International Affiliations
[edit]Motto and mission
New CA Logo for exclusive use by Chartered Accountants
The
motto of the ICAI is
Ya Aeshu Suptaeshu Jagruti (
Sanskrit:या एष सुप्तेषु जागति). The
mottoliterally means "a person who is awake in those that sleep". It is a
quotation from the
Upanishads (Kathopanishad). It was given to the ICAI at the time of its formation in 1949 by
Sri Aurobindo[9] as a part of its emblem. CA. C. S. Shastri, a Chartered Accountant from
Chennaiwent to Sri Aurobindo and requested him through a letter to give an emblem to the newly formed Institute of which he was an elected member from the
Southern India. In reply to this request, Sri Aurobindo gave him the emblem with a
Garuda, the
mythical eagle in the centre and a quotation from the Upanishad:Ya Aeshu Suptaeshu Jagruti. The emblem along with the motto was placed at the first meeting of the Council of the Institute and was accepted amongst many other emblems placed by other members of the Council.
Apart from its emblem, ICAI also has a separate logo for its members. As a part of a
brandbuilding exercise, ICAI introduced this separate new CA logo for the use of its members in 2007.
[10] The logo is free for use by all members of ICAI subject to certain conditions.
[11] The logo was launched by the then Minister of Corporate Affairs,
Prem Chand Gupta at the occasion of the Chartered Accountant Day (1 July). Members of ICAI cannot use the ICAI emblem, but they are encouraged to use the CA logo instead on their official stationery.
The Mission of the ICAI as stated by it is: “The Indian Chartered Accountancy profession will be the Valued Trustees of World Class Financial Competencies, Good Governance and Competitiveness.”
[12]
[edit]History
Government Diploma in Accountancy Certificate
The Companies Act, 1913 passed in
pre-independent India prescribed various books which had to be maintained by a Company registered under that Act. It also required the appointment of a formal
Auditor with prescribed qualifications to audit such records. In order to act as an auditor a person had to acquire a restricted certificate from the local government upon such conditions as may be prescribed. The holder of a restricted certificate was allowed to practice only within the province of issue and in the language specified in the restricted certificate. In 1918 a course called Government
Diploma in
Accountancy was launched in
Bombay (now known as
Mumbai). On passing this diploma and completion of three years of articled training under an approved
accountant, a person was held eligible for grant of an unrestricted certificate. This certificate entitled the holder to practice as an auditor throughout India. Later on the issue of restricted certificates was discontinued in the year 1920.
In the year 1930 it was decided that the
Government of India should maintain a register called the Register of Accountants. Any person whose name was entered in such register was called a
Registered Accountant.
[13] Later on a board called the Indian Accountancy Board was established to advise the
Governor General of India on accountancy and the qualifications for auditors. However it was felt that the accountancy profession was largely unregulated, and this caused lots of confusion as regards the qualifications of auditors. Hence in the year 1948, just after
independence in 1947, an expert committee was created to look into the matter.
[14] This expert committee recommended that a separate
autonomous association of accountants should be formed to regulate the profession. The Government of India accepted the recommendation and passed the Chartered Accountants Act in 1949 even before India became a republic. Under section 3 of the said Act, ICAI is established as a
body corporate with
perpetual succession and a
common seal.
Unlike most other
commonwealth countries, the word chartered does not refer to a
royal charter, since India is a
republic. At the time of passing the Chartered Accountants Act, various titles used for similar
professionals in other countries were considered, such as
Certified Public Accountant.
[15] However, many accountants had already acquired membership of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and other Chartered Societies of
Great Britain and were practising as Chartered Accountants. This had created some sort of brand value. This designation inherited a public impression that Chartered Accountants had better qualifications than Registered Accountants.
[16] Hence the accountants were very stern in their stand that, the Indian accountancy professionals should be designated only as Chartered Accountants. After much debate in the
Indian Constituent Assembly, the
controversial term, chartered was accepted. When the
Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 came into force on 1 July 1949, the term
Chartered Accountant superseded the title of Registered Accountant. This day is celebrated as Chartered Accountants day every year.
[17]
[edit]Membership
Members of the Institute are known as Chartered Accountants. Becoming a member requires passing the prescribed examinations, three years of practical training (known as
articleship) and meeting other requirements under the Act and Regulations. A member of ICAI can use the title CA before his name.
