- Launched 1st Advanced Flagship Program: Empowering Trusted Advisors -Unlocking the Potential of Family Enterprises (Residential)
- Plans to establish 8 more Centres of Excellence in the next 3 year with 2 CoE’s at Hyderabad and Jaipur already operational and the 3rd CoE to be launched soon in January 2025
- ICAI to host World Forum of Accountants from 31st January to 2nd February 2025 at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) today announced a series of major initiatives and achievements of the year aimed at advancing the accounting profession and positioning India as a global leader in the accounting and finance sector.
During the Press Conference held today, ICAI launched the 1st Advanced Flagship Program: Empowering Trusted Advisors – Unlocking the Potential of Family Enterprises (Residential), at its State-of-the-Art Research Hub established at CoE Hyderabad. At present ICAI has 2 Centre of Excellence (CoE’s) at Hyderabad and Jaipur with plans to inaugurate the third Centre of Excellence in Kolkata in January 2025. Further, ICAI plans to open 8 more CoEs across the country in the next 3 years fostering Research, Innovation and Skill-building.
The 1st Advanced Flagship Residential Program will start from 7th Jan 2025 to 11th Jan 2025 and is thoughtfully designed to equip Chartered Accountants with the specialized expertise required to address the distinct needs of family businesses. Key takeaways from this program include a deeper understanding of family enterprises, the ability to deliver tailored solutions that harmonize family and business objectives, and strategies to position oneself as a trusted, long-term advisor. The program will be led by Dr. Nupur Pavan Bang who has recently joined as the CoE Director-cum-Dean of its Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad.
The programme will feature a distinguished faculty, including Anil Sainani, Managing Partner of BAF Consultants, a leading expert in family business governance; Gutta Nivedita Chowdary, Training Coordinator at CAMP Arbitration & Mediation Pvt. Ltd.; Dr. Nupur Pavan Bang, Director and Dean at ICAI’s Centre of Excellence, Hyderabad, and a recognised thought leader in family business advisory; and Tara Ollapally, Co-founder of CAMP Arbitration & Mediation Practice Pvt. Ltd., an international lawyer with over 25 years of experience.
This programme offers Chartered Accountants a unique opportunity to gain insights from industry leaders, engage in practical case studies, and develop long-term strategies to become trusted advisors to family enterprises.
Speaking to the media, CA Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, President, ICAI, shared his vision for the future of the profession: “ICAI is committed to empower Indian Chartered Accountants with the skills and resources required to lead in a rapidly transforming global economy. ICAI understands that in these evolving times, the chartered Accountancy profession has seen a major shift and with the advent of AI and digitalization. To remain relevant in this dynamic landscape, continuous skill-building is essential. The Institute is doing its best to provide the best training and education, benchmarked with international standards besides the widely recognized fool-proof and robust examination system.”
Other Key achievements announced today include:
- ICAI CA GPT, a state-of-the-art platform powered by artificial intelligence, which offers 19 specialised GPTs for Chartered Accountants. This platform has already attracted over 1 lakh members and aims to foster greater knowledge sharing and professional growth through AI-driven tools. ICAI has also added the CA GPT-Industry Forum comprising annual reports of 5,000 listed companies for the fiscal year 2023-24, the first of its kind initiative in the world.
- Certificate Course on AI for Members was also launched on July 16, 2024, during the AI Innovation Summit (AIS 2024) in Hyderabad. More than 150 batches with 7500+ Members Registered and 3000+ Members have completed the certificate course. The course has seen proactive participation throughout the nation, with participants coming from more than 20 States and 80 Branches. Foreign ICAI chapters are also showing interest in the AICA Certificate Course.
- ICAI GPT for CA Students providing customized tools for Foundation, Intermediate, and Final levels. It includes past papers, study materials and the ICAI syllabus to support students in their preparation.
- ICAI ARF has successfully prepared the Accrual Based Financial Statements for all Zonal Railways and Production Units from the financial year 2015-16 to 2022-23. For the first time, the accrual-based financial statements have been prepared on the line of integrated reporting and all the initiatives undertaken by Indian Railways towards environment sustainability have been reflected. This reform will improve financial transparency that are aligned with international best practices and opens opportunities for green financing, making Indian Railways more attractive to global investors.
- For Students, ICAI offers 75% concession in the registration course fee for all levels of CA courses for candidates from the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and the eight North-Eastern States—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura—until March 31, 2025. The fee concession has also been extended to students from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- This council year, ICAI has awarded scholarships to 13,146 students under the Merit, Merit-cum-Need, and Need-Based categories, disbursing ₹9.55 crore through an automated process.
- In order to make Indian CA Firms to grow bigger, ICAI is working towards concerted efforts in reviewing and revising various guidelines pertaining to firms, viz., Domestic and Overseas Networking guidelines, Merger & Demerger rules & guidelines, Multi-Disciplinary Partnership Guidelines, guidelines on Management Consultancy Services in corporate form, guidelines on Website, Advertisement and Mobile applications for various attest & non-attest functions among others in cognizance with the current operating environment. The overall aim is to provide ease of growing practice and facilitate the Indian CA Firms grow bigger.
- ICAI has actively participated in international forums, collaborated with global accountancy bodies, and promoted professional opportunities for the members through qualification reciprocity agreements. These efforts have resulted in increased demand for Indian CAs in various countries. There are over 42000 ICAI members abroad, who are making their mark in the foreign soil. The widespread global presence of ICAI through 52 Chapters & 29 Representative Offices overseas spanning 47 countries in 81 cities itself reflects its global recognition. At present, ICAI has Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with 8 leading accounting bodies worldwide namely, CPA Canada, CPA Australia, CAANZ, SAICA, CPA Ireland, ICAEW, MICPA and ICA Nepal and 16 bilateral cooperation agreements for the institutionalization of the accountancy profession in emerging economies.
- In order to represent ICAI as a Global Leader, ICAI is hosting the World Forum of Accounting from 31st January to 2nd February 2025 at Yashobhoomi, Dwarka. The event is expected to bring together over 10,000 accounting and finance professionals from across the globe to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the field. The 3-day event will host 13 Technical sessions, 7 Special sessions, 17 Concurrent sessions and over 100+ renowned speakers.