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The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAI), which was also known as The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) and The Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of India (ICMAI), is the second professional accountancy body in India under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. The ICAI envisages to become the Global Leader in Certified Management Accountancy and become a truly global professional accounting body. It has been given a very important and noble task by the Government of India under New Education Policy, 2020 to contribute in accounting education and general business and management education in the country.

The ICoAI 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). ICoAI is a member of the National Foundation of Corporate Governance (NFCG).

History

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India was first formed as a registered limited company on 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 ICMAI (priviously 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 ICAI.

The Institute performs high standard research and development in the field of accounting. And recently Indian Certified Management Accountants (CMA) are eligible for PhD in any Indian University as notified by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India.

Also the ICAI's Certified Management Accountancy (CMA), also known as Cost and Management Accountancy (earlier known as Cost and Work Accountancy (CWA)) course is recognized by the UK NARIC as equivalent to UK Post Graduation Programme.

ICAI has offices all around the world, to name a few are the USA (Washington office), the UK (London office).

Qualification and syllabus

This is the primary qualification of the ICAI 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.
• ICAI has currently introduced modern Computer Based Examinations for all its course levels.
• Also the Institute has started its footsteps in becoming a global institute of Accountancy.
• It has MOUs with many high profile global institutes of accounting like the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the CISI UK etc.

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

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.

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.

Notable alumni

• Mrityunjay Athreya, Padma Bhushan, Management Advisor
• Subhash Chandra Garg, Government of India, Finance Secretary
• Chanda Kochhar, former CEO, ICICI Bank
• 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

References

1. "Founding Members of IFAC in 1977". Ifac.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
2. "India". CAPA. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
3. "SAFA Member Institutions". SAFA. 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 ICAI
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
• 1959 establishments in West Bengal
• Organizations established in 1959