Why should you study "Finance"?

(This is reproduction of Author's response to a Question on Quora similar to the title question)

Let's start by saying this - You should do everything and anything you love to do (Unless it is Illegal, immoral or involves listening to Justin Bieber, kidding ;))

Now, that being said lets get to the point - Why Study (read "love") Finance -

• Finance is one of the most oldest and vital stream of studies -
  Think about this for a moment, one of the oldest problems in the history of mankind is either lack of money or lack of planning to use the excess money in hand, and; what is the solution : Study of Financial Concepts to put idle money to work and plan and/or prioritize the use of scarce funds
• Finance is everywhere -
  Every person needs to manage his financial resources, plan for children education, put adequate amount on the paper for planning retirement; in a nutshell that is "Personal Finance" for you.
  Now replace an individual by an organisation, think about M&As, Raising Capital, Equities, Debtor Management, Loans and Advances, Expansion/Contraction of business, that is "Corporate Finance" more or less. You notice the pattern, you do anything it will more or less would already have or will have intervention of Finance

  

• Finance can teach you a lot about life in general -
  At the risk of sounding extremely philosophical and a godman wannabe, I would like to draw your attention towards the astonishing similarities between life and finance; Compounding/Discounting, Opportunity Rate of Interest, Arbitrage.. the list goes on, you can google and find very interesting articles discussing the application of these concepts of finance to situations in life.
  I would like to mention the example of concept of "Valuation" here. Finance draws a clear cut line between "Value" and "Price" of something. There is a whole sub-stream under finance dedicated to distinguishing "Price" of an asset(i.e. What it is selling at/quoted at in Market) and the "Value" of an asset (i.e. How much it is worth, what is its intrinsic self). It ponders that you can benefit if you part ways with an asset which is overvalued(read hyped/overrated) and invest in something which is undervalued( read underdog). Let's throw a quote by Oscar Wilde here to illustrate the difference between valuation and pricing in life (and to make the answer a bit fancy and for just the sake of quoting Mr. Wilde)

  

  Now, isn't it a magnificent exercise which we should adopt in our lives also?
  Oscar Wilde said it on the basis of his blissful literary intellect. It seems like Mr. Buffet also agrees with the same on the basis of his blissful knowledge of finance

  

• It is very interesting and (still)evolving field of studies -
  It's entirely your choice to study and exercise the laid down concepts, trading techniques and theories, or; go ahead and tread in the unexplored sea of research and finding new stuff, patterns and observations
• Like many other fields out there, it pays well. You can earn well if you learn well.

Irrespective of every specific reason, almost all streams will cater to someone's curiosity and interest, land you in a comfortable job and offer you something new to learn, and, you can have "n" number of reasons to do a thing or not, BUT; do what makes you happy, study what you find interesting, because at the end of the day, that is the wisest thing you can do :)

Non applicability of Wealth Tax for November 2015 CA Final Exam

Wealth Tax and rules thereunder will not be applicable for NOVEMBER 2015 CA Final Exam of Paper 7 - Direct Tax Laws.

Official Announcement(You will be redirected to icai.org) - 
http://220.227.161.86/37411bos234015.pdf

ICSI : Applicability of the Companies Act, 2013 for Examinations from December 2014 onwards

Source : http://www.icsi.edu/portals/0/Announcement%20Companies%20Act2013.pdf

Punishment for failure to distribute dividends under Companies Act, 2013 in light of provisions under the erstwhile Act

Retention by company of dividend beyond 30 days from the date its distribution is due attracted punishment under Sec. 207 of the erstwhile Companies Act,1956;

MCA notified 98 Sections of the Companies Act, 2013 on 12th September,2013 which came into force with immediate effect.

These notified sections included Sec. 127 also which has replaced Sec 207 of the erstwhile act and deals with punishment for failure to distribute dividends. It is worthwhile to mention here that “Dividend” includes Interim Dividend also(as was also the case in erstwhile act).

