex
accounting aspects of the sovereign fund from a professional perspective.
The accrual accounting system will further allow EPFO to structure a
financial management and reporting framework aligned to the international
standards. The proposed system is also expected to provide for improved levels
of financial management and performance evaluation to support EPFO’s
objective to continue to strive to provide best services for the overall
benefit of its subscribers.
Inauguration of 24th Overseas Chapter in Vancouver, Canada
To establish the footprints and marks of excellence of the Indian CAs across the globe through a strong network of foreign chapters, which
presently have more than 12,000 members in their fold, recently the 24th
Overseas Chapter was inaugurated in Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada,
which has a sizeable number of Indian accounting professionals working for the
growth of the region.
A combined Canadian accounting profession, built on the strengths of the
three legacy designations (Chartered Accountant, Certified Management
Accountant and Certified General Accountant) has a total membership of over
1.90 lac. This chapter will prove to be immensely useful for Indian CAs in the
region and would network with the members of Accounting Institutes across
Canada.
Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with ICAEW
As part of the drive to strengthen aassociation with International
Accounting Bodies, ICAI renewed the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) on the
sidelines of the World Congress of Accountants concluded in Rome. This MRA
will benefit members of both the accounting bodies.
International Conference: 2014-15 in Bangalore
ICAI is organising 3 days International Conference on the theme ‘Accountancy Profession: Building Global Competitiveness; Accelerating
Growth’ from January 29-31, 2015 atBangalore Palace, Bengaluru.
The Conference is spread into 11 technical sessions and panel discussions. The
Conf. will also witness parallel sessions on Women and Young members.
Special pavilions will be set up for Technology, International Initiatives,
IFRS and Small and Medium Practitioners. For the ease of delegates, a Mobile
App and a registration website have also been put in place. During the
Conference, SAFA meetings will also be organised alongside. The Conference is
likely to have participants not only from pan India but also a galaxy of
International speakers from industry, government and other regulatory
constituents are likely to attend the Conference.
StrengtheningRegulatory Mechanisms
As part of ICAI’s continuous drive to uphold the credibility, integrity
and image of the accountancy profession in India, the regulatory mechanism of
ICAI is working assiduously. Disciplinary Directorate of ICAI has been taking
disciplinary action against its errant members as per the provisions of the
Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006 and Rules framed there under. In
the wake of Satyam scam, ICAI has already completed probe & in the Rs 870
crore Reebok Scam, the proceedings are on by ICAI. While law takes its own
course, ICAI is committed to ensure justice in all disciplinary cases and
thereby upholding the values of Excellence, Independence and Integrity which
form the benchmarks of the profession.
ICAI Corporate Forum 2014
ICAI will be organizing the Corporate Forum 2014 on 31st January and 1st February, 2015 in Mumbai. This mega event will comprise three concurrent
events viz., Corporate Conclave, Financial Services Expo and ICAI Awards, 2014.
Current Issues impacting the Profession
§ ICAI’s way forward for Implementation of Ind AS: The Government has accepted the recommendations of ICAI with regard to
the roadmap for implementation of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) for
companies other than banking companies, insurance companies and NBFCs.
ICAI had recommended this roadmap to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) in
August 2014, subsequent to the Budget statement of the Hon’ble Finance Minister
to implement the Indian Accounting Standards converged with International
Financial Reporting Standards on voluntary basis from 1st April, 2015 and on mandatory basis from 1st April, 2016.
Ever since the notification of Indian Accounting Standards converged
with IFRS by MCA in February 2011, the ICAI has been in the process of
updating, revising and issuing new Ind AS converged with IFRS issued by the
IASB after 2011 so that when the country moves towards implementation of the
Ind AS, the same should be at par with the IFRS currently in force
internationally as well. As a consequence to this preparedness, ICAI was
able to revise all the Ind AS and issued the new Ind AS converged with IFRS and
submitted them on timely basis to the National Advisory Committee on Accounting
Standards (NACAS) constituted by the MCA. The NACAS has also completed
the exercise and recommended all the Ind AS to the MCA last month. It is
expected that the Ministry will notify the new set of Ind AS shortly.
