List of All Professional Opportunities For Chartered Accountants

Professional Opportunities For Chartered Accountants, The opportunities for a Chartered Accountant are clearly vast, the scope massive. For a small and medium practice to grow, the firm has to “THINK BIG”. Success comes only to doers and not onlookers and observers. Success demands maximum efforts. The key to success in life is to have faith in oneself.

There is no shortcut to success. And there is no substitute to hard work. But hard work must be in the right direction in order to yield the fruits of success. If you are prepared to invest your time in activities that generate results from the most potent section of your client base, then the results you will generate will not be marginal but dramatic.

Professional Opportunities For Chartered Accountants

The secret lies in the Pareto principle

Pareto principle stipulates that 80% of results are achieved from only 20% of the effort expended. Typically, this principle holds true for a chartered accountant’s practice, where the majority of time is taken up satisfying the needs of clients who represent an insignificant portion of total of business. To counter this situation, the chartered accountant may want to separate clients into three lists: the 'A' list of the upper 20% of clients, and the 'B' and 'C' lists made up of the remaining 80% of clients.

The latter two lists should differentiate between clients that have or do not have the potential to become major clients. Accountants should then maintain 'A' list clients, cultivate 'B' list clients, and disregard 'C' list clients. The following inspiring lines of a poem are relevant

Your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

Those who win are those who believe they can.

Opportunities For Chartered Accountants

The listing below is an indication of the opportunities prevalent in various areas

1. Accounting

Under IFRS
Environmental Accounting
Human resource accounting
Fraud and Forensic accounting
Government Accounting
Management Accounting

2. Auditing

Statutory Audit
Internal Audit
Concurrent Audit
Stock Audit
Revenue Audit
Information Systems Audit
Tax Audit
Quality Audit
Propriety Audit
Legal Compliances Audit
Energy audit
Assurance on Sustainability reporting

3. Corporate Governance

4. Economic and Commercial laws

Competition Act 2002
Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996
Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002
Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006
Laws relating to Intellectual Property Rights
Regulations applicable to NBFCs
Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976
Labour Laws
Right to Information Act,2005
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Special Economic Zones Act,2005
Chapter VI of Foreign Trade Policy- 2004-09- 100 % Export Oriented Units (EOU) / Software Technology Parks( STP) / Electronic Hardware Technology Parks(EHTP) and Bio- technology parks[BTP]
Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security
Interests Act, 2002 (SARFAESI)
Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993
Drafting and conveyance
Carriage laws

5. Carbon Credit

6. Corporate Laws

Members of Judicial bodies
Limited Liability Partnership
Legal support and advisory services

7. Taxation

Direct Taxes
Indirect Taxes
International Taxation

8. Management Services

Strategic Management
Change Management
Quality Management
Disaster Management
Knowledge Management
Directorship

9. Consultancy

To elaborate on some of the above,

A) Drafting, Conveyance, Stamping & Registration

Drafting

Drafting may be defined as the synthesis of law and fact in a language form. Perfection cannot be achieved in drafting unless the nexus between law, facts and language is fully understood. The old style of drafting of documents of the Eighteenth Century has given way for comprehensiveness, exactitude and clarity of expressions.

“ The particular qualities that distinguish the modern style of drafting – the use of definitions, division into numbered paragraphs and sub-paragraphs with marginal notes, the growing disuse of the form ‘shall’ in stating circumstances and conditions, the use of one word (as ‘convey’ or ‘assign’) for the jumble (grant, bargain, sell, alienate, release, confirm and enforce or bargain, sell, assign, transfer, set-off and confirm) that had often previously been necessary or thought to be so are to be found in any current set of precedents.”- E.L Piesse & Gilchrist Smith: The Elements of Drafting.

Conveyance

The term Conveyance in its ordinary legal parlance means the act of conveying or transferring from one person to another or transfer inter vivos. The Latin term Inter vivos is a legal term referring to a transfer made during one's lifetime, as opposed to a testamentary transfer i.e a transfer that takes effect on death.

Conveyancing depends to a large extent on practice, customs and usage, prudence and precedents.

The most common type of documents that illustrate conveyance are a deed of sale, mortgage, lease etc. However, ‘Conveyancing’, used in relation to drafting deeds, is paradoxical as the term‘conveyancing’ has wider use when its referred in relation to drafting of various other documents like a marriage contract, a will, etc. in which no transfer may be involved.

Registration

Registration refers to the recording of the contents of a document with a Registering Officer appointed by the State Government. The State Government may exclude any district or tracts of country from its operation. The Registering Officer performs the important function of preservation of copies of the original document.