[18] A member of ICAI may either be an Associate Chartered Accountant (A.C.A.) or a Fellow Chartered Accountant (F.C.A.) based on his experience. Further based on holding Certificate of Practice, they may also be classified as practising and non-practising Chartered Accountants. As of April 2012, the Institute has 1,92,513 members out of which 1,21,142 are Associate Chartered Accountants and 71,371 are Fellow Chartered Accountants.
[19]
[edit]Associates and fellows
Any person who is granted membership of the Institute becomes an Associate Chartered Accountant and is entitled to use the letters A.C.A. after his name. Generally, associates are members of the Institute with less than 5 years of membership after which they become entitled to apply for being a fellow member. Some associate members, particularly those not in practice, often voluntarily chose not to apply to be a fellow due to a variety of reasons.
An associate member who has been in continuous practice in India or has worked for a commercial or government organization for at least five years and meets other conditions as prescribed can apply to the Institute to get designated as a "Fellow". A fellow Chartered Accountant is entitled to use the letters FCA. after his name. Responsibilities and voting rights of both types of members remain the same but only fellows can be elected to the Council and Regional Councils of ICAI. Fellows are perceived as enjoying a higher status due to their longer professional experience.
[edit]Practising Chartered Accountants
Any member wanting to engage in public practice has to first apply for and obtain a
Certificate of Practice from the Council of ICAI.
[20]Only members holding a Certificate of Practice may act as auditors or certify documents required by various tax and financial regulatory authorities in India. Once a member obtains a Certificate of Practice, his responsibility to the society increases manifold. The ethical principles applicable to a practising CA provided in first and second schedule of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 are more rigorous than the ones applicable to non-practising CAs or both.
In India an individual Chartered Accountant or a
firm of Chartered Accountants can practice the profession of Chartered Accountancy. After the enactment of the
Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 it is expected that in the near future a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) will be legally allowed to practise. A Bill has already been introduced in the Indian Parliament to give effect to the same.
[21]Corporation,
companies and other
bodies corporate are prohibited from practising as Chartered Accountants in India
[edit]Role of Chartered Accountants
Chartered Accountants enjoy a
statutory monopoly in audit of financial statements under the Companies Act, 1956,
Income Tax Act, 1961 and various other statutes in India.
[22] Financial statements audited by a chartered accountant are presumed to have been prepared according to
GAAP in India (otherwise the
audit report should be qualified). However, not all Chartered Accountants work in audit. Firms of accountants provide varied business services, and many accountants are employed in commerce and industry. Their areas of expertise include
financial reporting,
auditing and assurance,
arbitration,
risk management,
economics,
corporate finance,
management accounting,
information systems audit,
corporate law,
direct tax,
indirect tax and
valuation of businesses. The Government of India is now planning to open up a new field of practice in social audit of government welfare schemes like
MGNREGAand
JnNURM.
[citation needed][importance?] Apart from the field of professional practice, some CAs work in industry and commerce in financial and general management positions such as
CFO and
CEO.
[edit]Council of the Institute
The management of the affairs of the Institute is undertaken by a Council constituted under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.
[1] The Council consists of 32 elected fellow members and up to 8 members nominated by the
Government of India. The elected members of the council are elected under the
single transferable vote system by the members of the institute. The Council is re-elected every 3 years. The Council elects two of its members to be president and vice-president who hold office for one year. The president is the Chief Executive Authority of the Council.
[23]
[edit]Presidents
[edit]Regional Councils
The Institute also has five Regional Councils that assist it in its functions:
- The Northern India Regional Council (NIRC)
- The Western India Regional Council (WIRC)
- The Central India Regional Council (CIRC)
- The Eastern India Regional Council (EIRC)
- The Southern India Regional Council (SIRC)
The Council maintains a register of all members of the Institute.
[edit]Code of Ethics
The Institute has a detailed code of ethics and actions in contravention of such code results in disciplinary action against the erring members. The Institute publishes a Members Hand book containing the Chartered Accountants Act 1949, Chartered Accountants Regulation 1988, Professional Opportunities for Members - an Appraisal, Code of Ethics and Manual for members. These together form the basis of regulation of the profession. The Council also has a Peer Review Board that ensures that in carrying out their professional attestation services assignments, the members of the Institute (a) comply with the Technical Standards laid down by the Institute and (b) have in place proper systems (including documentation systems) for maintaining the quality of the attestation services work they perform.
