November 2009
From The President
By Ameet Patel, President
Reading Time 7 mins
From the President
Dear BCAJ Lovers,
As I sit down to write this month’s column, the wonderful
festival of lights has just ended. I am now resuming office after a 4-day
holiday during which I relaxed, spent time with my family, met a lot of friends
and relatives and ate lots of food which is bound to make the weighing scale
groan if I have the guts to stand on it to check my weight. I am sure that all
of you too would have similar experiences. Diwali is like that — it tempts you
to be on a ‘forbidden trip’.
After a relaxing break, we all will once again get back into
the rut. Most CAs live an extremely hectic life and a very stressful one at
that. We have moulded ourselves into workaholics who take on the world’s
troubles on their shoulders. We allow our clients to force ourselves to work at
the absolute last minute and, in the process, create extremely stressful
conditions for ourselves. If a client’s case is selected for scrutiny, the sky
falls on our heads while the client is blissfully watching the latest Bollywood
movie or going for a 5-star cruise. Is this fair ? Is this required ? Is this
warranted ? Why are CAs such a meek lot ? Why do we not raise our voices loud
and clear ? Why do we get bullied into the corner every time ? Is there not
anything that we can all collectively do to reduce stress and make our lives
more relaxed ? Is there a problem of time management or is there a problem of
the ‘chalta hai’ attitude ? Can we not write to our clients in the month of
March every year itself and ask them to be ready with their accounts by April or
May end ? Can we not educate our clients about the advantages of being online as
far as their accounting and taxation goes ? This problem is faced not by small
practitioners alone. I have seen even the big accounting firms facing the same
stress and last minute chaos that sole proprietors and 2-3 partner firms face.
This clearly reflects a larger problem which pervades the profession at large.
Something needs to be done on an emergency basis. I invite views and feedback of
readers and assure you that BCAS will act promptly on suggestions received.
The ICAI elections are drawing closer. My thoughts expressed
in the October issue have drawn several responses. All of them agree with my
views. Of course, very few candidates have bothered to send in their feedback.
Obviously, their energies are directed at vote gathering. At BCAS, we earnestly
request every member to vote in the ensuing elections. While we cannot force
anyone to go and vote, we can certainly impress upon our members the need to
vote intelligently. I hope that the percentage of voting is high this time.
I was thinking about my wish list for the new team that will
take charge at the helm of affairs at ICAI. Some of the important matters that
need urgent attention are :
-
Allowing
creation of multi-disciplinary partnership firms so that CAs can team up with
other professionals and offer a broader spectrum of services to clients.
-
Allowing
our members to convert their existing partnership firms into LLPs.
-
Aggressively creating new areas of practice for our members so that over
dependence on bank and PSU audits is done away with. This will automatically
have a positive impact on our profession.
-
Deciding
once and for all whether global firms should be allowed to practise in India
or not.
-
Improving the public image of the CA profession.
-
Taking a
fresh look at our existing Code of Conduct. There are several provisions
particularly dealing with marketing one’s services, use of logos, use of
photographs on one’s website, use of name of one’s international network on
the stationery, etc. which are archaic and not in sync with global trends. If
we are serious about sending a message to the international fraternity that
Indian CAs are of global standards, then we need to seriously have a relook at
our rules and regulations.
-
Revisiting the issue of CPE credits. Conceptually, one cannot find fault with
the ICAI expecting every member to be academically updated. However, the
manner in which the entire system is being administered leaves a lot to be
desired. The first and most important issue that needs to be dealt with in
this connection is the monopoly that the ICAI has taken upon itself in
organising programmes that fetch CPE credits to its members. This needs
serious rethinking. I wonder what are the norms followed in other countries. I
find it very difficult to digest the fact that when a programme is organised
by a Regional Council of the ICAI with a speaker Mr. A, it gets CPE credit
whereas another programme arranged by any other professional organisation on
the same topic with the same speaker fetches no CPE credits. Is this fair ?
Similarly, if I start a study circle with 100 members today and register it
with ICAI, that study circle will get immediate recognition for CPE purposes.
On the other hand, a study circle of BCAS which has been in existence for
several years does not get any recognition. In the same manner, programmes
arranged jointly by ICAI and other organisations too do not get any CPE
credit.
-
Bringing
about electoral reforms in the ICAI. At present, the voter turnout is
generally very low. Can we not allow our members to cast their votes online
instead of having to travel to the booths for voting ? This would allow many
members who are not in India or who are travelling out of their cities to cast
their votes. Similarly, if I find that none of the candidates deserves my
vote, why can I not say so by casting a ‘No Vote’ ? This matter is already
generating a lot of discussion at the national level. Let ICAI take a lead in
this matter and allow its members to make bold statements.
-
Finally, please do something for our students. Every few months, there is a change in the CA course. Not only the students but even the principals find it difficult to keep track of these changes. Can we not have some stability in this matter? Also, our CA course is a peculiar one where the entry is kept very simple but the exit is extremely difficult and painful. We are welcoming thousands of students with open arms into the CA course. But the number of students who ultimately qualift) is very small. This is something which needs to be urgently looked at. In comparison, the Engineering or the Medical courses are very different where entry is very difficult, the number of seats is limited, the entrance tests are very stringent and only the top few get admissions. But the number of students who ultimately qualify is quite high. This reduces frustration amongst the students. We are all aware of the large number of CA students who keep on appearing for the examinations every 6 months only to fail and appear again.
I sincerely hope that whoever wins the ensuing elections takes note of the above few important action points.
Finally, let me end by sharing with you the news about the wonderful work that the BCAS Foundation is doing with respect to Right to Information Act. We have recently been part of two important events – celebration of the 4th Anniversary of the enactment of the RTI Act and a Press Conference where Shailesh Gandhi shared his views. Both the events were very encouraging. We also had the occasion to host an interaction with noted social activist Ms. Aruna Roy, a recipient of Magsaysay award and who is considered instrumental in the enactment of the RTI Act seeing the light of the day.
I have, as usual, run out of space and even though I have lots to write about, I have to stop.
More next month.