The Registration of documents is made under the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908. The Registration Act 1908 is used for proper recording and registration of documents / instruments, which give them more authenticity

Stamping

Stamp duty is a form of tax that is levied on documents. Historically, a physical stamp (a tax stamp) had to be attached to or impressed upon the document to denote that stamp duty had been paid before the document became legally effective

The following categories of Documents generally require drafting:

I Documents for Formation of an Entity

Partnership Deed
MOA/ AOA
Charitable Trust Deed
Cooperative Societies (Rules & Regs)
MOA/ AOA of Societies u/ Societies Registration Act,1860
LLP Agreement and Incorporation Document
Trust Deed / Private Family Trust Deed (Indian Trust Act 1882)

II Wills

III Business Agreements

Arbitration Agreement
Joint Venture Agreement
Foreign Collaboration Agreement
Shareholders Agreement
Stock Holders Agreements
Stock Purchase Agreements
Acquisition Agreements
Franchisee Agreements
Research & Development Agreements
Technology Sharing Agreements
Advertising Agreements
Agency Agreements
Service Agreements
Consultancy Agreements
Hire Purchase Agreements
Credit and Conditional Sale Agreements
Agreements for Sale, Mortgage, and loan
Agreement relating to deposit of title Deeds
Tenancy Agreements
Franchising Agreements

IV Property Agreements

Purchase of a Flat
Purchase of an Apartment in a Building (Commercial / Residential)
Purchase of a Plot of Land
Purchase License of Land /Apartment (Lease / Freehold)
Development Agreement
Will / Bequest Deed
Transfer Deed
Power of Attorney
Lease Agreement
Gift Deed of Property
Construction Agreement
Rent Agreement
Sale/ Purchase Agreement
Agreement to Sell
Deed of Mortgage of Property
Relinquishment Deed
Surrender Deed in Cooperative Housing Society
Mortgage Deed

V Documents Relating to Intellectual Property

Patent and High Technology Agreements
Licensing and Franchise
Consulting and Know-How Agreements
Joint Development Agreements
Mass Market Licences like Shrink Wrap and use based licences
Licensing of Software and Source Code Escrow Agreements, Motion Pictures for multimedia use, photographs etc.
Software Development Agreements
Agreement for Sale of Technical Know-How
license of use of copy right
Agreements relating to protection of designs/ trademarks/ patents/ and know how

VI Banking Documents

Bank Guarantee
Loan agreements / lease deeds
Overdraft agreements

VII Documents for Export / Import

Letter of Credit
Documents for obtaining EXIM Finance
Agency Agreement

VIII Documents relating to Labour Laws and Service Laws

IX Documents relating to Insurance

X Documents relating to Public Interest Litigation, Environmental Issues etc.

XI Documents Relating to Private Equity Form of Funding

Business Plan
Term Sheet
Warranties and Indemnities
Disclosure Letter
Shareholders' / Investors' Rights/ Subscription Agreement

XII Documents relating to cyber law

Internet agreements
Software agreements

B) MSME

Chartered Accountants can explore opportunities in this area including formation, Registration, taxation and foreign direct investment. They can help large scale enterprises form systems to ensure that they comply with the deadlines for payment of any goods or services supplied by MSMEs. Also there are opportunities in counseling of MSMEs for the rights and benefits available to them.

C) Corporate Governance

Designing Code of Corporate Governance
Designing Risk Management Framework
Designing Internal control framework
Designing Whistle blower policy
Internal Audit of Code of Corporate Governance, Risk Management Framework, Internal control framework, Whistle blower policy
Compliance of Internal Audit of clause 49
Statutory auditor’s Certificate regarding compliance of conditions of corporate governance as stipulated in sub-clause VII(1) of clause 49
Management Audit pertaining to various regulatory, statutory or listing requirements (Item 15 of Annex. 1A of clause 49)
chairman of audit committee
Independent director [clause 49 I(A)(iii) meeting a-f criteria]
Assessment of internal control function under clause 49 V -CEO/CFO Certification

D) Carbon Credit

Conceptualizing the project
Drafting Project Concept Note
Quantification of GHG Carbon Footprint
Selection of Cleaner technologies for New projects
Project risk analysis
Making Project/ Project Design Document
Legal and regulatory advice during negotiations with host country Designated National
Authority (DNA)
Advice on the appointment of independent validators
Assistance to achieve registration of the project by the CDM Executive Board
Ensure Compliances
Tax structuring and optimization
Assisting planning commission in their study
Carbon Finance
Advise to Govt- Central and state National Action Plan implementation
Energy Audit
Advise to investors about investment in carbon credit
Accounting advisory services
Taxation advisory services
Drafting of Emission Rights Purchase Agreements ERPA

E) Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring

There are a broad range of opportunities that arise from corporate insolvency and financial restructurings.

Spotting and evaluating distressed companies for restructuring and rescue planning.
Reviewing the various risks involved in restructuring.
Developing risk mitigation strategies.
Working out a detailed bankable financial structure of the business.
Working out a detailed plan for restructuring the business from all angles.
Assessment of distressed assets, cash position, due diligence and turnaround feasibility.
Advice on optimum utilization of resources.
Drafting insolvency petitions.
Representation and registration of sick companies with BIFR.
Representation before the Debt Recovery Tribunals.
Negotiating settlements.
Identifying Areas Of Opportunity for the company.
Advisory in relation to a merger or acquisition or takeover.
Advisory services to management on an ongoing basis.

F) Competition Act, 2002

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India has issued a Notification dated 28th August 2009, whereby the most controversial the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (“the MRTP Act”) stands repealed and is replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, with effect from September 1, 2009. The MRTP Commission will continue to handle all the old cases filed prior to September 1, 2009 for a period of 2 years. It will, however, not entertain any new cases from now onwards.

G) Competition Act, 2002

Certification under ESIC in Maharashtra if number of employees are more than 40.

H) Central Excise Act

Audit under Central Excise act is now allowed to be carried out by CAs.

Remember:

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss.

Thank You!!!

CA.ABHISHEK AGGARWAL, M.Com., ACA.

Email:- caabhishekaggarwal1@gmail.com