Dear Professional Colleagues, |
“In the new year, you carry all the experiences of the past years, and that is the greatest power of every new year!" rightly goes the saying. I firmly believe that “what the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year. The same goes for our profession also. To achieve great things in our profession, we not only need to have big dreams but also have deep beliefs in our dreams. Opportunities are knocking at our doors, so let’s open our doors to them this new year. On this positive note, I wish all of you a professionally fulfilling and rewarding New Year 2015. Let me repeat the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, “Be at war with your vices; at peace with your neighbours, and let every new year find you a better man.” |
My vision has been to establish the footprints and mark of excellence of the Indian CAs across the globe through a strong network of our foreign chapters, which presently have more than 12,000 of ICAI overseas members in their fold. Our Foreign Chapters have been successful in creating a common forum where members can meet, exchange views and interact professionally with the other members and address their professional issues. Taking this mission forward, I recently inaugurated our 24th Overseas Chapter in Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada, which has a sizeable number of Indian accounting professionals working for the growth of the region. |
One Among our Fraternity Becomes Railway Minister |
Our profession is dedicated to the service of the society and the nation. Many of our professionals have taken this spirit of social service to new heights and have excelled in public life. CA. Suresh Prabhu, who recently joined the Union Cabinet as the Railway Minister is an excellent example of this phenomenon which makes our profession proud. On behalf of the CA fraternity, I heartily congratulate CA. Suresh Prabhu for being chosen for a highly responsible position. He has been actively associated with the Institute in all these years and I look forward to his continued guidance and support to the accountancy profession in India. I wish him all the best and I am sure that the Indian Railways will go a long way under his stewardship. |
The Future Belongs to Us-Let’s Think Big |
The reviving economy, fast-paced globalisation and expansion of various sectors are offering an ocean of professional opportunities for the CAs. With the unleashing of accounting reforms in India consequent to the implementation of IFRS Convergence and new avenues emerging in the wake of the Companies Act, 2013, XBRL, Integrated Reporting, IT and Data Analytics, etc., our profession is upbeat, and the demand for Chartered Accountants is at an all-time high. Accountancy is today one of the most significant segments of the expanding economy and the future of the accountancy profession is going to be very promising. |
Facilitating Efficacy of the Companies Act, 2013 |
(a) Our Suggestions Accepted in Companies Amendment Bill 2014: I am happy to inform you that the Government has considered our suggestions in the Companies Amendment Bill, 2014 and has addressed many issues raised by us concerning our profession. Here, I particularly welcome the amendment regarding Fraud Reporting under Section 143 (12) of Companies Act, 2013. We had represented to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs that Fraud Reporting be restricted to material frauds and that a threshold limit should be the criteria for reporting fraud. In this regard, we would soon come out with the Guidance Note on Fraud Reporting for our members. |
Our 24th Overseas Chapter Opened in Vancouver, Canada |
My vision has been to establish the footprints and mark of excellence of the Indian CAs across the globe through a strong network of our foreign chapters, which presently have more than 12,000 of ICAI overseas members in their fold. Our Foreign Chapters have been successful in creating a common forum where members can meet, exchange views and interact professionally with the other members and address their professional issues. Taking this mission forward, I recently inaugurated our 24th Overseas Chapter in Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada, which has a sizeable number of Indian accounting professionals working for the growth of the region. Indian Consul and Head of Chancery, Vancouver, Mr. R. Chandarmouli, and Mr. Sav Dhaliwal, Councillor, City of Burnaby, were present on this occasion besides other significant stakeholders. |
Helping Govt in Pre-Budget Exercise |
In line with our traditional role of helping the Government in the Budget making exercise, we have submitted a well-thought-out Pre-Budget Memorandum to the Ministry of Finance for Union Budget 2015-16. The Memorandum has been prepared after incorporating suggestions from membership and stakeholders at large in the interest of the nation. The suggestions given by us do not only relate to fiscal laws and taxation but also pertain to overall economic development. The full text of the memorandum has been hosted on our website. I am sure our memorandum would prove to be highly useful to the Government. |
MoU with EPFO for Accrual Accounting |