ICAI recognises that notification of the Ind AS is only the first step
though an important one. To be effective, the Ind AS have to be
implemented in the same way as they are implemented internationally.
Since the Ind AS require generation of new type of financial information which
is to be reported in the Ind AS-compliant financial statements, the systems of
the companies need to be modified appropriately to generate such information.
Further, not only the professionals involved in the preparation of financial
statements as per Ind AS need to have the necessary skill-sets to implement the
Ind AS as these require judgements and estimates to be made which were hitherto
not required, but also the auditors need to upgrade their skills in this
regard. ICAI through its IFRS certification course has already trained
large number of professionals.
Going forward, the ICAI plans to gear up its capacity building
endeavours in a focused manner. The ICAI is planning to hold chain seminars
throughout the country with a view to develop the necessary skills and
knowledge for smooth and effective implementation of the Ind AS. To begin with,
ICAI is holding a workshop on January 15, 2015 of companies that have
experience of preparing IFRS financial statements, to discuss the first-time
adoption issues. The ICAI also plans to bring out educational materials for all
Ind AS (it may be noted that the education materials for 7 Ind AS have already
released). The ICAI also plans to launch the Ind AS in the electronic
form so that the professionals and others concerned may use the contents of the
Ind AS in a more effective manner.
As per the roadmap, after the initial phase of Ind AS becoming mandatory
from 1st April, 2016 whereby about 550 listed companies are expected to implement
the Ind AS (the number would be higher if unlisted companies having net worth
of more than Rs. 500 crore are also covered). This number is likely to
increase next year as all the listed companies and unlisted companies having
networth of more than Rs. 250 crores will get covered in the next year.
Further, banks, NBFCs and Insurance Companies are expected to move to
Ind AS 2-3 years thereafter. Accordingly, over the next few years more and
more entities will apply Ind AS on mandatory basis while a few do so on
voluntary basis with a view to bring their financial statements at the
international level. The ICAI has accordingly geared itself on long-term
basis to meet the challenges in the implementation of IFRS.
§ Companies Amendment Bill 2014: The Companies Act,
2013 had specified a new reporting requirement for the statutory auditors of
companies. Under Section 143(12) of the Companies Act, 2013 the auditor was
required to report on frauds/ suspected frauds in
certain situations laid down in the section. Considering the
challenges for the auditors in reporting under this section, ICAI had made
several representations to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) from time to
time.
The Ministry has been proactive in considering the views and suggestions
of ICAI and actively reviewed some of the issues stemming from the new
Companies Act taking into account the interest of the stakeholders at large.
ICAI had strongly represented to MCA on Fraud Reporting submitting that concept
of materiality should be introduced and certain threshold limits should be
specified for reporting on fraud by the auditor.
The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014 was passed by Lok Sabha on December
17’14. The Government has brought out a significant amendment pertaining to
Section 143 (12) – Fraud Reporting. It was one of the strong concerns of ICAI
as the provisions in the Act required that a fraud involving a minimal amount
should also be reported to the Government.
According to the amendment issued by the Government now the auditor
would be required to report fraud to the Government above the mandated
threshold limit. Any fraud below the threshold limit would have to be reported
to the Audit Committee/ Board. Further, the amendment also provides for the
companies whose auditors have reported frauds under this sub-section to the
audit committee or the Board but not reported to the Central Government, shall
disclose the details about such frauds in the Board’s report.
ICAI would soon come out with the Guidance Note on Fraud Reporting
for members.
§ Guidance Note on Reporting on Internal Financial Controls: The said Guidance Notehas been approved by ICAI. The Guidance Note will serve as a
guidepost for the members to report on adequacy and effectiveness of internal
financial controls under section 143(3) (i) of the Companies Act, 2013.
