The advent of IFRS in India is in 2011 but money is already at hand for accounting firms, trainers and consultants. Not just the Big-4 but many others like The Institute Of Chartered Accountants Of India (ICAI) have been conducting seminars and workshops across the country, targeting CFOs, accountants, auditors and other related staff of companies.
However, some questions remain on whether spending so much on training, even as SEBI is yet to come out with its guidelines on IFRS implementation and ICAI has not lent any clarity, is worthwhile.
7 comments:
In our country private education is big business and it needs no justification. Governance here is a very bad mix of capitalism and communism. B-schools which have come up at every nook and corner of Mumbai are an example. A decade back there were only a handful.
But that is not the point of discussion here. The Institute of chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), with over 1,50,000 members and 6,00,000 students, is one of the largest and richest accounting bodies in the world. Mandated to regulate the profession of CAs, it has been in the news over the last one year for all the wrong reasons since the Satyam scam.
ICAI is the exclusive regulator of proper implementation of IFRS. Along with it comes its responsibility of seeing to it that ALL its members and students know what IFRS is all about at a reasonable cost. Why do we need to look around to be trained by a private player? ICAI should put its hands up and do it.
The problem in management education is due to what the central government has not been able to do over the last 62 years. The buck stopped after IIT and IIM. Well for ICAI it is a different story altogether with similar results. To be convinced about its "financial crunch" I would like to have a look at its annual report and the fine print before I come to a conclusion.
Though I feel we are digressing a bit but for the benefit of the other members I need to go back to China which serves as "a very good reference point" as I tell my students when I see a problem here.
I understand from a news report in BW in 2006, "China's B-School Boom -
Meet the New Managerial Class in the Making" that the colossal effort by the central government of China to educate the nation's next generation of managers is unprecedented, and it has been undertaken at a speed that is nothing short of breathtaking. In just 15 years, Chinese B-schools raced through the evolution it took U.S. B-schools more than half a century to accomplish -- not by reinventing the wheel but by adopting the U.S. model wholesale.
A footnote. 2009 is the 15th Anniversary of the founding of The China Europe International Business School, a non-profit joint venture established in 1994 between the Chinese government and the European Commission. Its predecessor, the China-EC Management Institute was launched in Beijing in 1984, making it the first and longest running MBA programme in China. They are the largest EMBA programme in the world in terms of students. No. 2 worldwide is Columbia University.
FT business school rankings in 2009 puts The China Europe International Business School at 8th position in the top-100 globally followed by ISB at 15th, the only Indian one.
Further in the EMBA top-100 rankings, China's Kellogg / Hong Kong UST Business School tops the list followed by Washington University:Olin (China) at 12, Chinese University of Hong Kong at 19, The China Europe International Business School again at 26 and 4 more Chinese schools. No Indian institutes here.
I will be fascinated once I see the Indian names in global rankings. I missed out this time. Having been educated in one of the best schools and colleges in our country that is natural.
If I get the time I will definitely look into a few more rankings from places where credibility stands right on top.
As a footnote and something I was not aware of earlier. This course can be attended by all CA students at a reduced price than Rs.30,000/-. Only the certificate will be given after they qualify. That is a great effort by ICAI to bring everybody within its fold.
Advanced Certificate Program on IFRS is being conducted by NIIT Imperia costing Rs.40,000/-. I would like our members who are aware about this to tell us how it is.
I have searched the ICAI site for what they have done in 2009 on IFRS. There is a Certificate Course on IFRS at many centres across India only for its Members costing Rs.30,000/-. I do not see the name of any private player. Names of many CCMs appear being the respective Course Directors at various centres.
The only other name I find is that of Gargi Ray, Manager Technical Accounting Group of Infosys who is the Course Co-ordinator for Bangalore Centre. She was also invited by ICAI to deliver the welcome address in the Conference on “Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). And I believe ICAI must be having sufficient reasons to call her for her expertise in her domain.
Other than this course nothing to be noted has been done. Particularly for students I did not find anything and do feel sorry for them.
PwC and IIM-C have entered into a MoU and partnered for IFRS training programmes in Aug, 2008. I would like any member here to update us on how much they are charging. I am really surprised and it makes me sick when I dare to think of ICAI to be the regulator of our profession. This takes us back to where I started this discussion. Is all this worthwhile? May be time will tell as it has in the past.
It would not be out of place to refer to what it is doing now. I received a mail from the President where he mentions about the approach for applicability of Accounting Standards to PSUs and SMEs. The applicability of IFRS Converged Accounting Standards to various entities falling under Phase I would be from April 1, 2011 and those falling under Phase II to begin from April 1,2014.
The criteria for entities under Phase I will be decided and announced soon. In line with IFRS for SMEs, it was decided to form simplified standards for SMEs which the ASB will formulate soon.
He says that ICAI has made good progress towards the implementation and will be completely ready in a few months time. The Institute has given its word and he reaffirms their commitment to the government to implement converged standards from April 1, 2011.
I just wanted to give an update and my comments on what is happening on IFRS implementation. You can check out the news on
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/IFRS-norms-must-for-Rs-1k-cr-firms/567100/
The major points of concern still remaining are as follows.
1. The smaller companies having net worth up to Rs. 500 cr have been given time for another 4 years.
2. SMEs and unlisted companies having the same net worth have been exempted from IFRS compliance.
3. For banking and insurance companies, the core group will submit a report separately.
4. NACAS has still not issued notification relating to the accounting standards of financial instruments which demand accounting and disclosure of MTM losses and gains.
Do you think are these good signs in a country like ours where the numbers affected are the most in item numbers 1 to 3?
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