Chartered accountant is a public officer certifying to the shareholders, various statutory authorities that state of affairs proclaimed by the financial statements of a company are fair to the best of his tests.
However there is more to them than their original purpose.The role of CA based on size of Organisation can be described as follows
GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, FRIEND IN SMALL & MEDIUM SIZE ORGANISATIONS
While the basic contribution of a CA to an organisation is only to express an opinion on its accounts, traditionally he has been loked upon as a consultant in tax matters, legal matters(including personal wills), business deals.
They are looked upon for guidence in matters ranging from arrangement of finance to installation of accounting Software or even as recruiters in some cases .
LARGE ORGANISATIONS
large organisations may not look upon to CA as in case of small organisations.However they play important role in specialised services like
handling amalgamations, mergers and reconstructions.e.t.c
The value of a CA’s advice lies not only in its legality but also in its practicality and feasibility. For example a CA never suggests to totally avoid tax in the guise of tax planning.Most of the times he convinces his client in paying taxes and avoiding unnecessary hassels.
I see a lot of contribution from the community of CA’s in the days to come.