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The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI), previously known as The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), is a premier statutory professional accountancy body in India with the objects of promoting, regulating and developing the profession of Cost & Management Accountancy. Institute is also known as ICMAI. It is the only licensing cum regulating body of Cost & Management Accountancy profession in India. It recommends the Cost Accounting Standards to be followed by companies in India to which statutory maintenance of cost records applicable. ICAI is solely responsible for setting the auditing and assurance standards for statutory Cost Audit to be followed in the Audit of cost statements in India. It also issues other technical guidelines on several aspects like Internal Audit, Management Accounting etc. to be followed by practising Cost Accountants while discharging their services. It works closely with the industries, various departments of Government of India, State governments in India and other Regulating Authorities in India e.g. Reserve Bank of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Securities and Exchange Board of India etc. on several aspects of performance, cost optimisation and reporting.

As a part of name change movement of Institute, ICMAI abbreviation is used on formal documents. Official domain of institute is also ICMAI.in.

The ICMAI is a Founder Member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA). ICAI is a member of the National Foundation of Corporate Governance (NFCG). The headquarters of ICMAI is situated in Kolkata (CMA Bhawan, Sudder Street, Kolkata) and one office at Delhi. The institute operates through its four regional councils located at Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, 101 chapters in India and 10 chapters abroad. The practicing professionals are also known as CMA.

History

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) was first formed as a registered limited company in 1944 (14 June 1944) as per the provisions of the then companies Act, 1913 with the initial objective of promoting, regulating and developing the profession of Cost Accountancy. Post Independence, the institute got statutory recognition when the Parliament of India enacted "The Cost and Works Accountants Act" (Act No.23rd of 1959), a special act, on 28 May 1959 to accord statutory recognition to ICAI (then ICWAI) as an autonomous professional Institute with the objectives of promoting, regulating, and developing the profession of Cost and Management Accountancy.

The CWA Amendment bill, 2011 was passed by both the Houses of Indian Parliament viz. Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on 12 December 2011 and assented by the Honorable President of India on 12 January 2012. The changes were published in the Official Gazette of India on 13 January 2012. total as of now 85000 active members in ICMAI.

Qualification and syllabus

Cost and Management Accountants (CMAs)

This is the primary qualification of the ICMAI and following completion of up to three levels (Foundation, Intermediate and Final) examinations and three years of practical training in areas like Management Accounting, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Taxation, Audits, Corporate Laws etc. enables an individual to become a Cost & Management Accountant.

• The new syllabus has been introduced in August 2016 following the International Education Guidelines (IEG) of IFAC to get the advantages in the process of Mutual Recognition Agreement ( MRA) among /different member countries of the world under GATS in WTO.
• Subjects for examinations include management accounting, Financial Accounting, strategic management, taxation, corporate law, financial management, business valuation, financial reporting and cost & management audit etc.
• Students who have passed degree examination of any recognised university or equivalent are eligible for admission directly to Intermediate level.
• Paperwise exemptions on the basis of reciprocal arrangement are available to students who have passed Institute of Company Secretaries of India Final Examinations.
• Examinations are held twice a year in June and December in various examination centres in India and overseas centres. And Results are declared in the month of August and February for June term and December term exams respectively.

A student has to pass three levels of examination ( Foundation, Intermediate and Final ) and complete three years of practical training to be eligible to apply for associate membership of the institute.

The members of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India carry the designation ACMA ( Associate Cost and Management Accountant ) and FCMA (Fellow Cost and Management Accountant), as applicable based on their type of membership of the institute.

Membership

A person who has passed the Final Examination of the Institute and has obtained for a period of not less than three years of practical experience in the field of Cost & Management Accountancy and other related areas can apply for Associate Membership. The practical experience as above may be acquired prior to or after passing the Final Examination or partly before and partly after passing the said examination. The applicant has to produce evidence to the satisfaction of the Council

According to Sec 2(b) of CWA Act 1959, "Cost and Management Accountant" means a person who is a member of the institute. Sec 5(1)provides that the members of the Institute shall be divided into two classes designated respectively as Associates and Fellows.

Associate Member (ACMA)

This is the basic membership of the institute. Application for Associate Membership should be made in prescribed Form 'M2' available at the Headquarters of the Institute in Kolkata and the offices of Regional Councils and Chapters. The application should be accompanied with prescribed fees mentioned in the Form ‘M-2’, experience certificate(s) duly attested by the employer(s) in original and photocopy of certificates of date of birth and highest academic qualification of the applicant. The experience can also be certified by the employer(s) in Form ‘M-2’.

However, for general convenience, institute has established online membership application mechanism. After admission to membership, members are entitled to use the letter "ACMA" after his name to indicate that he or she is an Associate Member of the ICAI(Institute of Cost accountants of India) or ICMAI

Fellow Member (FCMA)

An Associate Member who has been in continuous practice in India for at least five years or a member who has been an Associate for a continuous period of not less than five years and who possesses such qualifications and experience as the Council may prescribe apply for Fellow Membership of ICAI (Institute of cost accountants of India) or ICMAI.

Any person whose name is entered in the Register as a fellow of the Institute and so long as his name remains so entered, shall be entitled to use the letters "FCMA" after his name to indicate that he is a Fellow of the ICAI(ICMAI).

The Council of the Institute has mandated that the members of the Institute should use "CMA" as the prefix before their names to signify that he/she is a professional "Cost & Management Accountant".

Alumni of CMA /ICWA

Finance and accounting

• Mrityunjay Athreya, Padma Bhushan, Management Advisor
• Subhash Chandra Garg, Government of India, Finance Secretary
• Chanda Kochhar, ICICI Bank, former CEO
• J Ramachandran, professor, IIMB
• P. K. Mukherjee, Executive Director of Sesa Sterlite Limited
• Samir Bhatia, entrepreneur
• Kailasam Raghavendra Rao, Entrepreneur
• B. B. Chakrabarti, professor
• G. J. R. Krishnan, musician
• Sanjay Subrahmanyam
• RAJNEESH JAIN - CFO - Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd - Reliance

See also

Some of the management accounting bodies worldwide besides the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI-CMA)/ICMAI:

• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK
• Institute of Management Accountants, US
• Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Australia
• Society of Management Accountants of Canada
• Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan
• Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh
• Chartered Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, Nigeria
• Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka

References

1. "Founding Members of IFAC in 1977". Ifac.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
2. "ICWAI Membership of CAPA". Capa.com.my. 1 July 1949. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
3. "ICMAI membership of SAFA". Esafa.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
4. Seemant Ahlawat (1 October 2003). "Stakeholder in NFCG". Nfcgindia.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
5. "ICWAI Act on MCA website" (PDF). Retrieved 30 July 2012.
6. Official Gazette ICWAI to ICAI
7. Present Syllabus of ICMAI
8. new practical training scheme
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. ICMAI Examination
11. Guidelines for enrollment to membership
12. Guidelines for associate membership
13. online membership application
14. Guidelines for Fellow Membership
15. https://supremo.nic.in/ERSheetHtml.aspx?OffIDErhtml=14436&PageId=

• Member bodies of the International Federation of Accountants
• Accounting in India
• Management accounting
• Professional associations based in India
• Organisations based in Kolkata
• Educational boards based in Kolkata