read article

MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
CONTENTS
¾ Looking Towards the Future: ICASL embarks on a new
chapter with new infrastructure project
¾ India’s Prof. Mahadevan elucidates strategies to service
organizations to ensure long-term success
¾ Overwhelming response for ICASL-INSEAD leadership
programme
¾ Exemptions for CIMA qualification to
prestigious Australian MBA offered at ICASL
follow
¾ ICASL, CBS and ACCA to educate Sri Lanka on IFRS
¾ ICAEW’s Ahmad Musaamil obtains ICASL membership
¾ Special fellowship scheme for Associate Members
¾ Online question bank on IFRSs
¾ Broaden your horizon with Cambridge ICFE now
available at ICASL
¾ Technical Article: Sri Lanka Auditing Standard 570 –
Going Concern
¾ Vacancy
¾ ICASL Events
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Looking Towards the Future: ICASL embarks on a new chapter with new
infrastructure project
May 12th 2011 will go down as an
unforgettable day in the history of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of
Sri Lanka (ICASL), as it embarked on a
new chapter with the ceremonial
laying of the foundation stone for a
new multi-storied office building.
As the ICASL continues to strive to reach
greater heights, the proposed building is
aimed at enhancing the facilities provided
to the institute’s over 36,000 students, 4200 members and administrative staff.
The historic event commenced with religious observances performed by religious dignitaries
representing the four main faiths in the country -- Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian.
The foundation stone for the project was
ceremoniously laid by Minister of Co-operatives
and Internal Trade Hon. Johnston Fernando who
graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.
Joining the minister in laying the foundation stone
were President Mr. Sujeewa Mudalige, Vice
President Mr. Sujeewa Rajapakse and Chief
Executive Officer Mr. Aruna Alwis.
The momentous event was further boosted when the ICASL gave pride and place to its past
presidents, giving them the opportunity to individually lay a foundation stone each for the
beginning of this new legacy which will take forward the institute’s vision, mission and
objectives.
Minister Johnston Fernando speaking on the occasion highlighted that as Sri Lanka enters a new
era of economic development striving to make the
country the wonder of Asia, the ICASL, will be called
upon to shoulder increasing responsibilities as the
country endeavors to achieve this ambitious target.
“The ICASL has made significant contribution
towards enhancing economic growth in the country,
and the status of the institute has been reinforced
through its membership, a significant number of
who hold key high positions in the country’s
business and public sector,” he added.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Minister Fernando also requested the Institute to branch out to every district in the country,
thereby giving wider access to the youth to take up chartered accounting as a profession.
ICASL President Sujeewa Mudalige speaking at the event said, “Today is a proud occasion for
the 52 year old institute, which has come a long way since its establishment,” he said.
Mr. Mudalige also highlighted that the much needed infrastructure project which got off
ground on 12th May was entirely funded by the funds contributed by students and members
and no outside contributions have been utilized for this project.
He concluded his statement by extending his appreciation to the minister, secretary, additional
secretary, council and members of the institute for supporting this endeavor.
The building which will cover a total area of 40,000 sq. ft. will consist of a ground floor plus
six floors and a roof terrace.
The 18-month long project is scheduled to conclude on 20th August 2012.
India’s Prof. Mahadevan elucidates strategies to service organizations to
ensure long-term success
Senior Indian Professor of
Operations Management B.
Mahadevan
has
adviced
developing nations such as Sri
Lanka to positively exploit
growth opportunities available
in the service sector by utilizing
Information Technology as the
backbone
to
bridge
the
geographical gap with other
nations which will ensure long term economic growth for the country.
At a seminar titled ‘Strategies for Service Organisations’, sponsored by the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) Prof. Mahadevan of the Indian Institute of Management,
Bangalore stressed that today, even in Sri Lanka, the service sector was the most dominant, by
contributing 60 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
“As the economy booms, issues related to the service sector should be taken into consideration
such as the pricing factor,” he noted.Citing reasons for his claim, the Professor noted that in the
past, pricing was often done on a static basis and not on a dynamic basis.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
“Firms have to understand that they should price services differently. It is only then will they
derive the benefits,” he said.
Prof. Mahadevan introduced several pricing methods during the seminar which included
different pricing styles, bundle pricing and yield management pricing, which are currently
adopted by hotels and airlines.
