The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

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ICAI Data
Status	Statutory Body Corporate responsible to regulate Chartered Accountancy Profession in India.
President	CA. Uttam Prakash Agarwal
Vice President	CA.Amarjit Chopra
Membership	154,933
Students	518,798
Member's Designations	ACA & FCA
Website	www.icai.org

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (Act No. XXXVIII of 1949) for the regulation of the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India. During its more than sixty years of existence, the Institute has achieved recognition as a premier accounting body in India for its contribution in the fields of education, professional development, maintenance of high accounting, auditing and ethical standards. The ICAI now is the second largest accounting body in the whole world. After the passing of the Chartered Accountants Act on 1 May 1949, the term Chartered Accountant came to be used in place of Indian Registered Accountant. Unlike the UK or Australia, the term "Chartered" does not relate to a Royal Charter as there is no royal charter in the Republic of India.

Mission

The Mission of the Institute as adopted by the council of ICAI is

The Indian chartered Accountany Profession will be valued Trustees of World Class Financial Competencies, Good Governance and competitiveness

The following is the Motto of the ICAI and its members which signifies the function of a Chartered Accountant as a sentinel:

That person who is awake among those who sleep

Organisational Setup

The affairs of ICAI are managed by the Council as per the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the Chartered Accountant Regulations, 1988. The council consists of 32 elected members and 8 nominated members. The Government of India nominates 8 members to represent the comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders. The President of the Institute is elected the Council members among themselves for a period of one year. In terms of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 the President is the Executive Authority of the council.

Chartered Accountancy as a Profession

Chartered Accountancy is a challenging profession that offers practice or job opportunities in the areas of accounting, auditing, corporate finance, project evaluation, company and other business laws, taxation and corporate governance. The multi-faceted knowledge a chartered accountant enjoys through unique academic programme blended with practical training is what the business and industry need in the advent of liberalisation, privatization and globalisation of Indian economy. Chartered Accountants are better equipped to discharge accounting and audit functions in a computerized business environment.

Role played by a Chartered Accountant

• Chartered Accountancy Course offers the students a dream career in the specialized areas of Accounting, Auditing, Corporate Finance, Corporate Laws, Taxation.

• Chartered Accountants are highly demanded professionals in industry.

• Chartered Accountants are statutorily recognized audit practitioners.

• Chartered Accountants are highly demanded and sought-after professionals in the practice of Income-tax, Service-tax and other indirect tax areas.

• Chartered Accountants are technically equipped to act as management consultants.

• Chartered Accountants possess adequate knowledge in systems and information technology, which help to excel in the areas such as development of advanced IT systems for the organisations including for the functions of finance and accounting.

Independent Professional Practices

As practitioners of public accounting, CAs may start Professional practice as a proprietor or join any existing firm as a partner or staff member. A CA provides compliance and review services. A CA also acts as a business advisor by providing all kinds of services including the preparation of financial reports, helping the business to secure loans, preparing financial projections and determining the viability of business. As a tax advisor, a CA helps businesses and individuals to comply with tax laws.

Management Consultancy Services

CAs play a vital role in assisting business and industry to improve the use of their resources, increase their efficiency and achieve their objectives. The breadth of management advisory services rendered by CAs reflect their expertise in diverse areas. Such services include financial management, planning and financial policy determination such as

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New Logo unveiled by ICAI for use by its members in their letterheads and official documents. Members of ICAI can use only this logo and cannot use the symbol of ICAI

• Preparation of project reports and feasibility studies

• Market research and demand studies

• Budgeting, inventory management, working capital management

• Business policy, corporate planning, organization development, growth and diversification

• Organisation structure and behaviour, development of human resources

• Systems analysis and design, and computer related services

• Advisor or consultant to capital issue

• Investment counselling in respect of securities

• Corporate Governance

Statutory Monopoly

Chartered Accountants enjoy Statutory Monopoly in the following fields of service. These services can be rendered only by Chartered Accountants holding Certificate of Practice Issued by ICAI.

1. Tax Audit under the Income Tax Act, 1961
2. Statutory Audit under the Companies Act, 1956
3. Audit of co-operative societies and other associations under various State Legislations.
4. Value Added Tax Audit in various states.

Training

ICAI's Educational System is considered to be one of the most rigorous systems in the world. This is one of the aspects which adds value to the Profession. Training provided by ICAI can be classified as under:

Membership examinations

The ICAI has recently amended the training courses accordingly the following three levels of exams have been prescribed for gaining membership to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India:

1. CPT (Common Proficiency Test)(Two Sessions of two subjects each)
2. IPCC (Integrated Professional Competence Course) (Two groups of four and three papers respectively)
3. IPCC Final Exam (Two groups of four papers each)

To be become a member, students must pass the above exams and complete 3 years of Articled Training under the guidance of a practicing Chartered Accountant.

The Institute conducts CPTs all round the year, while IPCC and IPCC Final examinations are conducted in May and November each year at exam centers in major cities/regions in India and also abroad.

The Institute has also introduced Accounting Technician Certification with the introduction of Integrated Professional Competence Course. Any person who passes Group-I of IPCC and completes one year practical training under a practicing or non-practicing member can apply for Accounting Technician Certification.

Courses for Qualified Members of ICAI

1. Diploma in Information Systems Audit (DISA)
2. CPE Course on Computer Accounting and Auditing Techniques (CAAT)
3. Diploma in Insurance and Risk Management(DIRM)
4. Management Accountancy Course (MAC)/ Corporate Management Course (CMC)/ Tax Management Course (TMC)
5. International Trade Laws & World Trade Organisation (ITL & WTO)
6. ERP Courses on SAP FA & MA Module, Oracle 11i, Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) for Members

In order to ensure each member is up to date, the ICAI has prescribed attending a minimum hours of CPE programs- 20 hrs per year (90 hrs in block of calender year 2008-2010)-practicing members.

Accounting Standards Issued by ICAI

Main article: Accounting Standards Issued by_ICAI

To date, 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 having been merged with AS-26. The compliance of Accounting standards issued by ICAI have become a statutory requirement with the notification of Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2006 by the Government of India. ICAI has set an internal deadline of aligning its Accounting Standards with IFRS by April 2011.

Audit and Assurance Standards issued by ICAI

Main article: Audit and Assurance Standards issued by ICAI

ICAI has so far issued 36 Engagement and Quality Control Standards (Formerly known as Auditing and Assurance Standards) covering various topics relating to Auditing and other engagements. All Chartered Accountants are required to adhere to all these standards from there effective dates. If a Chartered Accountant is found not to follow the said standards he shall be deemed to be guilty of professional misconduct. ICAI has reclassified the standards into five heads inorder to comply with International Audit and Assurance Standards.