By P. N. Shah, Chartered Accountant
History
The Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society (BCAS) has entered
its Diamond Jubilee year. Founded by seven visionaries 59 years ago, it is an
institution with a membership of around 8000 members, from the entire length and
breadth of the country.
During these six decades, India has been transformed, from an
impoverished nation after 150 years of the British Raj to being a country which
the whole world looks at as a global player. It is on the threshold of becoming
an economic super power. In the economic meltdown through which the world is
passing today, it is a country that will possibly be the least affected. In
these 60 years, the profession has faced many challenges. The Society’s role has
been to help members meet these challenges and remain ahead. This write up is
not an attempt to trace the Society’s history, for that would require a separate
publication; but the endeavour is to place before you how the Society has been
in sync with the theme of this conference ‘Challenges of change — always ahead.’
BCAS — An educational institution striving for excellence :
BCAS is an educational institution. It has to its credit many
firsts in the field of member education. It held its first seminar on taxation
in the year 1960. The Direct Tax refresher course, where participants heard
speakers on various topics of current significance was organised in 1968 where
400 participants enrolled.
Residential refresher courses :
BCAS is the first organisation that recognised that a course
where members would learn together in an informal atmosphere would not only
enhance learning but would create a bond between members. To meet this
objective, the Society, commencing from 1969, has organised 41 residential
refresher courses (RRC) to date. These have witnessed many new endeavours with a
record 610 participants for the 35th RRC, and a course wherein all papers were
with case studies as the concept. The RRC remains till date one of the most
sought after events.
The concept of learning and bonding has become so popular
that, the Society organises a separate residential course on international
taxation titled ‘International Tax & Finance conference’. With service tax
continuously increasing in its scope, the indirect tax committee also organises
a separate residential refresher course in the area of indirect taxes.
Journal :
The Bombay Chartered Accountant Journal (BCAJ) is the
flagship of the Society. It is a journal respected by every professional. Its
publication commenced in 1969, and is in its 40th year of publication. It has a
circulation of over 12000. It caters to every need of a Chartered Accountant. It
covers the entire gamut of taxation, corporate laws, and economic legislation.
Different features are added to the journal to ensure that it retains its
utility to the professional.
Referencer and Diary :
A chartered accountant has to advise his clients on a number
of laws and regulations. The compliance with these provisions is made by
different due dates. To enable him to discharge his duties, the Society brings
out a Referencer & Diary. It is the most sought after pub-lication and is used
by more than 10000 professionals.
Other publications :
The Society has over 250 publications to its credit, many of
them the first of their kind. When tax audit was introduced in 1984, the Society
published a Tax audit manual which was revised in 2004. Its audit checklist is
extremely popular with users. When transfer pricing came on the scene, it
published a transfer pricing manual which is now revised. As India emerged on
the global scene, it arranged with OECD to make their publications available to
its members. After service tax was introduced in 1994, it published a number of
publications on that subject.
Technology absorption :
The Society is deeply conscious that it is essential to
harness technology to cater to the increasing expectations of members. Paucity
of time and space has made the utilisation of information technology imperative.
The Society maintains a vibrant website. It has recently launched two e-learning
modules. Conscious of the need to have a working knowledge of information
technology, to update knowledge, the Society organises a course on computer
training for its senior members. It has made available to members its journal
for the past years on a CD, with search facility.
Long term duration courses :
It was recognised that in order to enable members to attain
the requisite expertise in emerging areas, knowledge imparted at lectures,
seminars and workshops was inadequate. The Society therefore organised,
structured long duration courses. The subjects covered were, internal audit,
business consultancy, arbitration and conciliation.
The concept of corporate governance required independent
directors on the boards of listed companies. Considering this opportunity, a
long-term course on independent directors was organised. The course was so
popular that a special programme for the armed forces was also arranged.
In the field of international taxation, a long-term course on
Double Tax Avoidance agreements is organised on a regular basis.
The primary objective of the Society has been the spread of
knowledge. Its programmes whenever felt necessary, are arranged also for persons
other than CAs. The Society has organised programmes for the Regional Training
Institute of Direct Taxes where training is imparted to income tax officials.
Realising that the training/knowledge imparted up to the
stage of graduation was insufficient, the Society designed a course titled
‘Professional Accountant’. The course is immensely popular and six such courses
have been conducted.
Research :
The Society has a permanent research committee, which has
also published a number of publications on off-beat subjects. Recently the
committee has decided to arrange a programme to guide chartered accountants
about how to obtain a PhD.
Initiatives for students :
The Society recognised early that students are the future of the profession. It has always strived to cater to their needs. In 1963, it had student observers during seminars, to introduce students to this method of learning. Since 1974 it started publishing a students’ diary. It holds a number of programmes for students, including a crash course to enable them to understand and appreciate the nuances of each subject. The course is organised jointly with the Western India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. In June 2008; it launched a students’ forum to make available a platform to students.
Making members better citizens:
The BCAS visionaries were of the view that it is not sufficient that a member becomes a competent professional, but it is necessary that he becomes a good citizen and a compassioriate human being. The Human resources development committee runs programmes with a goal to make members part of happier families. It arranges public speaking courses, leadership camps which aspire to make members complete human beings.
Service to general public:
The Society is always in the forefront in rendering service to citizens. Each year it publishes a lucid analysis of the finance bill in four languages, English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi. It makes representations to the authorities when any change in legislation is unfair or unjust to the citizens. Whenever administrative actions create hardships for the tax paying public, the Society interacts with the administrators in an attempt to mitigate those hardships. The Society published a booklet on Survey, search and seizure, with an emphasis on the rights of citizens during surveyor search.
Aware that social organisations are not easily able to avail of professional assistance, it runs a charitable trust clinic, where experts address the problems faced by charitable institutions and their trustees.
BCAS Foundation:
The BCAS is aware of the obligations that a professional has towards society, not as a professional, but as a citizen. It therefore started the BCAS foundation, an independent charitable trust. The foundation helped victims of the tsunami disaster. The endeavour is to launch many projects which will be of utility to the public.
Right to Information Act 2005:
The Society supports a clinic which guides the members of the public as to how the Act can be used to solve their problems. It runs a special feature in the journal on the Right to Information Act.
Conclusion:
The Society has always attempted to be an organisation with a difference. Many of its endeavours have been emulated by other organisations. The Society is happy that it has been able to bring into the public domain, a fund of knowledge and its efforts have helped members, students and citizens.
The goal of the Society in the coming years will be to spread an awareness of its activities so that more people can benefit from the same. For achieving its objectives the Society has been ever willing to change. The aim is constant improvement with the ultimate goal of perfection. The Society believes in what Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often”.
