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The IT study circle on ‘Super Advanced Excel for professionals’ held on 24th May and 7th June 2016
The Technology Initiatives Study Circle of the BCAS recently held a multi-session workshop on ‘Super Advanced Excel for Professionals’ addressed by the learned speaker CA Nachiket Pedhnekar.
Nachiket is a Microsoft certified corporate trainer for MS Excel and Excel VBA. He is the founder & CEO of ViN Learning Centre, a corporate training institute based in Mumbai. Nachiket was shortlisted in the top 30% candidates across the world in the “Excel Model Off” competition (a global competition on financial modelling using MS Excel) in their 2015 edition.
The first session was held on Tuesday, 24th May 2016 whereas the second session was on Tuesday, 7th June 2016. Over the last two sessions, the speaker has covered interesting topics such as “Flash Fill”, “Datedif Function”, “Goal seek” for performing Trial and Error, “Scenario Manager” for simulations, Alternatives to “nested if”, “If error” & “Ifna functions”, Pivot Tables, Sparklines, “Fuzzy lookup” add-in, Data Table etc.
Both sessions witnessed a large audience and were interactive. All participants have benefited immensely through these enriching sessions.
The third session of the workshop is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 28th June 2016.
Indirect Tax Study Circle Meeting on CENVAT Credit Rules held on 3rd June 2016
Indirect Tax Study Circle Meeting was conducted at BCAS on 3rd June 2016, to discuss various issues relating to amendments made to Rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules. The Meeting was led by CA Shri Jinit Shah and chaired by Advocate Shri. Vipin Jain. The group held very extensive discussions and debated on case studies drafted for the subject.
Presentation prepared by CA Jinit Shah was appreciated by members and guidance provided by Shri Jain was very helpful in deciding some of the very complex issues that were taken up for consideration. Study Circle received encouraging response from the members, as more than 50 members participated in the meeting.
Full day workshop on Fraud Reporting & Tools for Data Mining & Analytics for Statutory/Internal Auditors held on 4th June 2016 at BCAS
(Organized by Human Development and Technology Initiatives committee jointly with Accounting and Auditing Committee).
CA Raman Jokhakar, President BCAS welcomed the participants. CA Nitin Shingala set the tone for the workshop by highlighting the relevance of the topic in the current regulatory perspective.
CA Nikunj Shah explained the concept of Data Mining and Assurance Analytics in the context of statutory and internal Audit. With the help of live demonstration, he explained how Pivot table can be used to:
Summarize data exceeding one million rows.
Prepare pivot table from CSV files without importing CSV files in excel
Get kaleidoscopic view by slicing and dicing data.
Conduct Pareto analysis (80-20 rule) to identify high value (and high risk) transactions
Quickly perform a ‘Time Dimension’ analysis on data.
Interpret results of analysis and apply it in decision making
CA Nikunj Shah explained the concept of dashboards like important questions to ask, before one starts working on a dashboard, the process to organize data thereby ensuring that it’s interactive, real time and flexible. He also explained which chart types work best for different data types and steps to use pivot tables with a dashboard.
The workshop was attended by 115 participants. The overwhelming response from diverse gamut of participants – industry and practice, local and outstation participants, BCAS member and non members showcased the interest in the subject cutting across wide spectrum of stakeholders.
CA Kinjal Shah proposed vote of thanks to all the speakers and participants for making this workshop a grand success.
Lecture Meeting on Filing of Income Tax Return held on 8th June, 2016
Like in earlier year, this year too, the Society organized a lecture meeting on Filing of Income Tax Return at IMC, to take the members through the nuances of the new Income Tax Return Forms prescribed in March, 2016 for the Assessment Year 2016-2017. The purpose of the lecture meeting was to demystify the filing process, throw light on potential issues and spread awareness about the precautions to be taken while preparing and filing the tax returns.
President Raman Jokhakar welcomed the young speakers CA Siddharth Banwat and CA Bhadresh Doshi and gave his opening remarks. The lecture meeting commenced with the launch of the Third Edition of the publication ‘Gita for Professionals’ authored by CA Chetan Dalal. The book was released by CA K.C Narang, Past President of the Society along with Book’s author CA Chetan Dalal and the speakers present CA Siddarth Banwat & CA Bhadresh Doshi.