“Ten years back, hotels adopted a static pricing policy, where tariffs were usually a static rate
during peak period, today this style has changed and the rates keep changing from hour to
hour, minute to minute and even the service sector should adopt a similar pricing policy,” he
adviced.
Prof. Mahadevan, rated as one of the top five professors at IIM Bangalore, during the initial
sessions of the seminar also focused on how manufacturing companies increasingly sees service
as an important element in their strategy while also addressing how to deal with customer
delays and adopt a well accepted service quality model.
During the sessions, he also touched in detail on growth trajectories, while emphasizing on the
growth opportunities available for the service sector.
“Although services cannot be stored, there is a class of services which are tradable, which can
be exchanged and sent across such as the BPO and IT sectors,” he highlighted.
“Success lies in such areas where we can exploit such sectors for our long term advantage.
Today in India, the designing for the car is done in India, but it can be manufactured in any
part of the world after we transmit the design via the internet,” he emphasized.
Prof. Mahadevan emphasized that Sri Lanka too had a huge potential to take advantage of
tradable services where distance and geographical positioning doesn’t matter anymore due to
the availability of IT services.
“Plus, countries such as ours also enjoy the cost advantage, and so we should be exploiting such
opportunities to the hilt,” he added.
The seminar held at the Waters Edge, Battaramulla on 5th May 2011 was well attended by top
corporate personnel in the likes of chairman, directors, CEOs, CFOs and senior management in
financial services, manufacturing, hospitality/tourism, travel, healthcare and ICT sectors
The ICASL decided to conduct a seminar on such a unique subject having understood the
importance of service economy which has been undergoing significant growth the world over,
during the last decade.
Boosted with more than 18 years of wide ranging experience, Professor Mahadevan has been
recognized for his excellence in teaching both at IIM Bangalore and outside and has been
consistently rated among the top five professors in IIM Bangalore’s teaching and executive
education programmes.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Overwhelming response for ICASL-INSEAD leadership programme
The landmark venture between the Business School of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) and INSEAD, the business school for the world, has
received an overwhelming response with organizers having to increase the number of
participants by several folds to accommodate the high demand.
The ground-breaking four day global
leadership programme scheduled to commence
on 15th June 2011 at the Cinnamon Grand,
Colombo will be conducted by renowned
Professor of Leadership, Dr. Thomas Mannarelli
from the faculty of the INSEAD Business School.
Meanwhile, the Business School of ICASL has
already commenced intakes for the next ICASLINSEAD
global
leadership
programme
scheduled for September 2011.
The June course aimed at professionals and
business leaders will see a thought provoking
outline of topics covering a wide array of areas,
aimed at enhancing the leadership qualities of
the country’s corporate movers and shakers.
Topics that would be covered in the inaugural
programme will include; Vision and leadership
transition, creative thinking outside the box,
influence without authority, leading organization change, leading high performance teams,
decision making under uncertainty, negotiation dynamics and influencing for change.
Course Director, Dr. Mannarelli, who holds a PhD from the Haas School of Business at the
University of California, Berkley and a B.S. in Business Administration the Indiana University, is
a specialist in issues related to creativity, innovation and leadership in organisations.
As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD is a pioneer of
international business education based in Europe. Its 145 renowned Faculty members from 36
countries inspire more than 1,000 participants in MBA, Executive MBA and PhD programs, and
also executives exceeding 9,500 who participate in INSEAD’s executive education programs.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Exemptions for CIMA qualification to follow prestigious Australian MBA
offered at ICASL
The Prestigious University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is
now offering four exemptions for Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification to follow
the Master of Business Administration (MBA), which is
currently offered in the country through the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.
Thus with these four exemptions, students can now sit for only
eight subjects instead of the required 12 subjects while studying for the MBA and complete the
course within period of a year or one and a half years.
Students with the respective exemptions will also have the opportunity of saving approximately
Rs. 300,000/-, due to the reduced number of subjects they have to undertake.
USQ is an international university of repute in distance learning and was the first accredited
‘institution of best practice’ for external higher education in Australia.
The ICASL is the premier National Accounting institute responsible for the education of
students, professional development of members and service to the business community in
auditing, taxation, financial management and business consultancy. As one of its initiatives to
be equipped to meet the challenge of the knowledge economy, lCASL came into an alliance with
USQ, to offer the MBA programme.
