| Dear Esteemed Colleagues, |
| As I pen down this message on the eve of Christmas, the countdown for the New Year 2009 has begun. And I take this opportunity to wish all of you Merry Christmas and a professionally promising and prosperous New Year. The New Year is of course an occasion to celebrate but at the same time also an occasion to ponder over the year gone by and plan for the coming year. Let’s remember that for us professionals, it’s also time that we resolve to keep in step with the glorious 60-year-long journey of our profession the journey of knowledge, excellence, integrity & ethics, with aplomb. Let’s resolve to become the best in all aspects of our profession. |
| As often happens, we are not always able to realize all our resolutions. But that need not dishearten us. The New Year offers us yet another opportunity to make the resolve again and try and turn it into reality. Now let me share with you some of the important developments pertaining to the profession since my last communication. |
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| President, ICAI with President of India H.E. Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil |
| A Historic Step — Accounting Technician Course |
| In addition to Chartered Accountants, the growing Indian economy has resulted in a huge demand for second tier accounting personnel for large as well as medium and small enterprises. Realizing this, the Institute has launched a new course called Accounting Technician Course. The course was launched in the presence of the Union Railway Minister Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav and Union Minister of Corporate Affairs Shri Prem Chand Gupta, both of whom lauded the initiative of the Institute. This Accounting Technician course will not only fill gaps at the national level as accountants, but will also ensure that the values in the accounting process do not suffer. With closer interaction of agricultural and informal sector with the mainstream economy, the demand for such accountants is expected to go up every year. I believe that this step will provide a much needed service and further boost the image of the Institute as a premier accounting Institute of the country. According to the scheme, any student who has passed the +two examination can join the Accounting Technician Course after passing the entrance examination called Common Proficiency Test. Thereafter, the student needs to pass four papers after undergoing study course for about 9 months with the Board of Studies and doing 100 hour computer training, besides an orientation course. To ensure that the student has adequate practical exposure, such students will be required to undergo practical training of one year under a Chartered Accountant whether in industry or in practice before he/she is awarded Accounting Technician certificate. I am confident that with the expertise that the Institute has, and its large base in the shape of its membership, spread across India, we are in a position to impart practical training in a live environment. We will be able to ensure not only high quality education for Accounting Technicians but also development of appropriate skills necessary for them. This is a historic step. We hope to be able to produce from the Indian youth, an employable youth and transform the employable youth into an accountable youth. |
| Recognition to Students Who Could not Pass Final CA Examination |
| I would like to share with you details of yet another historic step which the Institute has taken. The Chartered Accountancy course is arguably among the best in the world and that is why it is also among the toughest courses. For that reason among others, many of our CA students who have passed their intermediate examination, and have also completed articleship training, are not able to pass the final examination and become Chartered Accountant. To give recognition to all such students, simultaneously with the launch of Accounting Technicians Course, the Institute has decided that these students be awarded Accounting Technician Certificate. This, I believe, will do justice to all such students, which in my estimate may be more than 50,000 in number. I am quite confident that all such students who get recognized as Accounting Technicians will also make value addition to the accountancy profession and by their performance and competence bring credit to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. I request all members to spread the good word around so that all such eligible students can apply and obtain Accounting Technician Certificate from the Institute. Application can be submitted online as well. |
| Changes in the Chartered Accountancy Course |
| With the launching of Accounting Technician Course, certain changes had to be made to the existing scheme of the Chartered Accountancy course. In the new scheme, any CPT pass student can get registered for `Integrated Professional Competence Course’ (IPCC) (new name for the course earlier called PCC) without articleship registration and can sit in the new IPCC exam after 9 months of registration. The new IPCC comprises 2 groups. Group 1 has 4 papers and Group 2 has 3 papers. |
| Though the number of papers of the IPCC has been increased from 6 to 7, there is no change in the syllabus. The existing syllabus on Accounting has been divided into two parts. The first part has been named as Accounting in Group I and the second part has been named as Advanced Accounting in Group II. Only on passing Group I of the IPCC will a student be eligible to get registered for articleship, which shall now be for a period of 3 years as against the existing requirement of 3½ years. Further, under the new scheme, a student will be eligible to sit in the final exam in last six months of his articleship as against the existing condition to sit in final exam only after the completion of articleship. The new scheme has come into effect from 10th December, 2008. However, an option has been given till 30th June, 2009 to the existing CPT pass students and to those who appeared in CPT examination held on 14th December, 2008 to choose between the PCC and the new IPCC. Those students who have passed CPT and have not so far got themselves registered for articleship and also those who pass CPT exam held on 14th December, 2008 (of which result is likely to be declared on 16th January, 2009) are free and eligible to get registered under the new scheme for the IPCC after the declaration of CPT result without articleship registration. All such students getting registered for the IPCC on or before 31st January, 2009 will be eligible to sit in the new IPCC exam scheduled for November, 2009 as they will have completed 9 months of study by that time. Complete details of the new scheme are available on the website of the Institute. |
