Every business needs a certain level of accounting, so Chartered Accountants can be found in almost every sector of business, says Ravish Tatli, a Chartered Accountant by profession, who isworking for Budget in Jeddah. He is the Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (Jeddah Chapter) and talks about the association, its purpose, the profession and the scope of their work and how he got this far. What is the Jeddah Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India all about? We are one of the overseas wings of the association. Our purpose is to make people here aware of the chartered accountancy profession in India. Chartered Accountants are the valued trustees of world-class financial governance and competitiveness. As an overseas chapter, we are not a monitoring association, but provide support to keep our members updated on the latest developments in the field. This year, the Jeddah Chapter completed 21 years of official existence since its formation in June 1990. It has grown from strength to strength (with 95 members at present) in both the number of members and activities with the support of our members and sponsors. How long have you been a part of this association and when did you become the Chairman? My association with the Chapter goes back to 1997 when I joined Ernst and Young in Jeddah until 2000. I rejoined the chapter in 2003 as a committee member and in 2010, I took over the responsibility of Chairman. What is the main purpose of this association? It is a nonprofit association with the aim of continuously enhancing the knowledge of its members on issues relating to the accounting profession and on related topics. It also promotes interaction amongst community members by active participation in social activities for the benefit of its society. We conduct technical sessions with the objective of keeping our fellow members updated on the latest developments in the profession – on financial developments both locally and globally and business and strategic management-related areas – to boost the competency of our members and help make them better professionals. The technical sessions are presented by well known academics and experts. These sessions also help members raise their learning curve while adding Continued Professional Education (CPE) hours to their credit which is mandatory for every active member. As Chairman, what are your responsibilities and what is the role you have to play? My responsibilities, specifically in this region, are to organize and conduct CPE programs, to provide facilities for interaction among members by regular meetings, organize lectures for the acquisition and dissemination of useful information and conduct refresher course camps at convenient centers for the benefit of members. Alone, I will not be able to fulfill all the responsibilities – it is a team effort. I really appreciate the efforts of all committee members in running the affairs of the chapter. It is worth mentioning that we have A. A Merchant, a founding committee member, to guide us. How did you come about becoming a Chartered Accountant? I completed my Bachelors degree from Mumbai University in Statistics. Honestly speaking, until my graduation, I never thought of becoming a Chartered Accountant. In fact, I was a law student but somehow my father was not convinced with that so I decided to opt for the CA, even though many of my well wishers told me it would be difficult for me, especially since I did not have any background in accountancy. The CA passing percentage is just 2-4 percent. However ,at that time my father told me, “do not look at the 96-98 percent who fail, look at yourself to be amongst those 2-4 percent who have passed. I completed my CA and proved my father to be right as always. What are the hurdles accountants generally face during their career? As such there are no hurdles for accountants. You need to be clear in your concepts, and be patient. Being from a non-accounting background and for other reasons, I did not clear the exam in my first attempt but I did not give up. I strongly believe that there is no substitute to hard work. Do you think there is a lot of scope for accountants? There is enormous scope in this field, only if you do not restrict yourself. You should not try to be an accountant only but should try to be a part of the team in the organization you work for. No commercial or business activity starts without finance, and if finance comes into the picture you need someone to account it correctly.