With regard to the fact that reporting on internal financial controls is
a very onerous responsibility cast on the auditors by the Companies Act 2013,
in addition to issuing the Guidance Note, ICAI will be training the members on
how to appropriately implement the requirements of this Guidance Note.
§ Reporting on Internal Financial Control u/s 143 (3) (i) of the Companies
Act, 2013 deferred for one year i.e. up to 01.04.2015: Based on ICAI suggestion, MCA has amended Rules for Chapter 10
(Audit and Auditors) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Reporting on Internal
Financial Control u/s 143 (3) (i) of the Companies Act, 2013 has
been deferred for one year i.e., up to 31.03.2015. The auditor
shall report on the existence of adequate internal financial control and
its operational effectiveness for the financial years on or after
01.04.2015. The auditor may voluntarily report for the year from 01.04.2014 to
31.03.2015.
§ Exemption from preparation of CFS u/s 129 by an Intermediate wholly
owned subsidiary, other than a wholly owned subsidiary whose immediate parent
is incorporated outside India and also to companies having only associates and
joint ventures for one year: MCA has amended Rules for Chapter
9 (Accounts of Companies) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Exemption
from preparation of Consolidated Financial Statement by an Intermediate wholly
owned subsidiary, other than a wholly owned subsidiary whose immediate parent
is incorporated outside India. Further, any company that does not have
subsidiary but have one or more associates and joint ventures are not required
to prepared Consolidated Financial Statements for the current financial
year ending on 31.03.2015.
Latest Initiatives undertaken
Four New Certificate Courses to Promote Specialisation: In the wake of growing business complexities, knowledge requirements,
regulatory & legal changes and client expectations, specialists will be
preferred over generalists in future. Taking due note of this emerging
scenario, ICAI had been offering various Certificate Courses for its members,
14 Certificate Courses are being offered by ICAI. To keep up the momentum of
this drive, recently 4 more Certificate Courses were launched by ICAI to help
members build new skill sets.
These include courses on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),’
‘Financial Markets and Securities Laws,’ ‘Wealth Management & Financial
Planning,’ and ‘Information Systems Security’. These new courses aim to make
the members specialise in emerging new-age domains and tap the vast career
opportunities in the respective fields.
Independent Directors Repository Operational zed: Under the active encouragement of the MCA, the 3 Professional Institutes,
namely, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, The Institute of
Company Secretaries of India and The Institute of Cost Accountants of India
have taken a joint initiative and have developed a portal namely “Independent Directors Repository”. The portal is
now operational and would help to facilitate the individuals who are eligible
and willing to act as Independent Directors. This will also facilitate
Companies to select the persons who are eligible and willing to act as
Independent Directors. The URL of the portal is http://independentdirector.in .
Women Empowerment Initiatives: To provide the
women members a medium through which they can explore suitable opportunities
which provide part time jobs, jobs with flexi hours or jobs with work from home
option, ICAI had launched a ‘Flexi Working Portal for Women Members’. Besides
providing job opportunities, it will also have important announcements of ICAI,
details of events, success stories and articles by women professionals, and
feature a section on health tips. This portal will not only serve the interest
of women members but will also enable CA Firms and industry to tap talent pool
which might not be accessible otherwise in normal course. To make effective use
of this initiative the members are required to post job requirement(s) having
option to work part time or flexi hours on this portal (http://womenportal.icai.org/).
With the aim of giving women members an opportunity to know about the
significant global developments pertaining to women leadership, ICAI organised
‘South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Women Empowerment Programme’. The
Programme provided an opportunity to the women participants to gain insights
into the global issues pertaining to their professional sphere and to have a
common platform to interact and share their views and concerns.
Campus Placement Programme: Campus Placement
Programme provides an opportunity to the employers to interact with newly
qualified Chartered Accountants peruse their particulars and recruit the
suitable candidate in their organizations. The Placement programme is organized
twice in a year in the months of Feb – March & August – September.
Campus Placement Programme, February- March, 2014 was organized at 15
centers.