| ICAI National Service Scheme |
| Friends, you will recall that in my earlier communication, I had talked about social accountability of our professionals and for this purpose, had talked about the constitution of two new Committees – one, the Committee on Public Finance to analyse the budgetary expenditure, welfare schemes, end use of money and help Central and State Governments in better management of public funds; two, the Committee on Government Accounting to lend our expertise to each entity of the Government, from the Panchayat upward and assist these bodies in proper accounting not only to ensure greater accountability, but also to ensure that the various welfare schemes for which a large sum of money is spent, yield optimum benefit to the society. |
| I am happy that both these Committees have made significant progress and are interacting with various State Governments in achieving the objectives. May I request all of my colleagues to get more and more involved in these activities by making smaller groups at the local level– in the Panchayat of the village or municipality of the city or higher up. Friends, besides lending our support in the core area of our competence, there is a need for the CA fraternity to get more and more associated with the society and play a more active part in the field of social service. Having got the best deal from the society, we need to reciprocate and do something substantial for it in return. There is so much work that needs to be done urgently at the grassroots level. Accordingly, it has been decided to launch the ICAI National Service Scheme on the lines of National Service Scheme (NSS) being run in the various Universities and Colleges. Even today our members and students participate in various social services, but the objective of introducing this scheme is to undertake this activity in an organized and structured way. The social service could include organizing special camps for various developmental tasks of national importance such as mass literacy, environmental enrichment, health, family welfare, child welfare, slum development, welfare of the physically challenged, senior citizens welfare, disaster management, helping NGOs etc. Initially, it is recommended that each member and each student spends at least 20 hours every year for the ICAI National Service Scheme. I am requesting all branches and the Regional Councils to select a specific project and work out a plan in their respective areas. The message needs to get across that Chartered Accountants, as a professional class, are also contributing their mite to socially relevant areas and that areas of social concerns are their concerns too. I am sure this will help bring the profession much closer to the society. It will help in achieving the dream of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi who said that one should always keep social responsibility above all and not treat the period of study as an opportunity for indulgence in intellectual luxury. |
| Short Duration Soft Skill Courses for Members |
| Friends, as you may have noticed, we have recently launched various certification courses that cater to the needs of specialized professionals. All these courses are professional courses. However, considering the emerging requirement of the well groomed professionals and the way the economy is globalizing, and also because expectation of the service user are increasing, there is an urgent need to improve upon soft skills like communication skills or public relations. Accordingly, it has been planned to start such courses at our various branches and Regional Councils. The course content, the background materials and the delivery module will be developed at the central level, and the branches and the Regional Councils will be asked to organize such short duration courses. Details of the same will soon be hosted on the website. |
| ICAI to be XBRL Indian jurisdiction |
| I am glad to inform that in another landmark achievement, the Institute has been assigned the Indian jurisdiction of XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) International. Consequently, the Institute will be the Indian entity which will encourage the development and adoption of XBRL in India and will represent the Indian interest at the international level. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the various regulators, namely, RBI, SEBI and IRDA are part of the group constituted by the ICAI and are supporting the Institute in this initiative. XBRL is a novel way of communication of business and financial data that is of immense utility to Governments, regulators, stakeholders, etc. Further, as the agent of change in the economy and the financial world in India, we have taken up the task of development of general purpose XBRL taxonomy for commercial and industrial companies. This taxonomy, which is based on the requirements of the Indian accounting standards and various Indian corporate laws, has been finalized. This move will give corporates a taste of the XBRL and address their concerns, if any. Subsequent to the development of general purpose taxonomy, we would take up the development of taxonomy for the financial sector, specifically banks and non-banking financial companies. |
| Nomination for ICAI Awards |
