In a bid to ensure transparency in their functioning, a format for accounting and auditing of income and expenditure of political parties has been submitted to Election Commission by the Institute of Charted Accountants of India, a top ICAI official has said.

The implementation of the uniform format would help in bringing about accountability of political parties, ICAI President G Ramaswamy told reporters here last night.

Regarding black money, he said the ICAI had constituted a committee to suggest ways to curb its flow and its report once ready would be forwarded to the government. He said the ICAI was working with the government on Goods and Services Tax. He said the future of the accountancy professionals was promising as financial inclusion had become a key word and new Companies Act and GST were in the offing.

ICAI had tied up with many accounting institutes in the world so that Indian accountants could make a mark anywhere. "We have ties with United Kingdom and Wales institute, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and New Zealand Insitute of Chartered Accountants," he said.

The International Financial Reporting Standards was also expected to provide more opportunities for the Chartered accountants in the country, he said adding intensive trainining had been given to 2,607 CAs for adoption of IFRS. Ramswamy said the average entry level salary for a CA now Rs nine lakh per annum was expected to go upt Rs.20 lakh in the next five years.

During the campus interview organised by the institute last year, three CAs in the age group of 20 were placed with a salary of Rs.21 lakh a year by international companies. For domestic posting, the best offer received was Rs.15 lakh a year.