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The institute has asked the Government to include cost accountants in the definition of accountant under the Income-Tax Act, 1961, as against the inclusion of chartered accountants only.

HYDERABAD, Aug. 5

THE Institute of Costs & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) has urged the Government to initiate suitable amendments to both the Companies Act and Income-Tax Act so as to make cost audit mandatory for all the companies on the lines of financial audit and appoint cost auditors at annual general meetings (AGMs) of the companies on par with statutory auditors.

Addressing newspersons here on Monday, the newly elected National President of ICWAI, Mr B.V. Ramana Murty, and the Vice-President, Dr K.L. Jaisingh, said the institute also asked the Government to include cost accountants in the definition of accountant under the Income-Tax Act, 1961, as against the inclusion of chartered accountants only.

It advised the Government to issue cost accounting standards released by the Cost Accounting Standard Board of the Institute through National Accounting Standard Board constituted by the Government.

ICWAI requested the Government to make it mandatory for the companies to follow cost accounting standards issued wherever they were required to maintain cost accounting records under Section 209 (1)(d) of the Companies Act. The companies should be made obligatory to maintain cost accounting records as per the cost Accounting Standards in a uniform way, they said. Stating that only little over 2,400 cost accountants of the 35,000-odd qualified in the country were currently practising the profession and only around 3,000 units were availing of their services, the ICWAI President and the Vice-President said the measures suggested to bring cost auditors on par with financial auditors would help utilise the services of cost accountants and boost economic growth and the competitive edge of the Indian industry. At present, more than one lakh students were pursuing the course across the country, they said.

The Institute, which had recently revised the syllabus with the consent of the Government keeping in view the changing global environment, would be conducting the examinations under the new syllabus from December onwards. The new syllabus would focus on areas such as management accountancy, performance management, information system and technology, quantitative methods, operations and project management control, strategic management and marketing, and financial strategy and reporting.

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