Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on 1 July 1949 as a statutory body under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 enacted by the Parliament for promotion, development and regulation of the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India.

In India, accounting standards and auditing standards are recommended by the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to the Government of India which sets the Standards on Auditing (SAs) to be followed in the audit of financial statements in India.

Members of the institute are known as ICAI Chartered Accountants or ICAI Accountants (either Fellow or Associate). However, the word chartered does not refer to or flow from any Royal Charter. ICAI Chartered Accountants are subject to a published Code of Ethics and professional standards, violation of which is subject to disciplinary action. Only a member of ICAI can be appointed as statutory auditor of a company under the Companies Act, 2013. The management of the institute is vested with its council with the president acting as its chief executive authority. A person can become a member of ICAI and become a financial (i.e. statutory) auditor of Indian Companies. The professional membership organization is known for its non-profit service. ICAI has entered into mutual recognition agreements with other professional accounting bodies worldwide for reciprocal membership recognition. ICAI is one of the founder members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), and Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA). ICAI was formerly the provisional jurisdiction for XBRL International in India. In 2010, it promoted eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) India as a section 8 Company to take over this responsibility from it. Now, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) India is an established jurisdiction of XBRL International Inc.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India was established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 passed by the Parliament of India with the objective of regulating the accountancy profession in India. ICAI is the second largest professional accounting body in the world in terms of number of membership and number of students after the AICPA. It prescribes the qualifications for a Chartered Accountant, conducts the requisite examinations and grants Certificate of Practice.