The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) are exploring a "formal mechanism" to strengthen regulatory coordination, as they seek to turn the page on their public friction over a key audit standard revamp and start a new chapter of collaboration.

The two audit watchdogs, said people familiar with the development, are deliberating on the mechanism which would potentially reduce the scope for regulatory tussles.

The planned mechanism would warrant more frequent meetings of their senior functionaries on key matters, greater information sharing, especially on auditors' role in any corporate fraud, and more joint efforts to strengthen audit quality in India, the people told ET.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said a new law to regulate auditing standards in the country and bring them on a par with the best global practices would help engender “homegrown world-class institutions” akin to the ‘Big Four’. Parliament passed the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Work Accountants, and the Company Secretaries Amendment Bill, 2021, on Tuesday, with the Upper House clearing it by a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had cleared the bill on March 30. The Bill is aimed at bringing greater robustness and accountability in India’s auditing standards as well the way audit certificates are given. It seeks to strengthen the accountability of chartered accountants by overhauling disciplinary mechanisms and increasing the fines for lapses. The trigger for the law is believed to be recurrent accounting scams. Sitharaman, who is also the minister for corporate affairs, said since India has witnessed rapid changes in the way the economy is being profiled, the sanctity of the audited financial statement, which is where the role of CAs come into play. has got to be maintained and given its due position. “We need to have audit and certification quality. We also need to have a favourable investment climate being brought in,” she said, replying during a debate in the Rajya Sabha.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved a Bill to rejig the functioning of the institutes of chartered accountants, cost accountants and company secretaries. The Chartered Accountants, Cost and Works Accountants and Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill seeks to appoint non-chartered accountant (CA), non-cost accountant and non-company secretary as the presiding officer of the disciplinary committees of the respective bodies.

A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday termed as "unfounded" chartered accountants' apex body ICAI's opposition to the proposal to penalise firms for repeated misconduct of its partners and also endorsed the changes proposed by the government with respect to the constitution of disciplinary committees. In its report on 'The Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021', the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance also said that while the autonomy and independence of the professional institutes should not be interfered with unnecessarily, the integrity associated with financial reporting cannot be diminished in any way. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has raised concerns over the proposal in the bill to have a non-Chartered Accountant (CA) as the presiding officer of the disciplinary committee.

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI will explore the use of blockchain technology in auditing, its new president Debashis Mitra said. Technology will be a major focus of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) as it not only disrupts but will also creates opportunities, Mitra told PTI. "Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology will be the focus among the emerging technologies. We will explore how blockchain can be used in auditing," he said. Mitra said the ICAI's decision to mandate a peer review mechanism for certain categories of firms rendering assurance services to specific classes of entities will go a long way in enhancing the audit quality. The implementation will begin in a phased manner from April 1 with practice units that have undertaken a statutory audit of enterprises, having equity or debt securities listed in India. Over the next three years, the rollout would steadily cover firms providing assurance services to unlisted companies. Mitra said the institute's recently-launched Audit Quality Maturity Model - Version 1.0 (AQMM v1.0) will help sole proprietors and audit firms to self-evaluate their current level of audit maturity, identify areas where competencies are lacking and develop a roadmap for achieving a higher level of maturity. "ICAI is committed to being a partner in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda and strengthen the sustainability reporting ecosystem in the country," he said. Meanwhile, ICAI has decided to waive off 75 per cent fees for the students of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the eight Northeastern states for all levels of CA course -- Foundation, Intermediate and Final -- till March 31, 2025.

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI has submitted a memorandum to a Parliamentary panel, raising concerns about certain provisions in the proposed bill to amend the law governing chartered accountants in the country. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has submitted its views on the provisions, including the one pertaining to the constitution of disciplinary committee, to BJP member Jayant Sinha-led Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which is looking into the bill. On December 21, the Lok Sabha referred the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to the panel for scrutiny. The bill seeks to amend the laws governing chartered accountants, cost accountants and company secretaries.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has said it will oppose the Centre's proposal to introduce three non-CA members into ICAI's disciplinary committee, arguing that the move will impact fair judgement. The government, through the Chartered Accountants, Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021, has proposed the inclusion of two CAs and three non-CAs in the ICAI disciplinary committee. At present, the panel comprises two non-CA nominees and three ICAI members. The bill has been sent by Lok Sabha to a Parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny. "We oppose the proposal and will present our case before the standing committee when we are invited for hearing," ICAI vice-president Debasish Mitra said on the sidelines of a programme in Kolkata on Wednesday.

The proposal to introduce non-CA members into the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India's (ICAI) disciplinary committee and the Chartered Accountancy Bill, which was sent by Lok Sabha to a Parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny on December 21st, has caused growing angst and nervousness among chartered accounting firms and accounting professionals. Chartered Accountants, Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021, has proposed the inclusion of two CAs and three non-CAs (often government nominees) in the ICAI disciplinary committee, a change from the current setup comprising two non-CA nominees and three ICAI members.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between chartered accountants' apex body ICAI and the Polish Chamber of Statutory Auditors (PIBR). The MoU aims to strengthen cooperation in the matters of study and application of new innovative methods in the field of audit and accounting, including application of blockchain, smart contract system, transition from traditional accounting to cloud accounting. "ICAI and PIBR also intend to share information through exchange of books, magazines and other publications published by professional organisations, mutual publication of articles on audit and accounting on the magazines and websites of both parties and to undertake joint cooperation in the fight against corruption and money laundering," an official release said. The MoU was cleared by the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ICAI on Tuesday said the decision to refer a bill to amend the law governing chartered accountants to a Parliamentary standing committee was a good step and the institute will put across its concerns over certain provisions of the proposed legislation before the panel. On Tuesday, the Lok Sabha referred the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to a Parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny.