CA. Bhadresh Doshi spoke about the key changes in the new Income Tax Returns Forms notified by the CBDT on 31st March 2016 for A.Y. 2016-17. He presented the key legal provisions related to the ITR Forms through a very systematically prepared presentation. He highlighted the key issues and challenges in each ITR form very meticulously.
CA Siddharth Banwat dealt with a very important amendment relating to disclosure requirements of Foreign Assets and Bank Accounts in the new ITR Forms. He talked about the impact of non-filing of Return of Income under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2016 and also discussed issues concerning taxation for NRIs / Non Residents. He further touched upon the procedure of e-filing of tax returns for the A.Y.2016-17.
The speakers enthralled the audience at the venue which was filled to its capacity. It was attended by tax professionals and students in large numbers. The meeting concluded with the vote of thanks by Mr. Raj Khona who appreciated the well-articulated speech and excellent presentation given by the young speakers.
9th Jal Erach Dastur CA Students Annual Day held on 11th June 2016
The Jal Erach Dastur Students Annual Day is an event that is organized by the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society every year. The 9th Edition of the event was splendid and also got a new title ‘Tarang 2k16 – Tarasho Apne Talent Ke Rang.’ It was held at the K.C. College Auditorium, Churchgate on Saturday, 11th June 2016 from 2.30 pm onwards.
It is an event organized by the BCAS Students Forum under auspices of the Human Development and Technology Initiatives Committee of the BCAS for the CA students. The students are given an opportunity to showcase their talents and take a break from the daily routine activities. It is an excellent platform that enables students to come together, interact with each other and make new friends. The theme of the programme was ‘Start-ups & Entrepreneurship’ and the Chief Guest for the event was Mr. Vishal Mehta, Founder & CEO of Infibeam.
The event commenced with the participants showing respect and love for our motherland, by singing the National Anthem. It was succeeded by the members of the Managing Committee & HDTI Committee lighting the lamp of knowledge, tribute to Shri Jal E. Dastur and Shri Pradeep Shah guiding the future Chartered Accountants.
The Society lost a stalwart in Shri Narayan Varma who passed away on 24th December 2015. A tribute was paid to this great man who was the Past President of the Society and an ardent supporter of the student’s activities. For the first time, a mesmerizing Anthem ‘Let’s have fun at Tarang’ composed by CA. Devansh Doshi was prepared to promote the entire event.
The event this year was graced by Shri Soli Dastur, who ignited the future Chartered Accountants on why it is important to become not just a good Chartered Accountant but also a good person. He spoke of the importance of following ethics in the professional careers.
To keep up with the tradition, the student members of the organising team then presented a wonderful skit which was titled “Tarang – Pani da Rang” with a message about treating everyone with equal respect and honour.
The skit was followed by the Chandanben Maganlal Bhatt ‘Elocution Competition’ where six finalists battled it out with each other to win the coveted trophies. The difficulty bar was raised this time and the finalists were allotted the topics on random lot basis. All participants gave commanding performances on their respective topics which made the job of the judges a difficult one.
The Selfie Competition ‘Khinch Le’ was a new entrant in the Annual Day this year. Students were given themes on which they had to click creative selfies and mention an innovative tagline based on the theme selected. The CA students came up with some delightful and funny pictures for the audience to enjoy.
The final round of the Debate Competition ‘War of Words’ followed the Selfie Competition. The debate was moderated by CA Mudit Yadav with two teams of three students finalists, each coming up with very good points to defend their case. There was also an open house for the audience to ask questions to individual speakers of either of the teams. The competition was enjoyed by the entire audience and was a great hit.
President, CA Raman Jokhakar and the Chairman of the HDTI Committee CA Nitin Shingala then addressed the students, motivated them and also spoke about various initiatives taken by the society for student members. To keep up with the I.T. Revolution, the Co-Chairman of the HDTI Committee CA Mihir Sheth and Convener CA K.K
Jhunjhunwala addressed the students through a video clip.
