Dear Professionals,
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"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be
those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn,
and re-learn." As a professional, I believe in these words of Alvin Toffler. I also recall Mahatma Gandhi’s words when he said: Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever.
Bharat Ratna Dr. Radhakrishnan, in whose memory we will be celebrating
Teachers Day on 5th September, had also said that the soul of success
lies in life-long learning. These words of wisdom are worth emulating by
all of us because our profession is also a process of life-long
learning, acquiring knowledge and striving for excellence.
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“Effectively
playing our part as a partner in nation building, we have been
continuously taking a lead role in all the initiatives of the new
government. Taking a leap forward in this direction under the aegis of
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, we have joined hands with Institute of
Company Secretaries of India and Institute of Cost Accountants of India,
and successfully operationalised the repository for Independent
Directors. This repository (http://independentdirector.in)
would provide opportunity to individuals who are willing to act as
independent directors as well the companies which wish to select
independent directors for their Board. This initiative offers a big
opportunity to our members...”
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Life Long Learning-Leveraging Technology:
In this backdrop, we have successfully put in place an interactive
learning environment for our members and students, by leveraging
technology to its full potential. It is with this spirit that we have
launched important initiatives like Knowledge Gateway, ICAI
Now-Mobile App, E-learning, Publications Online Store, Digital Library,
Webcasting, Cloud Campus, Video Podcasts, and Social Media platforms to enable members and students to learn at their convenience.
I call upon you to commit yourself to lifelong learning and make the best use of our knowledge resources. Remember that “formal education will earn you a living, self-education will earn you a fortune.” I endorse Henry Ford when he says that “anyone who stops learning is old, and anyone who keeps learning stays young.” So, never stop learning because our profession never stops teaching.
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Our Recommendation on Tax Audit Accepted
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The CBDT has revised the format of Tax Audit report.
However, we felt that despite all the good intent of the CBDT, the
timing of the revision was not convenient. Hence we represented to
Hon’ble Finance Minister, Revenue Secretary, and Chairman CBDT,
expressing our concerns. I am happy to inform you that acting on our
recommendation, the CBDT has now extended the due date for obtaining and
furnishing of Tax Audit report under Section 44AB for Assessment Year
2014- 15 in case of assesses who are not required to furnish report
under Section 92E of the Act from 30th September 2014 to 30th November
2014. The CBDT has also clarified that the Tax Audit report under
Section 44AB of the Act filed during the period from 1st April 2014 to
24th July 2014 in the pre-revised Forms shall be treated as valid Tax
Audit report furnished under Section 44AB of Income-tax Act, 1961.
In
the meantime, to enable our members to perform this onerous task
efficiently and effectively, we are revising our Guidance Note on Tax
Audit under Section 44AB of Incometax Act, 1961 which will be made
available to the members very soon. I wish you all the success in the
most effective completion of Tax Audits.
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Independent Directors Repository Operationalised
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Effectively playing our part as a partner in nation
building, we have been continuously taking a lead role in all the
initiatives of the new government. Taking a leap forward in this
direction under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, we have
joined hands with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and the
Institute of Cost Accountants of India, and successfully operationalised
the repository for Independent Directors. This repository ( http://independentdirector.in)
would provide opportunity to individuals who are willing to act as
independent directors as well the companies which wish to select
independent directors for their Board. It also fulfils a provision of
Section 150 of the Companies Act, 2013 that provides for creation and
maintenance of database of Independent Directors. This initiative offers
a big opportunity to our members and I appeal to interested members to
take full benefit of this Repository. |
Finance Act, 2014 - Post Budget Suggestions Accepted
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I am pleased to inform you that our Post Budget
Memorandum to the government based on suggestions received from members
has been given due weightage and many of our suggestions have been
incorporated in the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014. I thank the Government
for favourably considering our suggestions for the ultimate good of the
nation.
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Scheme for Enrolment of Overseas Citizens of India
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One of my priorities for this year is to reach out to
specified accounting professionals abroad, particularly the ‘Overseas
Citizens of India’, and take them into the ICAI fold. Towards this, we
have come out with a Scheme for Enrolment of Overseas Citizen of India
Professional Accountants. ‘Overseas Citizen of India’ means a person who
is registered as Overseas Citizen of India under Section 7A of the
Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955).
The scheme shall facilitate
opening up of practise rights to overseas citizens of India who are
Chartered Accountants and Certified Public Accountants. Under this
scheme, an overseas citizen of India holding professional accountancy
qualification shall be recognised as a member of the Institute on
completion of such examination, training and other modules as listed out
in Schedule `B’ to the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Regulations,
2014. The Scheme has been notified and hosted on our website.
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CA Exam: Kudos to Successful Students
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The results of CA Final examinations conducted in
May/June 2014 were declared recently, and I am happy to note the
satisfactory performance by our students. A total of 174031 students
appeared in ‘Both Group’, ‘Group –I’ and ‘Group-II’ category and pass
percentage has been 7.29%, 13.50% and 10.66% respectively. I heartily
congratulate all those who passed, particularly the top three rank
holders- Mr. Sanjay Navandhar from Jaipur, Mr. Kunal Jethani from
Jodhpur and Ms. Harsha Chandrakant Bhattad.
There is a saying that ‘examinations are formidable even to the best prepared…’
It is more so when it comes to our CA Examination, which is considered
as one of the toughest. Our Course is getting tougher by the day with
newer knowledge being added in our syllabus. My kudos to all the
successful students who passed this tough examination.
