The institute is also considering opening up non-assurance services, such as consultancy work, by chartered accountants for audit clients, subject to conditions, he told ET in an interview. The institute’s council is working on it.
Prior to the issuance of the latest guidelines, CAs and their firms were allowed to advertise only in a limited manner through “write-ups”, with curbs on the size of the font and photographs that can be used, among other restrictions.
The revamped Code of Ethics has also proposed new guidelines on a raft of other issues, including sustainability assurance and audit fees, in sync with the government’s goal of creating large home-grown accounting and consultancy firms in India.
The new guidelinesalso clearly spells out circumstances under which CA firms can or cannot offer non-audit services to the same listed companies of which they are also the statutory auditors.
This aims to minimise the scope for conflict of interest, preserve auditor independence and bolster audit quality, the president said.