The ICASL, which is also the largest tertiary education establishment in the country, outside the
university system with a student base of over 36,000 and a membership of over 42000
partnered with the USQ to offer two world class recognized Masters Degree courses, namely
the MBA and the Master of Project Management (MPM) in its continuing strive to provide
professionals both in accountancy and outside the accountancy sphere the best of foreign
professional qualifications in Sri Lanka.
The USQ MBA which is of world class repute has been followed by more than 1400 students
both in Australia and outside Australia and is the largest MBA programme of any Australian
university.
The USQ MBA programme offered through the ICASL has been well received in Sri Lanka with
very high-end professionals in the country’s corporate world also following this prestigious
programme.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
ICASL, CBS and ACCA to educate Sri Lanka on IFRS
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri
Lanka (ICASL) together with the Centre for
Banking Studies (CBS) and the Association of
Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of Sri
Lanka having understood the significance of
financial
reporting
will
conduct
a
comprehensive
series
of
seminar
on
International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS).
Scheduled to be held from 20th to 24th June 2011 at the auditorium of the Centre for Banking
Studies, Rajagiriya, the seminar will be given a further boost with the participation of a foreign
expert who will articulate in detail the significance of IFRS, adopted by many countries today.
Resource person at the seminar series, Ms. Vandana Saxena
Poria, who functions as the CEO of Get Through Guides, UK
is a specialist in the subject having being involved at various
levels in IFRS conversion and implementation in Europe.
IFRS is being adopted on a fast pace across the globe, with
many countries applying the standards. At present, over 100
countries require or permit the use of IFRS for publicly traded
companies, while other countries have adopted IFRS or its
equivalent as their local Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP).
The seminar series aim to provide an upto date, relevant conversion course giving a detailed
knowledge of international reporting standards and how they are interpreted and applied.
Ms. Poria is also the founder of Get Through Guides (GTG), a publishing, training and
consultancy company specializing in the fields of finance, accounting and management with
particular emphasis on IFRS. GTGs client base in India and Europe includes Ernst & Young,
KPMG, WNS, Grant Thornton, Genpact, Shell, ICA, ACCA and Cairn Energy.
Registration for the event will be on a first come first served basis, and due to the topical nature
of the series, participants have been adviced by the organizers to register early.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
ICAEW’s Ahmad Musaamil obtains ICASL membership
A senior member of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), Mr.
Ahmed Mohideen Musaamil, from the United
Kingdom, was the first ICAEW member to obtain
membership from the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Sri Lanka, following the signing of
the Memorandum of Understanding between the two
institutes in October 2010.
ICASL CEO Mr. Aruna Alwis handed over the ICASL
membership documents to Mr. Musaamil recently.
The MoU between ICAEW and ICASL enables qualified members of either Institute to join the
other and to obtain non-auditing practising rights.
The ICASL is among just a handful of national institutes which enjoys a reciprocal agreement
with ICAEW, which boast of a membership of more than 136,000 from over 160 countries.
Special fellowship scheme for Associate Members
The CPD division of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) has
introduced a special scheme to award fellowships for
members possessing over fifteen years of experience as
an Associate Member.
Applications are currently being accepted from eligible
members along with a detailed CV that would outline the
progress of the member’s career since his or her admission
as an Associate Member. The application should ideally
include ways in which competence relating to the profession
was enhanced over the years. Applications should be
supported with relevant documentary evidence.
The offer is valid until 31 December 2011.
For more information, members can contact the following:
Tele: 011-23520000; E-mail: cpd@icasrilanka.com
The application form for this special fellowship can also be downloaded directly from
http://www.icasrilanka.com/NewsEvents/News.aspx?NID=243
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Sri Lanka Accounting Standards
Online question bank on IFRSs
The revised Sri Lanka Accounting Standards will be implemented from 01st January
2012 and will be tested at the ICASL examinations from June 2011 onwards.
In order to enhance the technical knowledge in accounting, ICASL has organized an on-line
course which consists of multiple choice questions on IFRS’ which is available via the Institute’s
web site.
On-line course details:
Enrolment
Members’ registration fee
Non- Members’ registration fee
Students’ registration fee
– Rs. 2,000/– Rs. 3,000/– Rs. 750/-
Course details
A password and a time slot will be provided once registered.
Examination
There will be 30 questions at the examination and the pass mark will be 50.
Five attempts will be allowed
On successful completion of the course a “Certificate in IFRSs” will be awarded.