| In my earlier communication, I have informed that the ICAI Award function will be held on 25th January, 2009 at Mumbai. I am happy to inform that a very high profile jury panel to select the nominations received for the various award categories has been finalized. The jury panel will meet on 17th January, 2009 to decide the awards. The award is a recognition of excellence of members. These could include a professional achiever, a business achiever, or a Chief Financial Officer. May I request you to disseminate the information amongst the members and encourage your colleagues to fill in the nomination form which is available on the ICAI website. I quite agree that it is not always easy to judge one’s own excellence, but I believe that once in a while one should throw one’s hat in the ring and let others be the judge and evaluate you. The ICAI Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the year 2007-08 will also be presented on the same day. |
| On-line CPT Examination |
| I should like to add that on-line Common Proficiency Test was successfully conducted for the first time on 7th December, 2008 in 11 cities across the country. The conduct of the on-line CPT examination has put the Institute in league with the best of the educational institutions of the world. With the successful completion of the first on-line test, it has been decided to hold more such examinations regularly starting from the month of March, 2009. The students will have the flexibility of opting for the examination dates. The announcement to this effect will soon be hosted on the website. This on-line examination will be in addition to the paper-pencil mode test. I am also happy to inform that the paper-pencil mode CPT test was successfully conducted on 14th December, 2008 at 221 examination centres spread across 113 cities all over India wherein the highest ever number of candidates– 91,783 candidates– appeared. This number included 28,282 girls. I may also inform that in the Chartered Accountancy examinations which were held from 1st to 16th November, 2008 on alternate days, a total number of 95,054 students were admitted to PE-II (27,836), PCE (32,804) and Final (34,414) examinations. The total number of students who appeared in these examinations is also the highest ever. I hope the students this time found the examinations less stressful in view of the examinations being held on alternate days. |
| Research Publications |
| Carrying out advanced study and research in accounting and related subjects is imperative and we need to put much greater focus on this. I am glad to share with you that the Research Committee will soon be coming out with its findings by way of publications as Technical Guide on Revenue Recognition for Software, Technical Guide on Share Valuation, and Guidance Note on Accounting for Special Economic Zone Development Activities. |
| Scholarship/Medical Assistance to Students |
| You will recall that in an earlier communication I had talked about the setting up of a Students’ Benevolent Fund. I am happy to tell you that it has now been decided to give financial help to 100 poor and needy students by way of scholarship of Rs.1,000/-each per month. Additionally, provision has been made to extend medical help to poor and needy students up to Rs.1`lakh for specified ailments. Full details have been hosted on the Institute website. |
| Certificate Course on Enterprise Risk Management |
| Risk management is not a new concept in the commercial world but the kind of volatile socio-economic and political environment in which the entities today operate, has only forced them to look at it with greater seriousness and approach it with more professionalism. With challenging economic scenario ahead, it is all the more necessary that the organizations have appropriate enterprise risk management systems to understand the risks and uncertainties and hedge appropriately against them. |
| Chartered Accountants have always been playing a proactive role in their varied capacities, as financial advisors, consultants and internal auditors, etc. in helping organizations establish adequate risk management systems and ensure informed and reliable decision making. In view of this, the Internal Audit Standards Board of the Institute is launching a certificate course on Enterprise Risk Management. The course would arm the members with contemporary, advanced and professional level knowledge regarding enterprise risk management systems. The details of the course will soon be hosted on the website. |
| A Giant Step in the Offing — Exclusive TV Channel for Learning |
| I am delighted to tell you that in a mega initiative to serve CA students in particular and accountancy profession in general, we are launching an exclusive TV channel dedicated to learning. A giant stride in the history of the ICAI, this channel will greatly boost the ICAI’s credentials as a pioneer in teaching through the distance education mode. This channel will make quality accountancy education accessible to interested students in the country, and will particularly cater to the needs of the students hailing from lower strata of the society. This will also help in conducting CPE programmes on a regular basis. These programmes will also be accessible even in remote/far flung areas of the country. Necessary arrangements in this regard are being firmed up. I am sure this initiative will prove to be a great service to the nation and professionally rewarding for the entire CA fraternity. 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. The hilly areas, after the snowfall, resemble the fairytale landscapes cloaked in blankets of snow. One can sit by the shimmering Naini lake, or ski down the slopes of Auli, soak in the snow-clad vistas of Gulmarg, or savour the colonial charm of Shimla and celebrate Christmas and welcome the new year there. But 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 sankranti 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. |
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