The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. It regulates the Chartered Accountancy (CA) profession in India and is the second-largest professional body of chartered accountants globally. It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

ICAI Council

A Council manages the affairs of the ICAI as per the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act and the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988. The Council consists of 40 members, out of which 32 members are elected by the CA’s.

The remaining eight members of the Council are nominated by the Central Government, generally representing the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and other stakeholders.

Functions of ICAI

• Regulates the CA profession.
• Examination and education of CA course.
• Professional education of members.
• Conducting post-qualification courses.
• Formulation of accounting standards.
• Prescription of standard auditing procedures.
• Laying down ethical standards.
• Monitoring quality through peer review.
• Ensuring standards of performance of members.
• Exercise disciplinary jurisdiction.
• Financial reporting review.
• Input on policy matters to the government.

ICAI Website 

The ICAI website provides various online services to the CA’s, CA students, CA firms and companies. The ‘Central Council Library’ option on the homepage, is an e-library for students and members. They can search journals, books and articles in the topics they are interested in through this option. 

Anyone can read and download the e-journals released by ICAI through the ‘e-Journal’ option on the ICAI website homepage. The ‘Know Your Ethics’ option on the homepage contains the list of CA journal issues on ethics. The ICAI notifications can be accessed through the ‘Notification’ option on the homepage.  

ICAI Website Services for Members

The members can avail various services online on the ICAI website by clicking on the ‘Members’ tab on the homepage and selecting the following options:

Council Guidelines 

Through this option, the members can view the following guidelines issued by the ICAI for CA/CA firms:

• Guidelines for issuance of the Certificate of Good Standing to the members to pursue further education abroad. The member can also download the application and self-declaration form for issuance of a Good Standing Certificate and obtain the certificate.
• CA/CA firm website guidelines provide guidelines relating to creating a CA/CA firm website.
• Advertisement guidelines provide guidelines relating to an advertisement by CA’s of their firm/services.
• Revised guidelines for networking of Indian CA firms, 2021.
• Council general guidelines, 2008. 
• Council guidelines for conversion of CA firms into LLPs.
• Corporate form of practice guidelines.
• Guidelines of the ICAI Council in the context of the use of designation etc., and manner of printing of letterheads and visiting cards by a CA/CA firm.

Courses offered by ICAI

The member can view the details of various online certification courses and post-qualification courses for members. The members can apply for these courses and view the details of the courses, such as duration, timings, registration fees and course modules/contents.

Election-2021

This option provides information about the elections, such as notification, filing nominations, filing complaints, code of conduct, list of voters, etc.

Empanelment

This option contains details relating to various empanelment forms and the CA firms/members empanelment status with the office of the CAG, bank audits, and other assignments.

Examination

This option contains details about the exam results, the extension of examination dates, announcements relating to the exams for students/members and special examinations for candidates under the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRAs) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign accounting bodies. 

Funds/ Awards

An individual can view the details of the CA Benevolent award and S.Vaidyanath Aiyar Memorial Fund under this option. The CA Benevolent award and S.Vaidyanath Aiyar Memorial Fund provide financial assistance to members and students. An individual can also view the details of the Chartered Accountants Students Benevolent Fund (CASBF) and audit report of the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Fund (CABF).

Members – FAQs

This option contains the FAQs for members located outside India. It also contains FAQs relating to Post Qualification Course in Insurance and Risk Management (DIRM), Digital Certificates and cryptography.

Placements

This option contains two sub-options, i.e. job portal and placements. The job portal option opens the CA Jobs website where the members can search and apply for a job by registering on the website. The placements option opens the CMIB website where newly qualified CA’s can apply for jobs and members can apply for jobs and placements by registering on the website.

Regulatory

The members can view the rules made by the Central Government and the Chartered Accountants Acts and Regulations through this option.

ICAI Website Services for Students

The students who are pursuing CA can avail various services online on the ICAI website by clicking on the ‘Students’ tab on the homepage and selecting the following options:

Announcements

Students can view the announcements made by ICAI regarding examinations, mock tests, and foundation, intermediate and final courses.

BoS Knowledge Portal

BoS Knowledge Portal is an online repository of study content for CA students. Students can study and download all the publications of board of studies, including study material, revision test papers, suggested answers, supplementary study material, mock test papers, sample questions and previous attempts’ question papers under this option.

Chartered Accountancy Course

Students can view information on the CA course, scheme of education and training, training guide, code of conduct for students, students association rules, etc.

Examination

This option contains details about the exam results, the extension of examination dates, announcements relating to the exams for students, members and special examinations for candidates under the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRAs) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign accounting bodies.

Students FAQ

This option contains FAQs related to exemption of CA course fee for students who have lost their any parent during Covid-19 pandemic, Mobile App – ICAI-BOS, assessment during practical training, revised scheme of education and training and provisional admission to the foundation course.

Resources on the ICAI Website

The ‘Resources’ tab on the ICAI website consists of the following resources/options:

Accounting Standards

This option contains all the Accounting Standards (AS) and Indian Accounting Standards (IAS). Anyone can view the accounting standards under this option.

Accounting Standards for Local Bodies

This option provides information on the Accounting Standards for Local Bodies (ASLB).

List of Exposure Drafts

Anyone can view the various draft exposure issued by the Accounting Standards Board, Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, Committee on International Taxation, Digital Accounting Assurance Board, Internal Audit Standards Board, Committee on Public and Government Financial Management (CP&GFM), Sustainability Reporting Standards Board and Technical Directorate. 

Guidance Notes

Anyone can view the various guidance notes on auditing aspects and accounting aspects issued by the ICAI. The guidance notes on the report under Section 92E of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 and tax audit u/s 44AB of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 can also be viewed. 

ICAI Valuation Standards

An individual can view the complete document of the ICAI Valuation Standards, 2018 by clicking on this option.

Standards on Internal Audit

This option contains all the Standards on Internal Audit (SIA). Anyone can view the various standards on internal audit under this option.

Engagement and Quality Control Standards 

This option contains the complete text on the Standards on Quality Control (SQC) and the Standard on Auditing (SA). 

Recent Opinions and Advisory Service Rules of Expert Advisory Committee

This option contains information on raising a query with the Expert Advisory Committee appointed by the Council. It also contains the recent opinions of the Expert Advisory Committee for the queries received. 

Free Download – Online Publications

Any Individual can download various publications relating to certain topics, guidance notes, guides, etc issued by various Boards and committees of the ICAI through this option.  

ICAI Website E-Services 

The ‘E-Services’ tab on the ICAI website contains various services for the following persons:

Member

The members can view the information regarding the beneficial schemes for the ICAI members, all volumes of compendium of opinions, list of members, details of members with specialised qualifications, MoU/MRA/joint declarations signed with foreign bodies and list of universities recognising CA qualification for pursuing Ph.D.

The members can also file and apply for empanelment as examiners, joining CFO guild, limited insolvency exam. The family of a member can also file the death intimation form under this option. The members can also access the self service portal under this option.

Student

The students can access the student activity portal, reading room portal, online registration portal for ICITSS and advanced ICITSS, self-service portal and students examination forms portal under this option. The students can also apply for practical training assessment, entry level forms for foundation and intermediate (direct entry) and live revision classes online under this option.

The students can also view the list of universities recognising CA qualification for pursuing Ph.D., list of industries approved for practical and industrial training, scholarships and fee concessions and special schemes for graduation and post-graduation courses under this option.

Firm 

The CA firms can view the list of firms and access the self service portal under this option.

Other

An individual can file a form for filing a complaint to ICAI disciplinary directorate and ICAI vendor registration form under this option.