'India should aim to become global accounting force'

India should aim to become global accounting force as 20,000-30,000 new chartered accountants are coming in every year, a government official said today.
"We are recognised as an IT force, so why don't we keep a goal to be recognised as a global accounting force as we have 8 lakh active CA students and every year 20,000-30,000 CAs coming in and already have a base of 2-3 lakh CAs," Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas said.
Speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) here, he said India is also adopting global accounting reporting standards, so the new CAs have lot of opportunities to work.

The government has been working on ways to boost prospects of domestic auditing firms.
Following the decision to tweak FDI norms, companies will now have to go for joint audits in case a foreign investor insists on having an international auditor.
The government's decision is seen as a significant step towards boosting the prospects of local auditing firms amid the backdrop of Big 4 audit firms holding sway, especially when it comes to companies where there is overseas investment.

In July last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for creating four big Indian accounting firms that are counted among the world's Big-8.

Referring to the 'Big 4' a term used for the world's four biggest audit firms the prime minister had said there are so many accounting firms in India but none of them has managed to find a place among the top global players.
"People talk of the Big 4 accounting firms. Sadly, there is no Indian firm there. By 2022, let us have a Big 8, where 4 firms are Indian," he had said.
The top global accountancy firms include PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG.
Srinivas also said that there are lot of opportunities available for CAs in today's time with the introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

"We have about 12 lakh active companies, over the coming one decade, I will not be surprised if this will multiplies into three-fold because we have so many concepts, right from one person to an LLP. So, ultimately the canvas, in which will you function, will grow 3-4 times and it will give you lot of opportunities," he said.