Brand Building by a Chartered Accountant

What applies to the shaping up of the ‘Brand’ of an individual equally applies to a Chartered Accountant (CA). In fact, for a CA it assumes greater relevance because the profession’s reputation depends on the collective reputation of all its members. If a CA is pronounced as guilty of any misconduct or is arrested in a financial scam or caught in a fraudulent transaction, it affects the image of entire profession.

Chartered Accountants (CAs) are considered as elite class of citizens in the country. The profession is regulated by the ICAI with participation of the nominees of the Government in the Council and its committees at the helm of affairs. CAs are considered as partners in nation building due to the relevance of their functioning with the credibility of the Economy. Therefore, personal brand of every CA is important in the larger interest of the profession and the Nation.

In this article some of the critical ingredients of such brand building are discussed.

Respectability – Quality in Thought and Action

Every CA should be proud of the profession to which he belongs, having qualified after education on a vast curriculum, undergoing a rigorous training and a robust examination process. Every CA must begin his career by remembering that “Work is worship and talent is capital.” A CA should be conscious of the sanctity of his signature affixed on a financial statement or a certificate issued by him. A CA must realise that the world believes that the qualification he possesses brings along superior and more reliable competence and capability than a non-CA service provider. To meet with such expectation, a CA needs to constantly sharpen the knowledge and skills that enable delivery of quality services. He must harness analytical and critical thinking so that the resultant action adds to his qualitative functioning.

He must expand his horizon by continuous learning about the worldwide happenings, especially in the field of accounting, audit, tax, law and finance. He should stay abreast of the evolving business models and innovative trends in execution of transactions. He must look for role models in his field and embrace their best practices. He must not forget the close nexus the financial sector has to the Indian Economy. As a member of the profession perceived as a partner in nation building, he must bear in mind nation’s interest in every facet of the service rendered. Competence backed by macro level vision and micro level proficiency should govern the approach of a CA.

Credibility – Adoption of Ethical Values

Ours is a profession created by an Act of Parliament and we are regulated by a well laid down Code of Ethics under that enactment. We can be tried under the ethical framework by invoking disciplinary action not only for specific omissions and commissions but also for any other misconduct. Thus, as CAs we are expected to maintain dignity and integrity in anything we do. We should not be lured to do anything unethical or unprofessional, whatever be the rewards promised.

When someone approaches to engage us for any work that appears to compromise on values, our ability to say ‘no’ should stem from a solid ethical foundation embedded within us. We must hold ourselves responsible for a higher standard than anyone expects. If functioning within the ethical framework becomes the culture among CAs, then that would become the hallmark of the profession.

Adherence to values, no doubt, is a challenging task in a corrupt environment. Desire to become rich in the shortest possible time can be the root cause for deviation from established principles and ethical values. History tells us that Gautama Buddha deserted his crown, palace and prosperity in search of peace. On the contrary, many in today’s world are abandoning peace by plunging in pursuit of material prospects. Prosperity is welcome but not by compromising on values leading to deprivation of peace of mind. Aspiration is essential but greed should be avoided.

Whatever we aspire must be achieved through proper means. Earning money should not be the primary goal while carrying on the profession. Delivering quality service to our fullest satisfaction and matching with the expectations of the client, within the ethical parameters, must be the focus. Money should be a by-product of such services and if this philosophy is followed, rewards would flow in abundant measure in the long run.

Contentment is a virtue that would help us to prevent greed from influencing our decision. Besides, by sheer hard work, vision and competence, we may reach the top but we can stay there only if we possess integrity.

Responsibility – Adhering to Time Schedules

Professionalism is also in valuing time which is a precious resource for everyone. Every CA should value others’ time and maintain punctuality in meetings. Punctuality is an essential ingredient that demonstrates the attitude and the responsible behaviour of a person.

Adhering to self-imposed time schedules in the day-to-day life is a virtue that reflects on the discipline of an individual. When that discipline is imbibed by a CA there will be no procrastination. Consequently, there will be no stress due to postponement of work execution. A CA must always believe that he will be busier on the following day than today and therefore, each day’s obligations must be fulfilled on the same day. A CA must be habituated to do right things at the right time. Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time to do something’ is equivalent to saying ‘I don’t want to do it’.

If this attitude of adhering to time schedule gets engrained within us, then several magical things would happen around us:

• First, all the CPE programs and meetings of ICAI would start on time and end on time.
• Second, even dignitaries who are invited to grace the events would be punctual knowing that we would not delay commencement waiting for anyone.
• Third, even if any of them turn up late, they would be accommodated to join as they come. Still, when they go back, they would not only carry the memories of the quality program they attended but they would remember never to be late for ICAI events in future.

Similarly, CAs must plan their affairs and educate their clients such that all the statutory timelines are adhered to without any need for extension of time. No request should go from ICAI for extension of any statutory timeline which, when made, reflects upon our inability to execute responsibilities entrusted to us in a timely manner.

Under exceptional circumstances like the pandemic situation or natural calamities, the Government itself would extend the due dates for filing audit reports, returns etc. In some specific situations, industry forums and chambers of commerce may requisition the Government. But we as professionals must be well organised to deliver services promptly and in a planned manner within the prescribed timelines. This would prompt Central and State Governments and the Regulators to repose faith and confidence on us and entrust additional responsibilities.

