ICAI to set up forensic auditing lab in Hyderabad to boost SME CAs and modern audit capabilities

New Delhi: Chartered accountants' institute ICAI will be setting up an advanced forensic auditing lab in Hyderabad to help small and medium practitioners, its President Prasanna Kumar D has said. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has more than five lakh members, including small and medium practitioners. In a recent interview to PTI, Kumar said that forensic audit is a new area, and small and medium chartered accountant firms are not able to participate in large auditing works as they do not have the forensic audit capabilities.

Against this backdrop, the institute will be setting up an advanced forensic lab, which will be a "pay and use model". It will offer assignment-specific tools. "We are establishing an advance forensic auditing lab at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Hyderabad. In next 2-3 months, we will launch it," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, there are larger government efforts to have homegrown big accounting firms that can help create more opportunities in the country's growing economy and also compete at the scale of global players. In February, the institute notified the global networking guidelines, paving the way for creating large home-grown domestic chartered accountant firms, wherein they can also collaborate with global networks.

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Separately, ICAI is preparing to embed artificial intelligence, data analytics, and other subjects in its curriculum as it works to keep pace with the evolving technological and professional changes. The institute has recently formed the Committee for Review of Education and Training (CRET), which is expected to finalise its recommendations, including updates for the curriculum, in the coming months.

In recent years, the accountancy profession has witnessed a major transformation with the increasing focus on non-financial reporting, ESG disclosures, AI, data analytics, and forensic auditing. The CRET will work on integrating emerging technological and professional aspects into the CA curriculum. Lakhs of students are pursuing the chartered accountant programme at ICAI.