The CA Institute has advised its members to refrain from directly approaching the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) or the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) when it comes to their concerns on the recent controversy around accounting standards revision and consultation paper on micro, small and medium companies (MSMCs).

“I request members to have patience and not send diverse communications to NFRA or to the Ministry individually. The council is doing everything that is required to be done in the given situation and in this matter,” Nihar Jambusaria, President, ICAI, told members in a video message.

Jambusaria asked members to write their views to him and promised to consider them for representation to the NFRA and the Ministry.

Jambusaria’s advice comes on the heels of the recent controversy that arose after NFRA sent back the approach paper for revision of existing accounting standards, asking it to carry out Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) and hold nationwide discussion. NFRA had also issued a consultation paper in September, seeking public comments on whether mandatory audit can be done away with for MSMCs satisfying a specific threshold.

Meanwhile, the latest advice from the ICAI President should certainly not be seen as a diktat, but more of a request to members to ensure that the multiple diverse communications to the MCA and NFRA do not put the government in a quandary, said informed sources.

Good coordination

The ICAI President told members that the CA Institute would like to have good coordination with NFRA for which discussions will be held. “We had done this in the past and we will continue to have channels of discussions with NFRA,” he added.

Jambusaria noted that accounting standards revision commenced in 2006, and the approach paper developed by ICAI was approved by National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS), which was replaced by the NFRA. Jambusaria said that the ICAI will send the revised accounting standards back to the NFRA for its approval again.