The Hindu Business Line : When networking is not working, try `citology'

NETWORKING is a topic not only among computer guys but also in the high reaches of CA governance. Thus, successive presidents never tire of extolling the virtues of putting heads together and presenting a unified front as a response to the multinational marauders . But we are Indians and, more important, accountants. If you find two CAs who trust each other, either you are hallucinating or one of them is not a true-blooded chartered accountant. Which is why, as a story goes, when two accountants were counting cash at the end of the day, after the shop's shutters were downed, and suddenly power went `cut', instinctively they grasped each other's hands, not for fear of darkness, but for an altogether different reason that you can guess only too well.

So, networking is not going to work . But I found something from a law blog (or blawg, as it is sometimes called) that could be a workable compromise: The art of `citology'.

Though cited in a recent post on the blog, the source is a paper by J.M.Balkin and Sanford Levinson: "How to win cites and influence people" - something you can download off the Net. For starters, `citology' is the study of citations, not cytology that is the biological study of cells. Accountants know citations like the back of their hands because all tax decisions and case laws they read week after week are full of these: such as a dozen previous judgments cited, one or two distinguished from, and an odd one dissented. Citation is not simple repetition, but a `recommendation of value'. It draws attention to the work, and puts it in the same league as the one cited.

Well, how do we put that to use in our profession? By approaching audit situations and reporting on them in the same way as our role models have done. So, instead of writing a stereotyped audit report, why not think of paragraphs such as:

Balance-sheet and P&L Account incorporate the returns from 42 branches, which have not been subjected to audit, as happened when Dubla-ka-Abla Associates audited Nowhere Bank Ltd in 1964.

We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. (See report of Unsure & Co in Pinky-Ponky Ltd for similar situation.)

Financial statements have been prepared by following the `growing' concern concept as adopted by Mindian Bank for its year ending March 31, 2004.

These references, in addition to the usual ones about accounting standards, are bound to add to the byte-count of your brief reports, but look at the value-addition. Firms that are cited in your report feel good about you, and vice versa is also true. More crucially, the outside world gets the message that accountants as a tribe are a united lot, standing shoulder-to-shoulder as one body. Periodically, there could be awards for `the most-cited' firm or CA.

There are a few ground rules to follow, such as: "Cite yourself, early and often." The authors above-cited know that it is difficult: "We realise that it takes a bit of chutzpah to shamelessly self-cite. But after a while, you'll get over it. Believe us, many other people in the legal academy already have."

If you are doubtful whether citology can be put to practice, we can always get a legal opinion in our favour. Nothing unlawful, as you can see. Only, we are drawing the appropriate connections, getting the reader relate to something else, and working on the subtle goal of networking.

Once the idea catches momentum, and we emphasise that firms of council members too would be cited by the lesser minions in the profession, it shouldn't be difficult to get the ICAI bring out a guidance note, if not an audit standard, on the topic.

AccountSpeak@thehindu.co.in

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