Kolkata, Mar 8 (PTI) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) announced on Friday that, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of having homegrown accounting firms comparable to global majors, a committee has been formed.
This committee will delve into various aspects that will facilitate the aggregation of domestic firms to match their global peers.
The Committee for Aggregation of CA Firms is entrusted with focusing on aggregation objectives and will lay down standard operating procedures and guidelines for aggregation, a top official said.
“The regulations made by the institute are stringent, and the time has come to ease some of the restrictions so that homegrown firms can grow. The Committee on Aggregation of CA Firms will deep dive into this subject to come out with suggestions that will help boost mergers, acquisitions, tie-ups, and aggregation of CA firms to grow bigger,” said ICAI President Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal.
They will also look into regulations if required, that may help smaller firms grow bigger in the accounting and auditing sector, he added.
Speaking on the sidelines of the All India Managing Committee members meet 2024, the ICAI chief informed that there are about 1.6 lakh practising chartered accountants out of a total pool of 4 lakh CAs.
He said there are one lakh CA firms that are proprietorships and 25,000 where two or more partners are present. Some 600 firms have over 10 partners.
“We desire that proprietorship and small firms should pool together their resources and firms should grow in size through mergers, acquisitions, and tie-ups,” Agarwal said.
Speaking about peer review changes, Agarwal said that from June onwards, all CA firms with five or more members will have to carry out peer reviews to certify financial accounts, irrespective of whether the entities are listed or unlisted.
Currently, SEBI regulation makes peer review applicable for CA firms certifying accounts of listed companies.
Meanwhile, ICAI has increased the exam frequency for CA foundation and intermediate exams to “three times” a year instead of two.
Agarwal said that now exams up to intermediate level will be held three times in May, September, and January every year, as opposed to only twice.
“The final exam will continue to be held twice a year,” he said.
There will be 4.36 lakh students who will appear for all three-tier exams in May, which is the highest number of students in its 75 years of history.
However, Agarwal told PTI that if the upcoming general election schedule clashes with the exam dates, then a revised schedule will be prepared.” PTI BSM NN
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