The young and energetic student co-ordinators Mr. Raj Khona and Mr. Viren Doshi addressed the students and encouraged them to join the BCAS Students Forum and Students Study Circle. They also spoke about the various initiatives taken by the Students Forum during the year. This was followed by the break where the students were treated to a delectable samosa along with a cup of tea and coffee.
After savouring the hot snacks and tea, the audience gathered back with grander enthusiasm, ready and excited for the highlight of the event, The town hall Q & A Session with Mr. Vishal Mehta, Founder and CEO of Infibeam. com. CA Mihir Sheth gave a remarkable introduction of the keynote speaker. Mr. Vishal Mehta then addressed the audience and shared his start up story about how a professional from Silicon Valley, USA is now a CEO of his very own enterprise. He stressed how merely deciding to become an entrepreneur is not enough, it is essential to act on it. He also explained that becoming an entrepreneur is not about the glamour and status, one should believe in the opportunity and their business model and how the rest would follow. After the informative keynote address, Mr. Raj Khona along with Mr. Vishal Mehta began the Q&A round. The atmosphere in the auditorium was of motivation and energy after the session. Mr. Mayank Gosar proposed the vote of thanks to Mr. Vishal Mehta for giving an inspiring keynote speech and for sparing his precious time to interact with CA students.
Immediately after that, the beating of the drums, the strumming of the guitar, the melody of the keyboards and tapping of feet synced perfectly to the beats was enjoyed by the crowd, as the hosts announced the commencement of ‘The Talent Show’. The stage was then taken over by young and talented CA students who showcased their talent ranging from dance, singing, instrumental, stand-up comedy and mono-acting. In all 18 finalists gave marvellous performances with the judges facing a tough challenge to select the winners. All the singers were supported by the live background music fantastically played with the help of talented musicians. Huge round of applause and cheering came from the crowds all the time. At the end, the judges gave enthralling performances, gripping the audience with pitch perfect songs.
With the clock ticking, the suspense and wait was about to be over. The winners of the competition representing their firms were finally announced. The list goes as follows:
The entire evening was hosted fabulously by Mr. Apurva Wani, Ms. Nidhi
Shah and Ms. Disha Unadkat with their outstanding performances, keeping
alive the excitement and spirit till the end.
The Chairman of
the HDTI Committee, CA Nitin Shingala and Convenor CA K.K. Jhunjhunwala
praised the efforts and felicitated each and every student volunteer for
putting up an excellent show in a short span of time. Also, the hard
work of all the group leaders of the Students Study Circle for the year
2015-16 was recognized. Mr. Raj Khona and Mr. Viren Doshi were
acknowledged for coordinating the Students Study Circle during the last
year.
Mr. Parth Patani proposed vote of thanks to Mr. Sohrab Erach Dastur for sponsoring the annual day in the fond memory of his brother late Jal Erach Dastur, the family of the Chandanben Maganlal Bhatt for sponsoring the Elocution Competition, the Chief Guest for the evening Mr. Vishal Mehta, the members of the Managing Committee and HDTI Committee, the Coordinators of the Annual Day, the Event Moderators, Judges of various competitions, BCAS Staff, parents and principals of students, sound technicians, the vibrant team of student volunteers and all the students for participating in big numbers.
With great pride and delight, we announce that a total number of 516 students registered for the Annual Day, setting an overwhelming benchmark.
A sumptuous dinner was arranged after the event for all those who marked their presence at the annual day. The motto of the event, to not only develop and encourage skills and extracurricular participation but to bring together the entire fraternity was very well achieved. All in all, at the end, a feeling of achievement with some splendid memories were taken along by each and every person, rather, it is not the end but a promise for a new beginning!!!
Human Development Study Circle Meeting on “Eye Health and Eye Vision” held on 14th June, 2016.
Human Development Study Circle Meeting on “Eye Health and Eye Vision” was held on 14th June, 2016 at BCAS Conference Room, addressed by the speaker Mr Vikram Agrawal, Founder of Vision Yoga.
Viram Agrawal is working with a Vision “Better Eyesight at any age”. His organization promotes the cause of healthy natural vision for a lifetime.
Some of the insights received from his lecture are listed below:
Preservation of good eyesight is almost impossible without proper eye education and mental relaxation.
