Honble Union Minister of Corporate Affairs, Shri Prem Chand Gupta inaugurated the 59th Annual Function of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), in the Capital on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009.
 
Secretary, ICAI , Shri. T. Karthikeyan welcomed the Chief Guest, Shri Prem Chand Gupta, Guest of Honor, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Shri. Anurag Goel, President, CA. Ved Jain and Vice President, ICAI, CA. Uttam Prakash Agarwal.
 
Addressing the function, the Honble Minister stated This occasion should not be mere celebration but the members of the profession should introspect the various developments taking place nationally and internationally and come out with their approach to address such situations so that the country gets the benefit of their advice.
 
He further stated In the recent aberrations caused by Satyam fiasco, ICAI has clarified its position as a regulator and has already moved with suitable actions. What is needed is that public confidence should be restored and expectations from the auditor should be flagged so that the chartered accountants, as they have served the nation in previous years so well, continue their steadfast march in the aspect of sustaining Public Confidence in financial Reporting.
 
Shri Prem Chand Gupta complimented the ICAIs initiative to restore the credibility of the auditing process. He said that the Institute has performed its role very well by making available a large base of world class Chartered Accountants, and developing high quality financial reporting standards. I commend your commitment in the drive for convergence of accounting, auditing and ethical standards with international best practices, and improving corporate governance in businesses.
 
President, ICAI, CA. Ved Jain presided over the function where he thanked his Colleagues for all the encouragement and support. In his Presidential address, President, ICAI, highlighted the achievements of the Institute during the year and how it has been made possible to achieve almost all the targets which he had envisaged. He said ICAI is today a more robust, developed, energetic and futuristic organization. The profession is contributing in the process of anchoring economic growth and national development. There has been a phenomenal rise in the status, prestige and image of ICAI in the public eye.
 
While addressing the gathering, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Goel said The role of the accounting profession is critical in lending credibility to financial markets by providing high quality information, facilitating market discipline and fostering confidence of various stakeholders. This has become all the more important as the volatile nature of todays capital markets, emergence of knowledge based economy, and technological changes have posed major issues in financial reporting.
 
The Chief Guest, Shri Prem Chand Gupta distributed the awards under the following categories.

    * Best Regional Council of the Institute
    * Best Branch of Regional Council of the Institute
    * Best Students Association of the Institute
    * Best Branch of Students Association of the Institute
    * Toppers of Post Qualification Courses

 
Vice-President, CA. Uttam Prakash Agarwal in his vote of thanks affirmed the expectation which the Government has from the Profession and reiterated that the profession would be able to overcome the current challenge faced by the country and would be able to come out of this situation.
 
II. Launch of ICAI General Accounting Software
 
On the occasion of the 59th Annual Function, the Institute today launched, first of its kind, General Accounting Software. The software is a web based, easy to use and with the help of this the end users will be able to maintain their accounts online. The software can be used by a Corporate Business entity or a Non-Corporate Business user or Non-Corporate Professional or a Not for Profit Organization.
 
President, ICAI, CA. Ved Jain during the launch of the software said Our Accounting Software would be different from other accounting software, as it will be web based and will offer the facility of viewing accounts online from anywhere/ anytime in any currency of the world.
 
The software will be made available for public download within a weeks time from now. The Institute will be releasing advanced versions of the software from time to time and in due course it will ultimately meet even the most complex and expensive business accounting software requirements which are normally a part of an extensive suite of software often known as Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software.
 
The software comes with a Balance Sheet/ Profit and Loss Account Configuration utility to generate the reports in the format specified by the Company act from time to time. The software is parameterized and the end user has the option to configure various parameters such as automatic posting of vouchers, auto generation of General Ledger codes, and provision for configuration of multiple divisions in a company. ICAI has decided to deploy this software to make their branch accounts online. All ICAI branches will use this software to maintain branch accounts in easy & user friendly manner and consolidated picture of ICAI branch accounts can be accessed at Head Office.
 
III. MOU with CPA Australia recognizing each others qualification
 
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and CPA Australia Ltd, the two largest Chartered Accountancy bodies in the world have decided together by working out a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which was signed on February 3, 2009, to recognize the qualification, training of each other and admit the members in good standing by prescribing a bridging mechanism.
 
The instant MRA with CPA Australia by ICAI is a step forward in increased mobility to professionals at either end and would herald a new dimension for businesses globally said President, ICAI, Ved Jain. Adding further Mr Ved Jain stated It also puts the two Accountancy Profession from India and Australia on global radar to play the leadership role in addressing new challenges before profession.
 
A landmark agreement between CPA Australia and ICAI highlights the increasingly global nature of the accounting profession, said President, CPA Australia, Alex Malley.
 
As per the Mutual Recognition Agreement reached, members of ICAI who are graduates will be eligible for CPA Australia membership on passing one paper on Business Strategy and Leadership. On the other hand, members of CPA Australia will be eligible for ICAI membership subject to passing two papers on Corporate & Allied Laws and Taxation and two more papers on Advanced Auditing & Professional Ethics and Financial Reporting, if they have not already passed them as a part of the CPA Australia programme.
 
The papers in respect of bridging mechanism as above would be administered locally by the two institutes. Mutual Recognition Agreement is likely to herald an increased mobility of the professionals in either country.
 
The MRA will open professional opportunities to our members in Australia and this will bring the two countries, India and Australia, closer.
 
CPA Australia is one of the Worlds largest accounting bodies, representing 122, 000 finance, accounting and business professionals in Australia, Asia and Europe with 12 overseas divisions and branches.
 
This MRA comes closer on the heels of an arrangement entered by ICAI with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales in November 2008.