[25]
[edit]Disciplinary process
The
Disciplinary Directorate, the Board of
Discipline, and the Disciplinary
Committee form the foundation of the disciplinary process of the Institute. These
entities are
quasi-judicial and have substantial powers like that of a
Civil Court to
summon and enforce attendance or require discovery or production of documents on
affidavit or otherwise.
[26] The Disciplinary Directorate is headed by an officer designated as Director (
Discipline). On receipt of any information or
complaint that a member has allegedly engaged in any
misconduct, the Director (Discipline) shall arrive at a
prima facie opinion whether or not there is any misconduct. If the Director (Discipline) is of the opinion that the misconduct is covered by the items listed in the first schedule of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, he shall refer the case to the Board of Discipline. If he is of the Opinion that the case is covered by the Second Schedule or both schedules of the CA Act, he will refer the case to the Disciplinary Committee. If the Board of Discipline finds a member guilty of professional or other misconduct, it may at its discretion reprimand the member, remove the name of the member from the register of members for up to three months or impose a fine up to
1,00,000/-. If the Disciplinary Committee finds a member guilty of professional or other misconduct, it may at its discretion reprimand the member, remove the name of the member from the register of members permanently or impose a fine up to
5,00,000/-. Any member aggrieved by any order may approach the
Appellate Authority.
It should be born in mind that this disciplinary proceeding is not in lieu of or alternative for criminal proceedings in a court. Criminal proceedings against a Chartered Accountant and disciplinary action by ICAI are two separate issues and one need not wait for another to be completed first.
[27]
[edit]Recent actions
One of the most recent (2009–10) public actions of The ICAI Disciplinary Committee was proceedings for professional misconduct against two auditors from the firm
Price Waterhouse partners for wrongly auditing and inflating the financial statements of
Satyam Computer Services Limited. The
Supreme Court of India (November 2010) rejected a plea by the two charged auditors to stay the proceedings by the ICAI Disciplinary committee. The court's order came in response to the pleas of the charged auditors seeking a stay on the disciplinary proceedings against them on the ground that it violated their
fundamental right against self-incrimination under Article 20 (3) of the
Constitution of India.
Other publicized actions included, the
SEBI referred case of brokerage firm,
Karvy, in which the internal auditors, Haribhakti & Co (an associate of BDO). were held guilty of negligence for failing to detect thousands of demat accounts being opened with the same address. The Committee has also taken action against members for alleged irregularities in the books of
Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra and the role played by their auditors.
[28] The names of the members found guilty of misconduct are published in ICAI's website. The ICAI website lists 35 as the number of cases in which enquiry was completed by the Disciplinary Committee in the past one year since February, 2010. The list of members held guilty of professional or other misconduct is published periodically.
[29]
[edit]Request for more power
Many of the recent financial frauds and scams relate to organizations that had multinational accounting firms as their auditors. These multinational firms cannot legally practice in India but they are practising in India by surrogate means, operating through tie-ups with local firms, though the partners involved are from India, since only a member of the Institute can be an auditor of an Indian entity. The example for this is an elaborate list, Price Waterhouse in case of Global Trust Bank Scam, again Price Waterhouse in Satyam Computer Services Limited scam, Ernst and Young in the Maytas case. ICAI lacks jurisdictional powers to punish these or for that matter any firm, as under its current regulations it only has the power to proceed against individual members. The Institute has asked the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India to grant additional powers so that it may proceed against firms whose partners or employees are frequent offenders.
[30] ICAI also has sent a proposal to the Government of India to amend the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 in order to enable to it to impose a fine of
1,00,00,000/- on audit firms if they are found guilty of colluding with companies to commit a fraud.
[31]
[edit]Qualification
A person is eligible to apply for membership either by passing all three levels of examinations prescribed by ICAI and completing three years of practical training or by availing themselves of exemptions under
mutual recognition agreements (MRAs).
[32]
[edit]Examination
Flowchart on how to become a Chartered Accountant by the Examination route
The Chartered Accountancy course is designed to combine theoretical study with practical training. The Chartered Accountancy course is considered to be one of the rigorous professional courses in India with only 10-15% of the students passing in every attempt .
[33] As of April 2010, the institute has 874,694 students, studying various levels of the Chartered Accountancy Course.
[34] The Chartered Accountancy examinations are divided into three levels.