For those who could not succeed, I quote Winston Churchill that: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Remember that Patience, Perseverence and Preparation always pay. Word
harder and learn from your failure to succeed the next time. On my part,
I am committed to realign accountancy education with global best
practices and enhance the status of the CA Course as a highly
prestigious course and one of the most significant segments of the
economy. Revamping our CA course to tune it with the best in the world
through our Committee on Review of Education and Training (CRET) is also
one of the major new initiatives in this regard, which made important
headway in our recent Council Meeting in Agra that was exclusively
devoted to this cause.
Meanwhile, the latest edition of our
Campus Placement Programme (August-October 2014) is being conducted at
21 different locations across the country. The programme offers
excellent opportunity to newly qualified CAs to work with top-line
Indian and multinational companies, who are participating in this
programme. I call upon all the newly qualified CAs to enrol for this
programme to start their career on a high note.
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Convocations: Celebrating Covetous Status as CA
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‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,’
rightly said the visionary late Nelson Mandela. Our comprehensive CA
education has the same potential, and when a student completes this
education, the occasion deserves celebration. Our convocations offer
enough opportunities for such a celebration.
The first round of
convocations 2014- 15 were successfully conducted at Chennai, Bangalore,
Kolkata, Kanpur, Jaipur, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and
Pune. A large number of new members took part in these ceremonies, which
mark the beginning of a new and highly responsible professional life. I
wish all the newly qualified Chartered Accountants a successful
professional career.
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Integrated Reporting for Corporates - New Era
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The International Integrated Reporting Council (IRC)
is working towards making the integrated report a corporate reporting
norm. In this direction, the IRC has released The International Framework
to establish guiding principles and content elements that govern the
overall content of an integrated report, and to explain the fundamental
concepts.
This is a single corporate report containing both
financial and non-financial information in an integrated format with the
means to aid various stakeholders interested in an organisation’s
ability to create value over time, including employees, customers,
suppliers, business partners, local communities, legislators, regulators
and policy-makers. We have taken up a project to study the Framework and explore the possibility of making it applicable to Indian companies.
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Roadmap to IFRS Convergence
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The ICAI has been an ardent propagator of Ind AS
converged with IFRS to bring the financial reporting practices of the
Indian corporates at par with the global standards, which are followed
in more than 130 countries. You would appreciate that our stand was
vindicated in our Finance Minister’s big bang Budget announcement
regarding implementation of Ind AS. He has proposed that the new Indian
Accounting Standards (Ind AS) converged with IFRS shall be adopted by
the Indian Companies from the financial year 2015-16 voluntarily and
from the financial year 2016- 17 on a mandatory basis. This new roadmap
is in line with the roadmap submitted by ICAI to the Government.
The
new Companies Act, 2013 has also introduced various new provisions,
including requirement to prepare Consolidated Financial Statements,
which would also facilitate implementation of Ind AS converged with
IFRS. I am happy to inform that you we are fully prepared to meet the
challenge of implementation of Ind AS converged with IFRS. We are ready
with the updated Ind AS corresponding to IFRS as of this date, besides
having started a nation-wide exhaustive exercise to train our members.
We
are committed to work closely with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in
this regard, which will usher in a new era of accounting reforms in the
country and bring immense benefits to the economy. This scenario opens a
big window of global opportunity for us as Chartered Accountants.
Recently, I also discussed the issue of convergence with Mr. Ian
Mackintosh, Vice Chairman, International Accounting Standards Board
(IASB) during his India visit. In a related move, I also had the
opportunity to participate in an international conference on ‘Global
Financial Reporting’, which was jointly organised by IFRS Foundation and
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants at Johannesburg. This
event helped us to gain insight into IFRS adoption in South Africa.
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Creating Opportunity in Insurance Sector
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The insurance sector today has a lot to offer as far
as professional opportunities for CAs are concerned. Our members are
already acting as strategic management experts in this sector. With
excellent analytical and technical abilities and skills in financial
forecasting, our members have the potential to become experts in this
sector and advise insurance companies in the management of risk, funds
and insurance. They can also play a key role in loss and claims
management, loss adjustment and actuarial science. Let’s actively tap
the emerging new opportunities in the fast growing insurance sector.
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Competitions for Prestigious ICAI Awards
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The profession of accountancy is regarded as the
backbone of financial discipline in India, and the effectiveness of
Financial Reporting plays an important role in this regard. In this
background, we are committed to encourage, promote and recognise
excellence in preparation and presentation of financial information in
India. Our well-recognised ‘ICAI Awards for Excellence in Financial
Reporting’ is one important step in that direction. The process for
these awards for 2013-14, which are given in 13 categories, has already
begun and the last date for nominations is 30th September, 2014. I
appeal to all the relevant organisations to send in their nominations
and compete for these prestigious awards.
Meanwhile, we are also
inviting nominations for another prestigious event, the ‘8th ICAI Awards
2014’, which are given away for distinguished efforts and exemplary
achievements of the members in the industry. These awards are presented
under three main categories of ‘CA Business Leader,’ ‘CA CFO,’ and ‘CA
Professional Achiever.’ The last date for accepting nominations for
these awards is 31st October 2014. I request members to send their
nominations at the earliest.
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Before I conclude, let me remind you that these times
of transition and ever-rising expectations beckon us to be in a focused
and ‘future forward’ mode. This process calls for three-pronged
approach-‘focus on yourselves,’ ‘focus on and collaborate with your
peers,’ and ‘focus on wider world.’ Focusing inward, and focusing and
collaborating with our peers will give us an edge in emotional
intelligence and professional excellence, whereas focusing on wider
world will help us to innovate, devise strategy, and perform better.
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Best wishes
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CA. K. Raghu
President, ICAI
New Delhi, August 22, 2014 |