With the country gearing up for new accounting regime, apex body of chartered accountants ICAI has said it is ready with updated accounting standards that are converged with global norms.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has been working on the new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) for quite sometime.

"We will work closely with Ministry of Corporate Affairs to assure effective and smooth implementation of Ind AS in India," ICAI President K Raghu told PTI.

The new norms are converged with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which is being followed in more than 100 countries.

To enable companies to voluntarily use the new standards, Raghu said the institute is "ready with updated Ind AS corresponding to IFRS as of this date".

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech on July 10, had said there was an urgent need to converge the current Indian accounting standards with IFRS.

"I propose for adoption of the new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by the Indian companies from the financial year 2015-16 voluntarily and from the financial year 2016-17 on a mandatory basis," he had said.

The timelines for implementation of Ind AS for the financial services sector, including banks and insurance companies would be separately notified by the respective regulators.

According to Raghu, the institute has always propagated the need to converge with IFRS at the earliest to bring the financial reporting practices of the Indian corporates at par with the global standards.

The institute has also flagged off Indian stakeholders' concerns on IFRS to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The latter has developed IFRS.

"ICAI has also effectively communicated to IASB the Indian concerns relating to the industry and other stakeholders and IASB has already revised certain IFRS (norms) such as on 'agriculture' to address our concerns," Raghu said.

The institute has been working on convergence process after Ind AS were put on the Corporate Affairs Ministry's website in February 2011.

Besides, ICAI has been conducting certificate courses for its members and other stakeholders in the area of IFRS and Ind AS. (Business Standard)