The CPT or Common Proficiency Test is the first level of Chartered Accountancy examinations. It is an objective type examination and consists of 200 multiple choice questions. CPT covers four basic subjects viz. Fundamentals of Accounting, Mercantile Laws, Economics and Quantitative Aptitude. Fundamentals of Accounting carries 60 marks, Mercantile Laws carries 40 marks and Economics & Quantitative Aptitude carries 50 marks each. A person can register for CPT after completing Grade 10 and take the exam after completing High School (Grade 12). Every incorrect answer on the CPT exam carries a 0.25 negative mark. A candidate is considered to have cleared CPT if he/she obtains in a sitting 30% in each of the 4 sections and a 50% aggregate in the entire paper.This amendment was enforced by ICAI on 16 August 2012.The amendment was made public vide ICAI's website notification. CPT exams are held in June and December in paper pencil mode. On-line CPT exams are also conducted periodically.
IPCC or Integrated Professional Competence Course is the second level of Chartered Accountancy examinations. A person can take the IPCC Examination after passing CPT and nine months of study. IPCC has two groups of seven subjects. Group - I consists of four subjects and Group - II of three subjects.
- Group I:
- Paper 1 : Accounting
- Paper 2 : Business Laws, Ethics and Communcation
- Paper 3 : Cost Accounting and Financial Management
- Paper 4 : Taxation
- Group II:
- Paper 5 : Advanced Accounting
- Paper 6 : Auditing and Assuarance
- Paper 7 : Information Technology and Strategic Management
A passing grade in IPCC is awarded if the candidate obtains 40% marks in each subject (a subject is attributed 100 marks) and 50% in the aggregate in each group. Benefit of set-off is also available if the candidate has obtained 40% marks in each subject but fails to obtain 50% aggregate in any one of the group, but the total of candidate exceeds overall 50% in both group.
CA Final Examination is the last and final level of Chartered Accountancy Examinations. It is considered as one of the toughest exam in the world.
[35] Any person who has passed both the groups of IPCC, during the last six months of articleship can take the Final Examination. This exam consists of two groups of four subjects each viz. Financial Reporting,
Strategic Financial Management,
Advanced Auditing and
Professional Ethics, Corporate and Allied Laws, Advanced Management Accounting, Information Systems Control and Audit, Direct Tax Laws and Indirect Tax Laws. A passing grade is awarded if the candidate obtains 40% marks in each subject and 50% in the aggregate in each group.
ICAI conducts CPT exams in June and December, IPCC and Final examinations in May and November each year. Examinations are conducted in major cities in India and other countries such as
Abu Dhabi (U.A.E.),
Dubai (U.A.E.) and
Kathmandu (Nepal). ICAI updates content and format of examinations periodically in keeping with technical progress and changes in practice of the profession. The ICAI last revised its training course for membership in 2008.
[36]
[edit]Articled and industrial training
After passing Group - I of IPCC, a candidate must undergo a rigorous 3 year on-the-job training as article or audit assistant,
articleship. Only members in practice are entitled to engage such assistants. The Institute strictly governs through Regulations,
[32] the stipends, working hours and working conditions of such assistants. Articles provide CA firms a steady supply of motivated assistants while providing the students with invaluable on-the-job training. Audits are normally conducted by partnering senior and junior assistants with a supervising partner of the firm. This provides steady increase in the depth and variety of experience to the Articled Assistants. During the last year of articleship, a student may opt for industrial training instead. Industrial training can be for a period of 9 to 12 months and has to be completed under the supervision of an existing CA member employee of a financial, commercial or industrial organization. Over the years several cases of abuse of the system such as articles being made to work long hours, work without pay/delayed payments, or being made to perform personal tasks for their Principals, some faking their training (also called
dummy articles, i.e. not going to the office but spending time studying at home or in coaching classes) led the institute to start enforcement of rules and regulations in the interest of the profession.
[37] Chartered Accountants may not provide coaching classes during working hours, as students are expected to apply themselves wholly to practical training in that time.
[38] An article may complain to the Disciplinary Committee against a member or firm for non-compliance with regulations.
General Management and Communication Skills Course or GMCS is a 15 day mandatory course and was introduced in 2002 to improve business communication, presentation and interpersonal skills of Chartered Accountants. Completion of the course is a pre-requisite for obtaining membership and can be taken during the last 12 months of Articleship, after completing the IPCC examinations.
