73rd Anniversary of ICAI | Lets Dive & Discover Chartered Accountancy

July 1 will be the CA day just like every year. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will celebrate the 73rd Anniversary of its foundation on this day. Interestingly, the Virtual National CA summit 2021 shall be organised from June 29 to July 1, 2021. And Surprisingly, in a vast and overpopulated country like India, to date, there have been only 2.5 lakh Chartered Accountants of ICAI which has a towering presence in India.

The Reason being simple — this organisation has set up lofty benchmarks for clearing the exam and consequently, there are hundreds of Chartered accountants who hold assets worth millions of dollars. So, behind this lucrative income, there are rigorous standards of education and there are few people in hundreds of aspirants who are able to clear this exam and become Chartered Accountant.

The USP of this profession is the fact that it is the only profession in India that is licensed for the purpose of financial audit of any organisation and across the globe, it is the second-largest body imparting education related to accounting and finance.

5 Key takeaways about the profession of Chartered Accountancy

• It came into being by an act of Parliament in the year 1949 and is the oldest body in India imparting quality and value additive education in accountancy and finance.
• It is the second biggest accounting organisation in the globe after the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
• In a vast country where reservation is prevalent to uplift the underprivileged people, ICAI has still maintained a distance from reservation.
• The first person in India accoladed with the profession of Chartered Accountants is Gopaldas Padamsey Kapadia and surprisingly he is also the first president of India.
• The logo of ICAI is ‘Garuda’ and has Upanishad quotes given by Sir Aurobindo.

Celebration of CA Day?

Finance is the backbone of any organisation and so the profession of a chartered accountant is seen with high esteem. The duties of a Chartered Accountant entails preparing financial statements of organisation, audit, tax compliances, procuring and utilising of finance and so on and so forth.

Different people and different organisations celebrate CA day in different ways — Some organisations organise events, other accolades the achievers and still others offers discover to their client and so on.

History and Timeline of ICAI

1913

The grassroots of the profession of the Chartered Accountants dates back to the year 1913 when the Companies Act was enacted in the British Raj. The act made it compulsory to maintain certain books of accounts for every company register under the aforesaid Act. Moreover, it also became essential to appoint an auditor for these books of accounts.

1918

With the passage of time, an accounting course was launched for the first time in the year 1918 named ‘Government Diploma in Accountancy. This course followed the same pattern as being followed in the present CA course. It entailed 3 years long training period also. Those who qualified were appointed as auditors throughout the length and breadth of the country.

1930

In the year 1930, the Companies Act was enacted in the British Raj. The law was related to certain compliances to be followed by the companies. Furthermore, in the year 1930, the government decided to maintain registered accountants and the aforesaid people were called registered accountants.

1949

Till the year 1949, there was an absence of any specific body that can impart professional education in the domain of Finance along with maintaining books of accounts. Finally, in the year 1949, the Chartered Accountant Act was passed by the Parliament and consequentially ICAI and the profession of Chartered Accountancy finally came into being.