By Deepak Shah, Nitin Shingala, Chartered Accountants
Seminar on Direct Tax Code
The Taxation Committee of BCAS had conducted a Seminar on Direct Tax Code on 26th & 27th November, 2010 at Y. B. Chavan Pratishthan, Nariman Point. The seminar received very good response. The total enrolment was more than 450 participants which included members from the industry and from different parts of the country. The Seminar was addressed by prominent speakers namely; Mr. Pinakin Desai, Mr. Kishor Karia, Mr. Gautam Doshi, Mr. Rajan Vora, Mr. Gautam Nayak, Mr. Hitesh Gajaria. The speakers highlighted important aspects of the Direct Tax Code and gave suggestions for making proper representations to the Government on certain contentious and far reaching consequences that the DTC may have.
Accounting and Auditing Committee Careers in Internal Audit – An Exploratory Programme
The regulatory framework on one hand and the accelerated pace of the economy on the other hand has made it imperative for progressive enterprises to set up effective Internal Audit systems to aid the management and to enable the enterprise to achieve its objectives. Chartered accountants now have the opportunity to either become a part of the in-house Internal Audit team of large companies, banks, financial institutions, etc. or to join the Internal Audit practice of a professional firm.
To create awareness about the potential careers that await chartered accountants in the area of internal audit, the Accounting and Auditing Committee held a half day exploratory programme entitled “Careers in Internal Audit” on December 11, 2010 at BCAS premises.
Mr. Pradip Thanawala, Vice president, welcomed the participants and shared his thoughts on the changing role of internal audit in present times.
The panel of speakers comprised of – Ms. Neesha Samant, Mr. Nischal Shah and Mr. Shailin Desai, Chartered Accountants. Mr. Nischal Shah was part of the Corporate Internal Audit team of a large IT company prior to pursuing his MBA and thereafter joined a well-known credit rating agency. He elaborated on the advantages of starting one’s professional career with a stint in Internal Audit. Through sharing of his personal experiences, he explained that internal audit provides exposure to the key functional areas of the entity audited and thereby creates ample opportunities of cross-functional interactions.
Ms. Neesha Samant shared her experience as a senior member of the Internal Audit Department of a large group of entities engaged in Banking and Financial Services sector. She drew comparisons between working in industry as in house internal auditor vis-à-vis working in CA firm as an outsourced internal auditor. She convinced the participants that switching between CA firm and the industry is not at all difficult for those pursuing career in internal audit. She also briefed participants on the skill sets and competencies needed to pursue a career in Internal Audit and provided the list of Professional Certification courses that may be taken up by candidates interested in pursuing a career in Internal Audit.
Mr. Shailin Desai, who specialises in Internal Audit and Risk Advisory Services for the Telecom Industry, in a large accounting/consulting firm, gave altogether new insights for pursuing a career in Business & Risk Advisory services with large accounting/consulting firms. Through lucid example of a large corporate house where the Internal Audit Head was asked to take over as the acting-CEO during the absence of the latter, he drove home the organisation-wide role of the Internal Auditor. He also shared his experience of developing industry specialisation within internal audit and the edge that such specialisation creates in present times. His passionate rendering of “the Art of Internal Audit” stirred a lot of interest amongst the young participants.
The programme concluded with a question/answer session that gave the participants a chance to clarify their doubts and address their concerns. The panel of speakers was joined by Ms. Nandita Parekh & Mr. Atul Shah, Course Coordinators in the concluding session. The participants were encouraged to attend the six day Foundation Course on Internal Audit that is scheduled to be conducted by BCAS in the month of February, 2010 as well as to take up membership of BCAS Students’ Forum & Internal Audit Study Circle for ongoing learning in the area of Internal Audit.
The program received an overwhelming response with an enrolment of 78 participants – and for many young participants, it was their first introduction to the BCAS.