Earlier a student was required to complete only one 15 Day GMCS Session to be eligible to apply for membership of ICAI but, after April 2012, 2 GMCS courses of 15 days each have been made mandatory.
[39] The 1st 15 day GMCS Course is required to be completed in the 1st year of articleship and the 2nd 15-day GMCS Course is required to be completed after completion of 18 months of articleship but before the completion of Articleship Training.
For the students who have joined the articleship training on or after 1 May 2012 have to be successfully complete GMCS I within the first year of the training. They will be eligible for GMCS II from the completion of one and half year of training period but before completion of the 3 years training period.
[edit]CPT Exemption for Graduates
With effect from 1 August 2012 onwards, CPT is exempted for the following class of Individuals
[40]
- Commerce Graduates with more than 55% marks from a recognised university
- Non-Commerce Graduates with more than 60% Marks
- Any Candidate who has passed the Intermediate Exam conducted by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India or by theInstitute of Company Secretaries of India
Those Candidates who are exempted from clearing CPT Exam
[41] can also directly register for articleship without clearing IPCC Group 1 as is the case with those candidates who have registered for the CA Course through the CPT Route.
[edit]Other qualifications and certifications
With the introduction of IPCC scheme of exams, ICAI also introduced the
Accounting Technician Course.
[36] Any person who passes Group-I of IPCC and completes one year of practical training under a member can apply for an Accounting Technician Certification. After obtaining the certificate the person can designate himself as an
Accounting Technician. This Certification was introduced to help a large number of students who were unable to complete the CA Final Examinations and obtain membership.
[edit]Mutual recognition agreements
[edit]Courses for members
ICAI provides various professional certifications for its members. Some of them are as follows:
[edit]Placement
The Institute maintains a placement portal on its web site for qualified members and partially qualified students. This is supplemented with campus placement events and advertising through its professional journals and website.
In early 2010, the ICAI placed three of its freshly qualified Associates, at a record annual salary of almost
US$160,000 each, at Singapore-based agriculture supply chain major
Olam International.
[44]
[edit]Technical standards
ICAI formulates and issues technical standards to be followed by Chartered Accountants and others. Non-Compliance of these standards by the members will lead to disciplinary action against them. The technical standards issued by ICAI includes, Accounting Standards, Audit and Assurance Standards, Standards on Internal Audit, Corporate Affairs Standard, Accounting Standards for Local Bodies, etc..
[edit]Accounting Standards
As of 2010, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has issued 32 Accounting Standards. These are numbered AS-1 to AS-7 and AS-9 to AS-32 (AS-8 is no longer in force since it was merged with AS-26).
[45] Compliance with Accounting Standards issued by ICAI has become a statutory requirement with the notification of Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2006 by the Government of India.
[46] Before the constitution of the
National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (
NACAS), the institute was the sole accounting standard setter in India. However
NACAS is not an independent body. It can only consider Accounting Standards recommended by ICAI and advise the Government of India to notify them under the Companies Act, 1956. Further the accounting standards so notified are applicable only to companies registered under the companies act, 1956. For all other entities the accounting standards issued the ICAI continue to apply.
[edit]Convergence with IFRS
It has been decided that there shall be two sets of Accounting Standards under the Companies Act. The new set of standards which have been converged with IFRS are now known as
Indian Accounting Standards or
Ind AS. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified the 35 Ind AS on 25 February 2011.
[47] The text of the 35 Ind AS are now available at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal.
[48] At the same time The Ministry of Corporate Affairs haven't specified the date of implementation of the same. This reluctance of The Ministry of Corporate Affairs to notify the date even when the proposed date is less than a month away is seen as rooted in the strong lobbying by the Corporates in India to defer the implementation. But the president of ICAI. CA.G.Ramaswamy(present) expects that it will be notified soon and there won't be any further deferment.
[49]
[edit]Audit and Assurance Standards
As of 2010 ICAI has issued 43 Engagement and Quality Control Standards (formerly known as Auditing and Assurance Standards) covering various topics relating to
auditing and other engagements.
[50] All Chartered Accountants in India are required to adhere to all these standards. If a Chartered Accountant is found not to follow the said standards he is deemed guilty of professional misconduct. These standards are fully compatible with the
International Standards on Auditing (ISA) issued by the
IAASB of the
IFAC except for two standards SA 600 and SA 299, where corresponding provisions do not exist in ISA.
[51]