We have been actively working to unleash accounting reforms in various organisations across the country. In this regard, I am happy to inform you that the ICAI Accounting Research Foundation (ICAI ARF) has signed an MoU with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to undertake a Pilot Study Project to support EPFO in migrating to Accrual Based Accounting System. This project represents the first phase of the initiative wherein the ICAI ARF will perform the study of EPFO's existing accounting system with an intent to design the strategy for a smooth migration and transition to accrual system of accounting. We will submit a "Report on the Migration Strategy at EPFO" which will form the basis of the next phase of the project. The project offers a unique opportunity to study the complex accounting aspects of the sovereign fund from the professional perspective. |
Meeting with SEBI Chairman |
Proactively pursuing our role in the position of ‘Leadership and Influence’, we are closely engaged with various regulators. As part of this vision, we have a tradition of strong association with SEBI and are involved with its various initiatives. To strengthen this mutually beneficial professional relationship further, I recently met the SEBI Chairman, Shri U. K. Sinha, and discussed matters of mutual and professional interest. Among other issues, we discussed a larger role for ICAI in monitoring market intermediaries and committed our proactive support in the Qualified Auditors Report Committee of SEBI. I congratulate him for being recently conferred with the prestigious ‘Business Reformer of the Year 2013-14’ award. |
Promoting CAs in Industry-Meeting with Mukesh Ambani |
Meanwhile, with a view to spread the ICAI Vision and Mission and promote ‘brand Indian CA’ across industry, I recently met the Chairman-cum- Managing Director of the largest Indian business house of Reliance Industries Limited, Mr. Mukesh Ambani. We discussed various developments taking place in Indian economy including IFRS implementation, the new Companies Act, 2013, GST, and our new CA Curriculum etc. The meeting was extremely useful and helped us to understand the changing industry expectations from our profession. |
Taking CA Education to a Higher Level: New Syllabus Likely from 2016 |
Our students and CA education system has been one of my topmost priorities as I believe in sustained and future-oriented growth of our profession. With a vision that accountancy profession and accountancy education should constantly go hand in hand with global academic, technological and economic advancements, our new scheme for CA Education and Training is now ready for final consideration of the Council and we hope that the new CA Course may be announced from the year 2016. The whole syllabus for CA proficiency test to CA final has been minutely scrutinised and changes have been proposed to make the course more practical in approach to meet the requirements of today’s competitive market. |
Young Members Practitioners Kit Launched |
Post-liberalisation of our economy, the demand from Industry for young Chartered Accountants has increased manifold in various sectors of the economy. There are endless opportunities for practicing young CAs. To help our young members tap these enormous opportunities, I recently launched a Young Members Practitioners Kit and a web portal dedicated to our young members. The Kit provides young CAs an insight into the various aspects of practice, including the constitution of the practice entity, areas of specialisation, office infrastructure, branding, staffing and HR management, modern audit tools and techniques, audit programme, etc. The information contained in this manual is highly informative and will guide our young members to be effective and successful practitioners. |
Let’s Make CABF Part of our Social Responsibility |
Our Chartered Accountants Benevolent Fund (CABF) is a benevolent initiative by CAs for the CAs. As an effective mode of fulfilling our social responsibility towards our profession, the CABF has been our effective answer to the calls of our members in distress. I am happy to acknowledge and thankful for your tremendous response to our appeals to strengthen the corpus of this fund. |
Countdown to Three Mega Events of ICAI Begins |
I am happy to inform you that the stage is set and the countdown has begun to the three mega ICAI events in January and early February, 2015. |
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Friends, January is the month when winter is at its peak and a large part of North India wakes up to foggy mornings and the fragrance of wood smoke from bonfires. Christmas has just marked the beginning of our celebrations. Through the new year celebrations, we will eventually be entering into the mood of festivals-Lohri in Punjab, Makar Sankranthi in North, East, West and Central India, and Pongal in the South, Kite Festival in Gujarat, Camel Festival in Rajasthan and of course, the National Festival, the Republic Day on 26th January. These festivals give us reason to smile and come and stand together and to share our happiness and joy. I extend my very warm greetings and good wishes to you and to your near and dear ones for these festivals, particularly our Republic Day. |
Best Wishes, |
CA. K. Raghu President, ICAI New Delhi, December 22, 2014 |
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