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NT Bureau
Chennai, Sept 12:

        The Ministry of Company Affairs has released a concept paper for setting up a regulating body for valuation professionals to elicit public views and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) was conducting a series of workshops to gather a consensus on emerging opportunities for cost and accountant managers.

        A committee headed by the ICWAI president Chandra Wadhwa was studying the nitty-gritties of forming a regulating body in the lines of AICTE (for engineering colleges) and MCI (medical colleges) for valuation industry as there was growing opportunity for cost accountants in the sector. 'The draft bill for the Council of Valuation Professionals will be introduced in the winter session of Parliament. Being the recognising institute for cost managers and accountants, ICWAI is organising a series of seminars on valuation throughout the country,' said Wadhwa. Speaking at a press meet yesterday, he said the institute was aligning with global accounting bodies in its structure and curriculum framework.

        From January 2008, new changes would be introduced in the syllabus for cost accountants to be in conformity with the global body IFAC. 'A 3-year articleship is being made compulsory in the new syllabus and the number of papers in the Intermediate is reduced from eight to six subjects. In the Finals, eight papers will have to be cleared in two stages of six months each,' he informed. Moreover, as part of efforts to upgrade the skill sets of registered practitioners, the ICWAI would introduce specialised courses in Valuation, Financial Services and Systems Audit for cost managers after they passed their Finals. To accomplish the 3-year course for cost and work accountants, one should take entry level tests for four papers after completing Plus Two to be eligible for Foundation Course, while graduates could join Intermediate level directly before sitting for the Finals.

        At present, there was no agency or institute to furnish details for arriving at cost of products for different industries. ICWAI had constituted a panel to develop bench marking of different products and services across industries in terms of cost, productivity and other parameters.

        How to manage competition in a globalised business would be the overarching theme at the Global Summit on Management Accounting to be held on 10 - 12 January in Delhi, said A N Raman, member, Central Council of the ICWAI. Professor Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School and an expert in management accounting would participate in the deliberations at the seminar. Raman said the focus of cost and audit managers have shifted from taxation and balance sheet to vital issues like business management of companies.

        Recently, ICWAI had signed agreements with Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK and Certified Management Accountants (CMA), Canada for sharing of technical skills and exchange of professionals. There were 41,000 members of the institute working in private firms, PSUs and MNCs and 1.65 lakh students enrolled in Cost Accounting. In the Southern region, 350 students who had passed the Finals would appear for campus interview on 23 September, informed Sunil Chacko, chairman, SIRC, ICWAI. The institute would set up a training cum placement directorate for students to undergo the 3-year articleship during the course, he said. The structure, design and the implementation of the Cost Accounting would be revamped in tune with those prevailing in global accounting bodies, the ICWAI officials said.