§ The Highest salary offered for Domestic posting was Rs. 21 lacs Per
Annum
§ The Highest salary offered for International posting was Rs. 20.25 Lacs
per annum
§ The average CTC offered was approx Rs 7.37 Lacs Per Annum.
§ Organizations like Axis Bank Ltd., Blue Dart Express Ltd, CIPLA Ltd,
Cognizant Technologies Services Pvt Ltd, CRISIL Ltd , Deutsche CIB Centre
Private Limited, JET Airways ,TATA Capital Limited, TRIDENT Limited and many
more participated in the Campus Placement Program.
Campus Placement Programme-August, September & October, 2014 was
organized at 19 centers
§ The Highest salary offered for Domestic posting was Rs. 17 lacs Per
Annum
§ The Highest salary offered for International posting was Rs. 24 Lacs per
annum
§ The average CTC offered was approx Rs 7.28 Lacs Per Annum.
§ Organizations like Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., The Federal Bank
Limited, ITC Limited, Barclays Shared Service Pvt. Ltd., ICICI Prudential Life
Insurance Co. Ltd., Cairn India Ltd., Coca Cola India Inc., L&T, Marriot
Hotel, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. & Alghanim Ltd., Wipro Limited, Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Limited, Genpact AIG, Bosch Limited, Reliance
Industries Ltd., Engineers India Ltd., GAIL India Ltd., Indraprastha Gas
Ltd. etc. and many more participated in the Campus Placement Program.
Students Initiatives
The ICAI has always been pro-active in designing education and training
schemes so as to produce competent professional Chartered Accountants.
The ICAI is aware of the demands of modern dynamic society and therefore
the CA course is regularly updated and revised so that the students
should acquaint themselves with the latest in the fields of accounting,
auditing, finance, IT and should remain ahead of times.
New Syllabus likely from 2016: With a vision that
accountancy profession and accountancy education should constantly go hand in
hand with global academic, technological and economic advancements, new scheme
for CA Education and Training is ready for final consideration of the Council
of ICAI. The new CA Course is likely to be announced from the year 2016. The
whole syllabus for CA proficiency test to CA final has been minutely
scrutinized and changes have been proposed to make the course more practical in
approach to meet the requirements of today’s competitive market.
§ Cloud Campus a next generation interactive
learning management system for CA students was launched with an objective to
provide quality education at the doorsteps of students, enabling them to learn
anytime and from anywhere at the click of a button and that too Free of Cost.
The Cloud Campus provides following value additions for the benefit of
Students:
§ Video Lectures on practical problem solving subjects – Step-By-Step
teaching on Blackboard.
§ Articled Training Resources including checklists to assist in audit.
§ Online Mentoring from experienced faculty members. Students are able to
ask queries on the session/ event topic, which would get answered subject to
availability of time and relevance. 11 mentoring sessions have been organized.
§ Integration – Navigation/ linking of six portals for easy access – (a)
e-Learning LMS, (b) BoS Knowledge Portal, (c) Webcasts, (d) Online Registration
Portal for GMCS/ OP/ ITT, (e) Examination Portal and (f) Articleship Placement
Portal.
§ Formation of Committee for Review of Education and Training (CRET)-Accountancy profession has been keeping pace with changing times and
advancements made globally in the fields of academics, technology and
economics. ICAI has been making a periodic review of the CA education and
training schemes. CRET (Committee on Review of Education and Training) was
constituted to make a comprehensive review of the entire structure of Education
and Training Scheme for the Chartered Accountancy course . The CRET broadly
focuses on five main areas, namely, Entry Requirement, Practical Training,
Course Curriculum, Examination System and Accounting Technician Course. This
initiative will go a long way in benchmarking CA education with the best in the
world.
§ Opening of Reading Rooms: With a view to
provide a conducive atmosphere to the students, who are coming from different
sections of the society, the ICAI is encouraging branches to open more and more
additional reading rooms and for this initiative the Institute will be giving
them capital grant. As on date, 100 Reading Rooms/Libraries are in
operation across the country.