Reliability – Honouring of Commitments

Every commitment made by a CA, irrespective of whether it is small or big, must be duly honoured. It could be a promise to respond to a query, attend a meeting or event, complete an assignment entrusted, return a book borrowed or a debt to be repaid. Everything stands on the same footing. The concept of materiality doesn’t apply. Breach of any promise makes a dent on the image of a CA.

In the unfortunate and unavoidable situation of inability to fulfil any such promise, it must be foreseen and proactively modified on mutual consent so that the commitment is restructured and honoured at a later date without default. A CA must be sensitive to feel ashamed even to imagine any such failure to perform.

When anyone associates with a CA, he must find him to be absolutely reliable and dignified. Every CA must also be proud to acknowledge with gratitude and a sense of pride, that it is the profession of Chartered Accountancy that made him a person of such a stature in the society. Therefore, even under the most compelling circumstances, the community would believe that a CA would refrain from breaching his commitments.

Sustainability – Right Valuation of Services

Branding also depends on pricing of the services. The knowledge, experience, efforts and time invested in rendering a service must be duly evaluated and factored in pricing the services rendered to clients. Unless the CA himself values his services correctly, the client will not understand and appreciate the value. Underselling of services should be avoided because that would gradually erode the ability of a CA to hire talented team and invest in infrastructure including modern tools, software and gadgets which in turn would impact adversely on the quality of the services rendered.

A CA should also aim to build his brand as a best trainer and employer by moulding and grooming the CA students and employee CAs associated with him. For this necessary infrastructure and work ambience must be created.

In the case of a CA rendering specialised services, there has to be a premium loaded in the billing because of the high-end nature of services. Besides, for a specialist, unlike a generalist, the number of clients to be serviced would be limited and more importantly, the delivery of services would be directly by the specialist and not by a team.

Components of service rendered, in many cases, is not properly identified and added on to the billing. Invariably when a CA follows the practice of annual billing or lumpsum fee package for various services without adequately defining the scope of services, it may lead to under-selling of services. A CA must properly document and consider the man-hours spent on every assignment. Of course, in certain deserving cases, rendering of services for a low cost or free of charge in a conscious manner may be warranted, especially from client affordability angle. But that approach should be an exception.

Sometimes, a CA may charge less on the apprehension that he may lose the client. Proper discussion with the client to explain about the various components of billing should allay this apprehension. Besides, every CA who renders services backed by knowledge, values and competence should rightly price his services with absolute confidence, unmindful of even losing the client. Such a CA would not only sustain quality of services, but would also command respect for self and the profession in the long run. Even the client will not mind paying for the true worth of services if quality is guaranteed. Everyone must understand that the bitterness of poor-quality lasts longer than the taste of cheaper pricing.

Capability – Adapt and Stay Relevant

The routine services hitherto rendered by a CA such as return filing have been mechanised. Under specific legislation such as GST, even audit requirement has been done away. Digital era and technology evolution have changed the way the businesses are done and correspondingly even CAs have to reorient the way they operate and render services. We need to embrace technology in every facet of our functioning and that is bound to bring about accuracy, quality, speed, scaling and cost optimisation. There are many sunrise services for which we must gear up and adapt to stay relevant.

CAs must become proficient in Digital transformation services, Virtual CFO and Business Support Services. Sizable number of CAs can transform their operations from compliance to value addition services. CAs must elevate themselves from mere number crunching to strategic thinking. Entrepreneurs and corporates expect CAs to be part of the decision-making process instead of merely providing inputs for decision making.

Earlier CAs in employment ultimately reach the level of CFO whereas in current times, it is a matter of pride that some CAs have attained the position of CEO. Emerging opportunities on investment advisory, wealth management, funding options for businesses, family arrangements, succession planning for HNIs are potential areas for engagement. CAs can explore new avenues in the field of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), particularly as Resolution Professionals. There is scope for more CAs to specialise in Forensic Accounting and Investigation, Risk based Audit and Systems Audit on account of increase in Frauds and cybercrimes.

While the statutorily prescribed audits are likely to continue, CAs who have established firms of reasonable size and relevant competence can gear up for broader opportunity given the new guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India in the sphere of audit of Banks, Urban Co-operative Banks and NBFCs. Restrictions in the maximum number of entities one firm can audit, introduction of appointment of Joint Auditors, rotation of Auditors once in three years recently introduced by the RBI has opened up this arena for distribution of such audits among larger number of audit firms. Even a mid-size firm meeting the eligibility criteria, as per the RBI guidelines, should be able to undertake and do audit of 4 Banks (including one public sector bank), 8 NBFCs and 8 Urban Co-operative Banks, simultaneously.

With the liberalisation of FDI norms during the past few years coupled with phenomenal improvement in the Ease of Doing Business (from 142nd Rank to 63rd Rank during the last 7 years), India is clearly emerging as the most potential investment hub for global investors. Similarly, Indian companies are expanding their operations by organic and inorganic growth strategically positioning across the globe. Looking at these trends, advisory role of CAs on inbound and outbound investments, international taxation, FEMA related matters, DTAA, Transfer Pricing and GAAR is gaining significance.

Being capable of partaking, participating and partnering in all the happening sectors of the economy and staying relevant to be reckoned for rendering services is yet another way of building brand by a CA. When large number of CAs demonstrate this capability, the profession’s branding gets enhanced and sustained.

Conclusion

Everything written here applies to both men and women. It also substantially applies to CAs in employment. Past President CA. Y.H. Malegam has made a profound statement:

Every member is the ambassador of the profession. If each CA builds brand diligently as discussed above, then we need not worry about the future of our profession as it would certainly emerge as the profession of the future.