CAduniya.com : CA India Blog

To meet the growing demand for chartered accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has upped its intake of students.

It admitted a record 125,000 students last year. This year, after exams are conducted in May and November, the institute plans to take an even higher number of students.

As a result, ICAI hopes there will be an annual addition of around 25,000 to the army of chartered accountants in the country from 2010 onwards. This is more than double the 10,000 to 12,000 chartered accountants it churned out annually between 2001 and 2006. The student intake then averaged between 35,000 and 40,000.

With the boom in the corporate sector, there has been an unprecedented rise in the demand for chartered accountants in the last few years and this has improved their remuneration manifold. The average annual pay packages in the last round of placements at the ICAI too touched a new high of Rs 5.94 lakh, compared with Rs 4.79 lakh in 2007.

Aware of the growing demand for skills commensurate with basic tasks like accounting and book keeping, the ICAI recently launched a two-year course aimed at creating a second tier of accountants. This will lead to another 50,000 accountants being produced annually, taking the total number of accountants to around 75,000.

While there are no definite numbers on the shortage of accountants, experts say the deficit will be massive. “Given the current boom in the economy, along with other reasons like increasing financial norms and risk management in companies, the need for skilled accountants is bound to rise,” an expert said.

“There is no estimate as of now but a report of the Ministry of Human Resource Development has put the shortage of finance professionals in the country at around 200,000 by 2009,” Amit Azad, a consultant said.

Besides opening up computer labs across the country to impart IT training to CA students, ICAI is also coming up with a 25-acre campus at Jaipur that will be developed into a centre of excellence where students will be taught management skills in a three-month residential programme.

Encouraged by the rising student registration, both in the country as well as abroad, the ICAI has, from this year, allowed articleship training overseas as well. Earlier, a student pursuing the chartered accountant course abroad had to come to India for a three-year articleship training.

“ICAI is conscious of the need for skilled as well as employable workforce. We are confident that we will meet the requirement of the growing economy. There is no restriction on the student intake and with our teaching expertise, infrastructure and growing membership, we are hopeful to bridge the skill gap in future,” ICAI president Ved Jain said.

ource: Business Standard

In what could be a significant deterrent to corporate frauds, the concept of rotation of partners received a green signal from the apex body for chartered accountants, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), and mandates change of partners after seven consecutive years with a listed company.

The step, cleared by ICAI, will be operational from April 2009 and is expected to significantly reduce complexity between individual partners in audit firms and their assigned companies, something that has been a cause behind many of the big corporate frauds to have hit the financial world.

“We have cleared rotation of partners and this would come into force from April 1, 2009 only for listed firms, ICAI president Ved Jain said.

Indian CA’s can look forward to practice in Australia and UK as ICAI is in the process  fof sighing agreements with its counterparts for mutual recognition of each others course.

As per ICAI president Ved Jain there is a possibility to sign MRA(Mutual Recognition Agreeements) with Australia and England.

Professional Development Committee has organized a Global CA Networking Summit to facilitate Networking among CAs practicing in India as also abroad. The Summit will enable delegates to meet professionals interested in Networking, exchange views and thoughts, understand the imperatives of Networking and even sign MOUs in the presence of dignitaries from the Ministry, President or Vice President of ICAI.
The Summit will be addressed by eminent professionals like Mr Ashok Wadhwa and Mr Gautam Doshi. Participants may identify firms for networking and set up meeting in advance
Mentoring is the key component of this Summit and besides Mr Ashok Wadhwa and Mr Gautam Doshi, other professionals will provide guidance and mentoring; understand specific issues being faced by members in Networking and advise them on the possible solutions.
Ministries have also indicated initial interest in participating in the Event. Exact details for the participation fee and like are being worked out and details will be posted on ICAI Website

First 30 Overseas delegates registering for the Summit will receive invites from Ministry of Overseas Affairs to participate in the dinner hosted by the Ministry on the eve of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at Delhi.
For online registration form, (please select seminar option) ? (to map this URL: http://220.225.137.148/ICAI/Conference.jsp)

The results of the Chartered Accountants Final and Professional Education ? I Examinations held in November, 2007 are likely to be declared on Wednesday, the 16th January, 2008 around 12 Noon. Further, the results of Professional Education - II and Professional Competence Examinations held in November, 2007 are likely to be declared on Wednesday, the 23rd January, 2008 around 12 Noon. The merit list (candidates securing a minimum of 60% and above marks and upto the maximum of 30th rank in the case of Professional Education ? I Examination and candidates securing a minimum of 55% and above marks and upto the maximum of 50th Rank in the case of Professional Education ? II and Final Examinations) on all India basis will be available on the following website: http://www.caresults.nic.in

CAs  (Chartered Accountants) in India Close In On MBAs In Salaries,ICAI Campus Placement Sees Jump In Average Package To Rs 6 Lakh

MBA finance grads watch out, CAs are inching closer in terms of pay packages. In the latest round of placements of CA, held last month, average salaries have shot up to almost Rs 6 lakh per annum. The average salary of CAs reached to a new high of Rs 5.94 lakh compared with Rs 4.79 lakh in February-March, 2007. Of late, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has been working hard to prepare its members to compete with MBA students. The institute has also introduced changes in its curriculum to groom new students as per the changing scenario. In his recent message to its members, ICAI president Sunil Talati said, “I must say that the new breed of young students are so smart and intelligent that the number of students passing out in final examination and becoming our members is increasing every year. This is a good sign. It is not that the examination papers are easy, or results are liberal; it is in fact a sign that new young intelligent and talented students are joining our profession appreciating the new curriculum.”