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI will soon have powers to initiate disciplinary action against erring partnership firms as well, with the government proposing amendments to the Chartered Accountants Act. The apex institutes for cost accountants and company secretaries too will get similar powers. As part of efforts to bolster the disciplinary mechanism of the ICAI as well as the institutes of cost accountants and company secretaries, Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Acts governing these professions.

The CA Institute has issued five more Standards on Internal Audit (SIA) to provide guidance to its members. These SIA are particularly relevant in situations of internal audit of listed enterprises. The five SIAs are - Nature of Assurance; Objectives of Internal Audit; Using the Work of an Expert; Communication with management and Reporting Results. The SIA on Nature of Assurance is a new one.

Putting in place a stricter compliance mechanism, chartered accountants apex body ICAI has barred members from participating in tenders for assignments that can be performed only by CAs. However, ICAI members can participate in such tenders if the minimum fee for the assignment has been prescribed by the entity concerned.

Accounting watchdog the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will bring out a guidance note for auditors on detecting corporate fraud. This follows the new Companies Act making it mandatory for auditors to report corporate frauds to the government within a specified time frame. Under the new Act, if the statutory auditor has sufficient reasons to believe an offence involving fraud is being or has been committed in a company, it has to be reported to the government within 60 days of coming to know about it.

The CA institute has come up with a revised Guidance Note on tax audits, which will be released on July 1 on Chartered Accountants Day.The revised edition was approved at the central council meeting of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) that concluded on Monday, Subodh Agrawal, President of the Institute, said.A Guidance Note is issued by the institute to help its members fulfil their responsibilities – in this case under the income tax law. It was last comprehensively revised in 2005. Some modifications were also brought about in the period between 2005 and now.

From the current financial year, companies will have to clearly provide a separate line item in their balance sheet to reflect the impact of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates on their long-term foreign currency monetary items. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the apex body responsible for accounting and auditing standards in the country, has directed companies to put this item on the 'equity and liabilities' side under the head 'reserve and surplus' from the current financial year.

Reebok India has refused to provide detailed documents on the alleged Rs 870-crore fraud in the company to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), for now. The company told the accounting regulator internal investigations on the alleged scam were underway and, therefore, it couldn’t provide further details on the case. On May 23, ICAI had written to Reebok India, seeking certain documents and clarifications on the case. This followed the sports goods maker’s German parent Adidas AG lodging a first information report (FIR) with the Gurgaon police, alleging a fraud in its Indian subsidiary. “They have only provided us with a copy of the FIR. They have told us at this moment, they would not be able to give further details to substantiate their allegations, as there is investigation going on at the company level,” ICAI President Jaydeep N Shah told Business Standard.

Accounting regulator Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has asked the government to standardise the internal auditing procedures adopted by domestic companies to prevent a repeat of Satyam-like frauds. These benchmark norms would reduce corporate risk manifold and ensure a standard and robust internal audit procedure, ICAI president G Ramaswamy said. "We have written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for standardising the procedures," he added. A company's internal audit system is considered to be the first check-post to detect any accounting fraud. Fraudulent internal bookkeeping was the main reason the Rs 10,000-crore Satyam scam remained under wraps for many years.

“The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India will begin streaming content on its new Web TV from July 1. Educative videos will be hosted on the Web TV. All important, live events of ICAI would be beamed live on Web and mobile platforms,” Mr G. Ramaswamy, President, ICAI, told journalists here today. He also said that ICAI has launched a ‘Certificate Course on Indirect Taxes' which would first be held in Bangalore on July 9; other cities will follow. Mr Ramaswamy said that the Institute is in the process of bringing out “guidelines and rules” for conversion of existing chartered accountants firms to ‘limited liability partnership' entities. He said that most firms wished to convert themselves into LLPs. (Such conversion, legally allowed recently, has advantages — unlimited number of partners (against 20 now) and limited liability of the partners.) ICAI will hold a Global Commerce Education Summit on July 15 in New Delhi, meant mainly for Vice Chancellors of various universities and Heads of department of commerce and management. The summit, to be inaugurated by the Union Minister for Human Resources Development and Telecommunications, Mr Kapil Sibal, would provide a platform to “view the new paradigm for commerce and professional accountancy education in India,” Mr Ramaswamy said.

The CA institute has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Oman. Under this MoU, the CA institute will provide assistance and support to CBFS in capacity building of Omani nationals in finance, accounts, auditing, corporate governance, information technology and allied areas. The MoU was signed by Mr G. Ramaswamy, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Mr Iqbal Ali Khamis Al Lawati, Chairman of CBFS here on Friday. The objective of this MoU is to create well trained pool of professionals at Oman in areas such as finance, accounts, auditing and corporate governance.