IIA:  Gateway for Professionals

Introduction:-

IIA is currently the most trending buzz nowadays among students and finance professionals. IIA stands for The Indian Institute of Accounting. The bill named “The Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants, and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021”, has been proposed in parliament to create an Institute similar to IITs & IIMs.

NEED OF IIA:-

One of the aims to set up such an institute is to foster competition and bring out the best accounting and finance practices for the interest of stakeholders. After the introduction of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to oversee the auditing profession and regulate accounting standards in India, Government has now endorsed for setting up of the Indian Institute of Accounting (IIA). The proposal of IIA has been made to make Indian education institutions at par with those systems laid down in advanced Nations.

About it:-

• The IIA will be a statutory body that will be established by Central law. They will be set up in different parts of India.
• IIAs will start with a five-year undergraduate program in Accounting. Also planning to offer postgraduate programs in specialized areas.
• Students will be required to appear for an entrance test like IITs or IIMs and after completion, of course, students will be given an undergraduate degree.
• The undergraduate course will include technology, data science, psychology financial, cost accounting, tax, law, auditing, business strategy, organizational behaviour, management, Governance & public administration, and other fields relevant to accountants.

• They will be given a license to practice similar to CA’s.

The license holders will be called Certified Profession Accountants (CPAs). They will also be required to register themselves with a Central Licensing Authority which will handle their matters.

• Admission will be through a National entrance test after secondary schooling under the National Educational Policy 2020.
• Each IIA will have a Board of Governors which will consist of experts, laypersons, and Government officers from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The Board will consist of ten members.

• The board will have fully functional, financial, and administrative autonomy.
• IIA’s will be research-driven. They will work closely with National & regional educational institutions such as IIM, IIT & other Universities.

Competition with other Professional courses:-

At present professionals from ICAI, ICMAI, and ICSI have their distinct areas of work that interplays with each other. Now with IIA coming into the picture then professionals will have to compete with people from another institute i.e. IIA. This move will bring healthy competition between ICAI, ICWA, ICSI, and IIA professionals.

Pros:-

• The IIA will focus on student’s overall growth in terms of knowledge, edge over technology, and practical exposure.
• The entry into the course i.e. entrance test will be difficult but it assures bright career prospects at par with global standards.
• They will price their education reasonably and should provide financial aid to needy students.

Cons:-

• The cost of Infrastructure and Implementation will be too high.
• The increase of unwanted competition amongst the other professions.
• This may also create confusion among other students for choosing their career paths.
• Current institutes follow no reservation & Quota but IIA policy might bring a Reservation system.
• The policy might affect the certification power of present professionals like CA, and CS since it is currently ambiguous about signing authority for IIA professionals.

Conclusion:-

Right now this idea of the Indian Institute of Accounting (IIA) is only a recommendation, so whether the government will accept the proposal or not is still a question. Always remember Quality overpowers Quantity. How these will unfold opportunities for young professionals only time will tell.

(This article represents the views of the authors only and does not intent to give any kind of legal opinion on any matter)

Author:

Adarsh Jain

Associate Consultant | Email: adarsh.jain@masd.co.in | LinkedIn Profile