The Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) organized “Accountancy & Commerce Education Summit” on September 11, 2013 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The Summit provided a forum for exchange of thoughts and interaction on various areas of academic and practical interest such as the need for relevant course curriculum, method of imparting education, examination reforms amongst leading academicians in the field of Commerce & Accountancy Education in India and the professional Chartered Accountants.

Shri Suman Jyoti Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry was the Guest of Honour in the Summit. The summit was attended by Vice Chancellors, Principals, Head of Departments, Professors and delegates of IITs, IIMs and Deans of various Universities of India.

Shri Khaitan while addressing the gathering said “The changes that occur in the global business world have a great impact on the functioning of the business. To survive in such dynamic environment business arena requires highly skilled professionals like Chartered Accountants who are able to incorporate these changes in the best possible manner. The responsibility of imparting such skills and knowledge is on the shoulders of the education system of the society. Thus we need to bring reforms in the education sector to include the new rules and regulations.”

The main objective of the Summit was to evaluate the current state of the commerce and accountancy education in India, to the changing environment particularly in view of the introduction of the IFRS, Companies Bill 2013, XBRL, Goods and Services Tax, Schedule VI. etc. It also addressed the need to integrate the same in the course curriculum so as to produce competent accounting manpower relevant for the Indian business and society.

CA. Subodh Kumar Agrawal, President, ICAI enlightened the gathering on issues relating to financial reforms, IFRS, recent economic laws, about the international capital market and its integration, integrating Accounting and Auditing Standards into University curriculum. He also spoke about the aim to organize this Summit is to build synergy between the University education and the professional accountancy education system so as to utilise the strength of each institution to impart relevant commerce and accountancy education in the country.”

CA. K. Raghu, Vice President, ICAI also deliberated on ICAI’s initiative in the field of higher education, commerce education for promotion of employment, role of faculty members in developing commerce education.

CA. Vijay Garg, Chairman, Board of Studies of ICAI explained the role of ICAI in promoting excellence in accountancy education.

In the Technical session I -Steering New Era of Financial Reporting in Accountancy Education, the discussion centred around the latest developments in the field of Financial Reporting namely, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Revised Schedule VI and XBRL.CA. Amarjit Chopra, Past President, ICAI focused on the role of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the era of globalizisation and the challenges ahead for implementation of Ind AS in India. He also narrated the role of ICAI in the entire process of convergence of Indian Accounting Standards in line with IFRS in an effective manner. He also discussed the need of revision of Schedule VI (Schedule III in Companies Act, 2012) due to implementation of Ind ASs.

Dr Avinash Chander, Technical Director with the ICAI and an expert on the IFRS dealt with issues on IFRS converged Ind ASs and the problems in their practical application. He also underscored the challenges ahead for the implementation of newly issued Ind ASs or revised existing ASs by giving illustrative case studies. He also described the role of ICAI in the formulation of International Standards.

CA. Praveen Kumar, an expert on IFRS discussed the concept of financial statements, their usefulness, qualitative characteristics and underlying assumptions therein in very basic terms for the benefit of invitees. He also emphasized that our education system should be geared up to meet the challenges ahead in effective implementation of IFRS/Ind ASs.

In the Technical Session- II - Impact of Recent Developments on Commerce Education, the discussion centred around the latest developments in the field of Direct Taxation, Indirect Taxation and Corporate Laws.CA. Atul Gupta, Central Council Member, ICAI discussed at length momentous share of Indirect Tax Laws in the total tax revenues and the need to make Indirect Tax Laws part of the course curriculum of University education. He further elaborated the applicability of service tax on the Educational Institutes.

CA.KapilGoel, taxation expert, dealt with the radical changes brought by the recent developments in the area of Direct Taxation, particularly, in the real estate sector. He underscored the need for stability and regularity in the tax regime.

Mrs. Harpreet Kaur, Professor, National Law University outlined the significant provisions as introduced by the Companies Act, 2013 and discussed the provisions relating to Board of Directors at length. She talked about the blending of some definitions of SEBI Act into the Companies Act, 2013.

Panel Discussion: CA. T.S. Vishwanath, Past President, ICAI, CA. Charanjot Singh Nanda, Central Council Member, CA. Jay Chhaira, Central Council Member, ShriVijay Kapur, Director, Board of Studies, Prof. MadhuVij, FMS, Delhi University participated in the Panel discussion. The discussion basically focussed on

(i) Integration of University Education and Professional Education of Chartered Accountancy- Way Forward.

(ii) Leveraging technology for imparting Education.

(iii) Examination Reforms.

The Summit was an amalgamation of honored and renowned academicians from the Education & Commerce stream having made a remarkable contribution towards the academic pursuit of the Commerce and Accountancy branch. The quality inputs and insights of the dignitaries at the event would necessarily aid the propagation of universal understanding on the imperatives of the theme of the conclave.