§ Endowment with Universities: With a view to
popularize CA course among the university students, endowment fund is created
by ICAI with various universities for the award of “Gold Medal” to the topper
of B.Com (Hon.)/B.Com (P) where B.Com (Hon.) Course is not offered) of the
university. Recently, ICAI has created endowments at Karnataka State Open
University, Mysore and Sikkim University, Gangtok for the award of Gold Medal
for B.Com (Hons.) examination. Till date, ICAI has created 54 endowments.
§ Revision of the Syllabus:Considering the developments in
respect of notification of new 184 Sections of the Companies Act, 2013,it has
been decided that a clear road map need to be laid out for applicability of new
Sections for November, 2014 examinations. ICAI has accordingly revised the
syllabus of some of the papers in a comprehensive manner so as to keep in tune
with the Companies Act, 2013 and accordingly recommended that recently notified
184 Sections be made applicable for May, 2015 Examination and onwards.
§ e-Learning on the Students Learning Management System (LMS) athttp://studentslms.icai.org: The Students LMS tracks the learning and
development by students in terms of e-Lectures available, visited and
completed. The students are also provided with a Self Assessment Quiz
after each chapter, to enable students to make a self assessment of their
preparation for forthcoming examination. The e-Lectures on the Students LMS are
mobile-enabled and access to e-learning is free. The e-Learning facility aims
to supplement the Study Material, Practice Manual and other content provided to
the students.
§ Online Answer Books:As a green initiative, students are
now provided certified copies of their answer books in soft copies. Through a
secure login identity and password intimated to them, they can visit the
particular site and view their answer books at their convenience.
§ Online Correction Post-Submission: Even after
submission of examination forms, students have another opportunity to correct
the particulars online, i.e. athttp://icaiexam.icai.org, including change
of examination centre, group and medium, etc. This link called Correction
Window will enable them to communicate online with our Examination Department
for making corrections in the examination forms.
§ Help to Differently-abled Students: ICAI has empanelled writers / scribes for differently-abled students in
major cities approx 15 cities to begin with, effective with May 2014
examinations. A city-wise panel of 38 eligible writers/scribes is already there
on ICAI website. Effective from November 2014, ICAI will soon extend the
facility of providing computers to differently-abled students for writing their
answers with suitable safeguards so as to avoid any possibility of its misuse.
§ Four New Examination Cities : For the convenience of the students, chartered accountants examinations
are being extended to 4 new examination cities i.e. at Tirunelveli (Tamil
Nadu), Ongole (Andhra Pradesh) Dhule (Maharashtra) and Anantapur (Andhra
Pradesh) effective from November, 2014 examinations.
Other Initiatives undertaken during the year
§ ICAI Digital Library: The library was launched which is a
comprehensive repository of various digital Publications, E-books, Journals
etc. It would offer online resources subscribed by the ICAI to its members to
help and assist in higher education and Professional development. ICAI Digital
Library is a one stop destination for readily usable resources. Its robust
searching mechanism makes it effortless to find what you are looking for.
§ ICAI Online Store: This portal offers its facilities for
students, members and public at large. It would enable end users to purchase
ICAI publications, ICAI stationary items and ICAI E-learning CD’s online.
Anyone interested can generate their own account including that of dashboard on
this portal so as to have a record of all transactions made therein past and
present. This portal also has the facilities of online shopping carts with all
important features like Wish list, My Cart etc.
§ Launch of Global Career E Kit: The world today is operating at new dynamics and the globalization has
unfolded new vistas of opportunities for all professionals including Chartered
Accountants. In order to enable the ICAI members to capitalize such
opportunities, the ICAI has prepared Career E kits for various countries. These
kits will provide panoramic view of the primary information to the members
intending to go abroad for professional forays. The Global Career E-Kit covers
general information of related jurisdiction such as demographic details,
economic environment, useful business information, visa requirements
etc.In addition, useful information such as contact details of local chapter,
information on MoU/MRA and FAQs for members abroad is also included in these
E-Kits.
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