Contact Details
Mrs. Kanchana Gunasekera
Education Division- ICASL Office,
1st Floor, AAT Centre,
540, Thimbirigasyaya Road,
Narahenpita, Colombo 5.
Telephone numbers
2585286 / 2594951 Ext. 103
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Multimedia English Language Centre
Broaden your horizon with Cambridge ICFE now available at ICASL
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka
(ICASL), the national accounting body being the
pioneer in introducing Cambridge ICFE in Sri Lanka
completed its 1st batch successfully on 22 May
2011.
In collaboration with the University of Cambridge (ESOL), the British Council and the ACCA the
Institute in its continuous efforts to provide the best to finance and accountancy professionals
embarked on this venture in January 2011 offering an international qualification right here in
Sri Lanka.
The Cambridge ICFE is a globally recognized 100 hour course consisting of 75% online learning
with 25% face-to-face sessions. This course has been meticulously designed especially for
finance professionals to achieve greater heights in their career and also to aspiring students and
trainees who would seek out gainful employment in the international finance arena. The online
element of this blended learning programme brings candidates the combined advantages of the
convenience with hands-on benefits of classroom learning. It is poised to have a great impact
in the field of finance and accounting and validates first-rate English language skills and the
ability to converse with finance and accounting professionals throughout the international
business community.
The unique features of this programme make it even more attractive with a variety of activities
that would help the candidates to gain the necessary language skills. The pre-test administered
before the commencement of each of programme provides both the candidates as well as the
lecturers an invaluable opportunity to identify their strengths and weaknesses and gauge how
much more preparation they need. This enables the students to try out real exam questions
under no cost. The lecturers who are well qualified in designing and delivering ESP (English for
Specific Purposes) courses have been hand-picked and well trained by the British Council for
the challenging task of grooming students to take up the end of course exam successfully within
a short period like ten weeks. While providing individual attention with constant feedback and
mock exams the Institute has offered the best environment for learning for its registered ICFE
students with numerous facilities such as free access to its state-of-the-art Multimedia English
Language Center and resourceful library.
The British Council at the end of each programme providing the students more support and
guidance to prepare for the Cambridge ICFE exam conducts free workshops with a focus on tips
and techniques of mastering ICFE thus enabling them to be successful in the final exam.
Those who are interested in gaining this valuable opportunity, a life time achievement may join
the next batch commencing on 6 June 2011.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Technical Article:
Sri Lanka Auditing Standard 570 – Going Concern
The following concerned areas can be noted in the clarity standard of Sri Lanka Auditing
Standard 570 – Going Concern.
Going Concern assumption inappropriate
Where financial statements are prepared on an alternative authoritative basis, which in
auditor’s opinion is appropriate, the auditor can issue an unqualified opinion if there is
adequate disclosure, but may require an emphasis of matter in the auditor’s report.
The clarity standard requires the auditor to draw attention to the alternative basis used and the
reason for its use whereas existing SLAuS only requires to draw attention to the basis of which
the financial statements were prepared.
Management unwilling to make or extend its assessment
Where management is unwilling to make or extend its assessment when auditor request to do
so, SLAuS explicitly states it is not the auditors responsibility to rectify the lack of analysis by
management.
The clarity standard is silent on auditor’s responsibility and states why it is impossible for the
auditor to carry out such an assessment.
Communication with those charged with governance
The auditor shall communicate with those charged with governance events or conditions
identified that may cast significant doubt on the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
There is no obligation under SLAuS for the Auditor to communicate with those charged with
governance.
Considerations specific to public sector entities
Management’s use of the going concern assumption is also relevant to public sector entities.
Going concern risks is not limited to situations where public sector entities operate on a forprofit basis, where government support may be reduced or withdrawn, or in the case of
privatization.
Considerations specific to smaller entities
The auditor needs to evaluate management’s assessment of the entity’s ability to continue as a
going concern in relation to a smaller entity.
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Vacancy:
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
May 2011
ICASL Events:
ICASL Members - 7 - A- Side Cricket Fiesta
More ICASL Events:
Date
Event
Venue
5th June 2011
Cambridge ICFE - (Batch II)
MELC – Colombo
8th June 2011
Accounting Standards Seminar on
SLFRS 4
ICASL Auditorium
15th – 18th June
INSEAD programme
Cinnamon Grand
20th – 24th June
Seminar series on International
Financial Reporting Standards
Centre for Banking
Studies Auditorium