The campus placements were not limited to about 100-odd students like typical B-schools. There were as many as 1,151 students recruited out of 1,823 students who participated in the September-October campus placements. There were 101 companies comprising 252 interview panels participated at 19 centres in campus interviews, organised by ICAI. “A number of students could not get the job profile and company of their choice since we do not allow students to appear in more than six interviews. However, they will be able to find the suitable opportunity through our online platform from where headhunters can access to our data base,” said ICAI chairman of committee for members in industry Uttam Prakash Agarwal. Not only banks and financial institutes but a number of IT, energy, telecom, engineering, FMCG and aviation companies also participated.
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It’s not only the Indian engineers, management graduates and IT professionals who are in demand overseas. Usually, the low-profiled chartered accountants (CAs) too are now in demand by the other countries.

The apex body of CAs ? Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) ? claims that it has received requests from 25 countries seeking Indian accounting professionals.

It may be mentioned here that ICAI is world?s second largest body of accounting professionals with over 1.4 lakh members. US has the largest strength of accounting practitioners.

?The perception towards Indian accountants, in the international market, has changed dramatically. We are being approached by the various countries to provide them CAs. Earlier, the CAs from western world were more in demand due to their command over English and colonial mentality in different countries. But the scenario is changing for good now,? ICAI president Mr Sunil Talati said.

He added that apart from Middle East, there is huge demand of CAs in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Nigeria.

During the last ICAI campus placement in March 2007, both Olam International and Sharaf Shipping Corporation, recruiters offering the highest pay packages were from overseas to recruit candidates for international destinations.

Olam offered the package of over Rs 38 lakh a year to a CA while Sharaf Shipping recruited a candidate for about Rs 11 lakh a year.

Mr Talati said that different countries as seeking 20-80 CAs but with soaring salaries in India, international recruiters are not able to find suitable candidates.

?The growing demand for Indian accounting practitioners is due to the brand value created by our CAs. ICAI is also playing an active role to make our presence felt in the international markets,? Mr Talati said.

The Institute’s education and training pathway is recognised as the best in the field and the preferred choice for industry professionals.

The Chartered Accountants Program combines innovative postgraduate training with mentored work experience to produce accountants with superior technical skills, real business ability and an exciting future. The technical knowledge you acquire in the Chartered Accountants Program fits you for a role as a business adviser anywhere you choose.

The training for CAs is a highly elaborate procedure. Aspiring chartered accountants should pass the intermediate exam within ten years of the commencement of their practical training.

During the training period candidates would be required to work in different areas learning the basics of auditing and taxation. This enables them to learn the technical details of the job as well as to get an idea of the working environment of the profession. During this period the articled clerk will also need to continue studies for the CA exam. As the professional training for chartered accountancy is training-on-the-job, an articled clerk is entitled to receive a minimum monthly stipend.

After successful completion of the final exam, the aspiring CA can apply for membership of the ICAI. All members are deemed Associate members of the institute. Associate members who have been in practice for a minimum of 5 years and possess the experience prescribed by the council for this purpose are entitled to apply for Fellowship.

Chartered Accountants are sometimes appointed as executors under a will or trust in order to carry out the administration of an estate or settlements. On such assignments, they are often required to work in co-operation with solicitors and lawyers.

CAs also perform functions under special positions such as directorships of companies, arbitrators for settling disputes, handling work related to insolvency, bankruptcy, etc. They are free to go in either for professional practice or to be employed by the industry sector (private companies, public sector undertakings, etc.)

After nearly two decades, the Institute of Chartered Financial
Analysts of India (ICFAI) has won the `chartered’ row against the ICAI
(Institute of Chartered Accountants of India).

In a decision dated May 16, the apex court ruled in favour of
the Hyderabad-based ICFAI, by setting aside an earlier verdict of the
Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had allowed the ICAI to prohibit its
members from using the description `Chartered Financial Analyst’ or its
abbreviation, CFA.

The dispute goes back to the late 1980s when the ICAI, the
premier accounting body headquartered in New Delhi, initiated action
under the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act against
the ICFAI, after having obtained the opinion of the Additional
Solicitor General of India in this regard.

July, 04th 2006

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will introduce the new curriculum for Chartered Accountancy this September. The Government has approved the draft scheme for the same, said Mr T.N. Manoharan, President, ICAI.

Under the new curriculum, the course can be completed in four years, against five years currently. This includes an articleship of three and a half years.

A quarterly entrance test called CPT (common proficiency test) will make qualifying students eligible to opt for the new CA course. The first CPT will be held on November 12, in two sessions. The objective type test will include questions covering accountancy, mercantile law, economics and quantitative techniques, said Mr Manoharan.

Those preparing for the PE-I (Proficiency Examination) exam under the old curriculum, can appear for the CPT and on passing, take up articleship, while those pursuing PE-II can directly do their articleship. Also those appearing for the final exam in May 2007, can appear for it in November.

ICAI has opened 16 news centres for the CPT, four each at Tirupur, Anand, Karnal and Sonipet. Besides nine new centres have been opened for other exams. Currently, there are 170 test centres in India and two abroad.