The month of October commences with the 2nd day being celebrated as ‘Gandhi Jayanti’ in honour of the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhiji. This year it will be his 152nd birth anniversary. He preached two major principles to be followed in life, viz., Ahimsa (non-violence) and Swaraj (freedom). To correlate these principles with our professional life, we have to be conscious of the fact that merely by not involving in physical violence and by taking our own decisions during professional commitments, do not mean that we are following the path of Ahimsa and Swaraj, respectively.
The true spirit of Ahimsa is to be aware during our professional journey of not being part of any deeds which are intended to hurt the well-being of some other person or the State. Similarly, Swaraj is attained by a professional when he advises or takes decisions without the fear of its consequences and in a thoroughly independent manner. To be on the path of these principles one has to make them the standpoints of one’s life and, more importantly, to stand by these standpoints.
For a professional who follows the path of these principles, I am reminded of the quote of my GURU Mahatria Ra:
Your work ethic is a true reflection of your character.
Hold yourself to the highest standards possible.
An eminent person and one of the most respected professionals, Padma Shri CA T.N. Manoharan, Past President of the ICAI, had once stated in an interview that he was transformed the most by reading My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi.
Now I turn to the developments on the professional and economic fronts. Let me first discuss the good tidings of the strong rebound during the July-September quarter projected by Standard & Poors (S&P) based on the high frequency indicators after a steep contraction in activities in the previous quarter. It has retained GDP growth at 9.5% for the current fiscal. The capital markets are also exuding confidence in the future earnings of the listed corporates, by taking the Sensex past 60,000 and the Nifty almost touching 18,000. India as a preferred destination for foreign investments is also gathering steam and there is a continuous flow of FDI into the country.
On the professional front, there is the Consultation Paper released by the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) on Statutory Audit and Auditing Standards for Micro, Small and Medium Companies (MSMCs). It has sought the views of all the stakeholders on four issues relating to the auditing areas of MSMCs. Two of the issues I feel may need deliberations, viz., (i) exempting MSMCs meeting certain criteria and thresholds from statutory audit under the Companies Act, 2013, and (ii) the approach for estimating standard cost of audit computed by NFRA.
With due respect to the regulatory body NFRA, it is really disturbing of them to make sweeping remarks in the Consultation Paper while dealing with issues related to audit of MSMCs, such as ‘The inference that is inescapable is that such audit is (sic) being carried out is perhaps only a sham.’ And ‘In any event it is clear that such audit as is being carried out cannot boast of any quality at all.’ I feel such statements, even though in a Consultative Paper, should be avoided by the regulator since it depicts the profession of Chartered Accountancy and its foremost quality as auditors in bad light.
The regulator has also inferred that there may be lack of adequate accounting professionals with the companies which are not filing Annual Financial Statements (AFS) and MGT-7. Only 52.48% of the total number of active companies has filed its AFS and MGT-7 for the F.Y. 2018-19 as on June, 2021. Here I would like to state that another reason may be the inefficiency / unwillingness of the promoters and management of such companies for not complying with the regulatory requirements. To cast the entire onus and responsibility on the professionals without further research into the reasons for such non-compliances would be totally unjust.
Further, I feel the estimation of standard costs to carry out an audit as tabulated by NFRA will also require a lot of inputs from professionals who are into conducting audits. The efficiency of conducting audits has increased substantially with the assistance of the various audit softwares available and adopted by the auditing firms. I urge all the professionals to come forward and share their views on the Consultation Paper. BCAS will shortly send an email to collect comments from members. Further, we will deliberate within a group of professionals and give appropriate response as sought.
BCAS through its philanthropic arm the BCAS Foundation and the HRD Committee, has for several decades been undertaking a ‘Tree Plantation and Eye Camp’ in the remote tribal areas of Dharampur, Gujarat. This year, on 25th and 26th September, an enthusiastic group of 25 volunteers visited Pindval and with the assistance of the Sarvodaya Parivar Trust carried out tree plantation. There was a visit to an NGO ARCH, which is engaged in mother and child care services for the tribals at Nagaria, Dharampur. On the next day, the volunteers visited Sant Ranchhoddas Eye Hospital which along with the Dhanvantari Trust conducts cataract operations for the tribals and needy people at Vansda, Gujarat. The BCAS Foundation donated reasonable amounts to all the three NGOs.
The zeal and dedication of the persons involved at all the three NGOs was to be seen to be believed. Their experiments with social work would seem simple, but the circumstances and conditions under which they carry out the activities make the work exemplary. I can say that if you create anything which is simple but powerful, it will have value in this world. For the efforts of such mortals who have sacrificed the comforts for the larger goal of serving deprived human kind, I would end with a quote from my GURU Mahatria Ra:
The bullet that had left the gun cannot return to the gun. It has to hit the target.
A venture begun should be a venture accomplished.
Whether something is a stepping stone or a stumbling block depends on how you use it.
Go on. Go on. Do not halt. Do not stagnate. Endeavour continuously.
Don’t stop. Rest not. Go on. Keep going on.
Best Regards,
Abhay Mehta
President
