Dear Professionals, |
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. I not only subscribe to these words of wisdom by former American President John Quincy Adams personally but also endorse the same for all of you collectively. It is with this frame of mind that I have put our professional ‘Leadership and Influence’ high on my agenda for this year while marching towards new frontiers. The need of the hour is to hold the element of ‘Leadership and Influence’ very high while exploring new professional horizons and paradigms with our time-tested tradition of professional excellence, ethics and integrity in the service to our nation. |
As endorsed by the founding fathers of our nation, we have been successfully assuming the mantle of leadership and influence in the fiscal discipline of the country as partners in nation building since the ICAI's inception in 1949. My aim is to augment that exalted position of leadership, particularly through our role as regulator and facilitator to government, professional fraternity and society at large. |
Peter F. Drucker says: Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. While we know how to do the things right with dedication and integrity, we also need to be in leadership roles in order to do things right in the best interest of national and world economy. “Chartered Accountants: Partners in National Development” - These words of acknowledgement and recognition used by our visionary former President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for Indian Chartered Accountant fraternity amply sum up the great role, power and potential of the Accountancy profession in the country. |
Leadership, Our Way! |
As endorsed by the founding fathers of our nation, we have been successfully assuming the mantle of leadership and influence in the fiscal discipline of the country as partners in nation building since the ICAI’s inception in 1949. My aim is to augment that exalted position of leadership, particularly through our role as regulator and facilitator to the government, professional fraternity and society at large. To this effect, our Disciplinary Committee, Ethical Standards Board, Financial Reporting Review Board and Peer Review Board are putting extra efforts to fulfil the ever increasing expectations of our stakeholders. |
Convergence with IFRS Offers a Big Opportunity |
I am sure you will agree with me that understanding the immense benefits of convergence to IFRS and its implications is one of the most important business imperatives today. You will appreciate that this convergence will bring us a golden opportunity to comprehensively reassess financial reporting and a clean sheet of paper approach to financial policies and processes, while helping our economy at large, including our industry and investors. Our capital markets will be more robust, and there will be a new flow of foreign investments into our country. |
Impact of Companies Act, 2013 |
Further, in the new Companies Act, 2013, a host of opportunities have emerged for us. We welcome the provisions of the new Act for the potential it holds and particularly for bringing more transparency and accountability to our economy. In view of the changing economic environment, this Act is a great achievement as it intends to improve the governance and regulation in the companies. While we commend it, we also have our fair share of concerns. I would like touch upon some very important issues here… |
Transition to Companies Act, 2013- ICAI as a Facilitator |
I feel that though the Companies Act, 2013 is broadly a welcome way forward for India, its implementation and impact pose daunting challenges to professionals, including us. As such, the need of the hour is to take these challenges in our professional stride and leverage them to our advantage. Here, I must assure you that we at the ICAI are completely in sync with the situation and have charted a definitive and timebound course of action to help our professionals be at the forefront of this transition. |
Concerns on Proposed Definition of ‘Accountant’ in DTC 2013 |
While I am happy to note new professional horizons having emerged in newer realms of India’s knowledge economy, I am concerned at the proposed limiting of our scope in the recently released draft Direct Tax Code (DTC), 2013. Please note that all of us in the Council are very much aware and alive to the deep anxiety, apprehension and dismay gripping our fraternity following questionable dilution of the term 'accountant' in the DTC, 2013, which opens the hitherto exclusive and specialised tax audit practice and some other certifications to certain other professionals too. We strongly oppose the relevant Clause 88 & 320(2) of this draft as these defy the very logic and trust with which tax audit was put in the CAs' domain under Section 44AB of the present Act. |
Flexi Working Portal for Women Members |
I am happy to inform you that taking our special drive for the empowerment of Women CAs for this year forward, we have recently launched a Flexi Working Portal for women members (http://womenportal.icai.org/). It will provide them a platform where they can explore suitable opportunities with option for part time jobs, jobs with flexi-hours or jobs with work-from-home facility. It will also help industry to tap talent pool which might not be accessible otherwise in the normal course. |
Taking Chairmen of Regional Councils and Branches Along |
I believe in the power of ‘us’ and in the collective pursuit of continuous improvement, not only because these lead to performance gains but also effectually unify a professional community as remotely spread and diverse as ours. It is in that spirit that I hold the leaders of our regional councils and branches in high esteem. As such, converting that spirit into productive action, over the last month I personally met the chairmen of all our five regional councils and 147 branches. |
Success of ICAI Knowledge Gateway and Mobile App |
I am happy to share with you that our path-breaking recent initiatives-‘ICAI Knowledge Gateway’ and ‘ICAI Mobile Application’ have received an overwhelming response from our stakeholders. More than 45,000 users have so far visited the Knowledge Gateway while about 89,000 users have downloaded the ICAI Mobile Application, and the count goes on. An overwhelming majority of our Mobile App respondents have given it five and four star ratings respectively. |
CRET Set for Reforms in CA Curriculum |
My vision is that accountancy profession and its enabling force–accountancy education, need to constantly go hand in hand with academic, technological and economic advancements globally. I have always believed that the ICAI needs to be vigilant to this need of the hour, and do a periodic review of the CA education and training schemes. As such, we have recently constituted CRET (Committee on Review of Education and Training). I am sure this will go a long way in benchmarking our CA education with the best in the world. |
Three Non-Standing Committees Formed |
I would like to re-emphasise that I see our alma mater ICAI more as a ‘facilitator’ than a regulator. As such, in line with my Action Plan for this year, we have set the ball rolling to make ICAI and its enabling base more robust in terms of ‘Human Resource’, ‘Infrastructure’ and ‘Technology’. Three specialised and focused non-standing committees- ‘HR Transformation Committee’, ‘Infrastructure Development Committee’ and ‘Technology Development Committee’ have been formed to take ICAI capabilities and competence to the next level of excellence. These will aim to set and follow high standards of responsive and responsible Human Resources of the ICAI, broaden and strengthen the infrastructure base for the profession, and put members and students on a new technology roadmap. I invite your valuable suggestions on these initiatives. |
ICAI Network gets Bigger |
I am delighted to let you know that expanding the reach of accountancy profession in India, we have set up two more branches in the Southern India Regional Council of ICAI at Anantapur and Kurnool, which fall in the state of Andhra Pradesh. I am sure these branches will give our profession’s network an added strength. |
With warm personal regards, |
CA. K. Raghu President, ICAI New Delhi, April 23, 2014 |
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