Keep your eyelids half closed, while reading or watching a distant object.
Shift your glance constantly from one point to another.
All errors of refraction are functional and therefore curable.
Mental strain creates an error of refraction and mental relaxation can cure it
Eyewash tones up the eye muscles
Vision Yoga is a holistic method of treating eye disorders, which is a part of the vedic tradition as given in the Chakshushopanishad and Netra Dwayam – Upanishads of the eyes.
At Vision Yoga, people from 5 years to 80 years are doing eye exercises. This course benefits all eye disorders like myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, squint, cataract, nystagmus etc.
The speaker is passionate about healing all eye problems:
– He believes that exercises can help to avoid Glasses, avoid Lasik Surgery and improve eye vision.
– He also spoke on some eye treatments for eye ailments.
– Acute eyesight problems need proper consultation
The participants felt they have learned a lot about eye care and eye health and recommended more similar programs for welfare of more individuals.
Lecture Meeting on ‘Recent Regulatory issues impacting Audit Finalisation for the year ended on 31st March, 2016’ held on 15th June 2016
A Lecture Meeting, covering various ‘Recent Regulatory issues impacting Audit Finalization for the year ended 31st March, 2016’, like the amendments in Companies Act 2016, Internal Financial Controls over Financial Reporting, IND AS, CARO 2016, Fraud Reporting, Changes in Audit report, SEBI updates and other Regulatory Changes impacting the Audit Finalisation was organized at Wallchand Hirachand Hall, IMC, Churchgate on June 15, 2016.
The speaker CA. Khushroo B. Panthaky shared his knowledge and practical experience. Various regulatory issue, intricacies of reporting requirements and expectations from auditors and preparers of financial statements were well covered and explained to the attendees by way of practical examples, well designed to understand the complexities of the regulatory issues in a simplest way. He talked on various aspects of audit and how it has moved from a sampling certification to a risk based confirmation. He highlighted the significance of thorough checks, Study of client business end to end, what precautions an auditor needs to take up right from accepting the audit assignment till the final signing of the report.
The lecture meeting was attended by more than 300 participants from various industries and the practice arena. The interactions between the participants and speaker were commendable.
Direct Tax Study Circle Meeting on ‘Equalisation Levy’ held on 16th June 2016
Direct Tax Study Circle Meeting on Equalization Levy was held on 16th June, 2016, jointly with Suburban Study Cirle
The Group leader, CA Palav Shah Parekh, under the guidance of the Chairperson, CA Mayur Nayak commenced the meeting by showcasing a video of how House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, UK led by Margaret Hodge MP interrogated the Google Boss on UK tax dodging. Palav gave a brief background as to how digital commerce business has evolved during these years and how these companies dodge from paying income taxes by not having a physical presence in a particular jurisdiction.
Thereafter, she commented upon the 3 options given by the BEPS Action Plan 1 to tackle the tax issues relating to E-commerce transactions and the reason as to why Indian Revenue authorities had to select the option of Equalisation Levy. She thereafter explained the scope, applicability and the various provisions relating to Equalisation Levy brought about by the Finance Act 2016 and the corresponding rules. She educated the members with similar existing provisions in other countries. At the end, various issues which one could face while implementing these provisions were discussed by the group and the session was concluded by the Chairperson giving his concluding remarks.
Yoga session held on 19th June 2016
The Human Development and Technology Initiatives Committee organised a ‘Yoga’ Session, jointly with ISH foundation on Sunday 19th June 2016, at Direct-I-plex, Andheri(E), Mumbai-400069 between 8-00 a.m. and 9-00 a.m. That was to mark a celebration of the upcoming International Yoga Day on 21st June, 2016.
Pradeep Thakkar, a Professional Yoga teacher and also an active member of ISH Foundation guided about 21 participants who attended this programme. He demonstrated and guided participants to perform different Asanas with ease, comfort for healthy body and mind relaxation.
CA Mayur Nayak welcomed the participants and CA Mukesh Trivedi discussed in brief the meaning of the word Yoga and how to practise it in life for the self-less service at the highest altar.
Participants had good learning of Yogasanas for healthy body and peaceful mind.