Though largely the spirit of the current provisions are in line to previous act’s provisions, here are some significant differences :

• Earlier the Director(s) if found to be knowingly a party to the default, were liable for imprisonment extending up to 3 years, this tenure of imprisonment has been reduced to 2 years under Sec 127 of CA,2013
• In sec. 207 of the companies act, 1956, in the “exceptions under which no offence was deemed to have been committed” was included the following situation :

where a shareholder has given directions to the company regarding the payment of the dividend and those directions cannot be complied with;

In Sec. 127 of the Companies Act,2013; the exceptions part includes the following :

where a shareholder has given directions to the company regarding the payment of the dividend and those directions cannot be complied with & THE SAME HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED TO HIM;

Hence, We can clearly identify that the words “& THE SAME HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED TO HIM” have been appended to the text of previous provision. The gravity of this addition is that now, if the directions given by the shareholder can’t be complied with and this is the reason why there will be a delay beyond 30 days to distribute dividend with respect to his shares, this fact will have to be communicated to him to avoid the punishment. The earlier fiction that provided that if the directions can’t be complied with, no offence shall be deemed to have been committed has been done away with now, a communication of such facts is now mandatory.

• Companies Act, 2013 expressly permits electronic payment for dividends

For the ease of reference, the current provisions u/s 127 of the Companies Act, 2013 are produced below:

Where a dividend has been declared by a company but has not been paid or the
warrant in respect thereof has not been posted within thirty days from the date of declaration
to any shareholder entitled to the payment of the dividend, every director of the company
shall, if he is knowingly a party to the default, be punishable with imprisonment which may
extend to two years and with fine which shall not be less than one thousand rupees for every
day during which such default continues and the company shall be liable to pay simple
interest at the rate of eighteen per cent. per annum during the period for which such default
continues:
Provided that no offence under this section shall be deemed to have been
committed:—
(a) where the dividend could not be paid by reason of the operation of any law;
(b) where a shareholder has given directions to the company regarding the
payment of the dividend and those directions cannot be complied with and the same
has been communicated to him;
(c) where there is a dispute regarding the right to receive the dividend;
(d) where the dividend has been lawfully adjusted by the company against any
sum due to it from the shareholder; or
(e) where, for any other reason, the failure to pay the dividend or to post the
warrant within the period under this section was not due to any default on the part of
the company.

Notification No.17/2013-Customs (ADD) - Extension in tenure of Anti-Dumping Duty regarding certain Rubber Chemical{PX-13 (6PPD)} originating in, or exported from, Korea RP

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

Notification No.17/2013-Customs (ADD)

New Delhi, dated the 5^th July, 2013

   

            G.S.R.     (E). -Whereas, the designated authority vide notification No. 15/1/2013-DGAD, dated the 30^th April, 2013, published in Part I, Section 1 of the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, dated the 30^th April, 2013, had initiated review, in terms of sub-section (5) of section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) and in pursuance of rule 23 of the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in the matter of continuation of anti-dumping duty on rubber chemical, namely, PX-13 (6PPD), falling within Chapter 29 or 38 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), originating in, or exported from, Korea RP, imposed vide  notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue),No. 92/2011-Customs, dated the 20^th September, 2011, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 700 (E), dated the 20^th September, 2011 and has requested for  extension of anti-dumping duty upto one more year, in terms of sub-section (5) of Section 9A of the said Customs Tariff Act;

                        Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (5) of section 9A of the said Customs Tariff Act and in pursuance of rule 23 of the said rules, the Central Government hereby makes the following amendment in the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 92/2011-Customs, dated the 20^thSeptember, 2011, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 700 (E), dated the 20^th September, 2011, namely: - 

In the said notification, in paragraph 2, for the words and figures “4^th May, 2013”, the words and figures “4^th May, 2014” shall be substituted.

F.No.354/32/2008-TRU (Pt-II)

(Akshay Joshi)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note:  The principal notification No. 92/2011-Customs, dated the 20^th September, 2011 was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 700 (E), dated the 20^th September, 2011.

Notification No. 35 / 2013 - Customs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

Notification No. 35 / 2013 - Customs

  

New Delhi, dated the 18^th July, 2013

G.S.R. 491  (E).— In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No.46/2011-Customs, dated the 1^st June, 2011 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-Section (i), vide number G.S.R. 423 (E), dated the 1^st June, 2011, namely:-

In the said notification, in the Table, after S. No. 565 and the entries relating thereto,the following S.No. and entries shall be inserted, namely:-

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
“565 A	480890, 480920 and 480990	All Goods	2.5	6.0”

[F.No. 341/30/2012-TRU]

(Akshay Joshi)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note.-  The principal notification No. 46/2011-Customs, dated the 1^st June, 2011, was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number 423 (E), dated the 1^st June, 2011 and was last amended by notification No.64/2012-Customs, dated 31^st December, 2012 which was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 949 (E), dated 31^st  December, 2012.

Direct Entry Scheme – Eligibility for Exams and Practical Training

EXAM ALERT : Exams on 4th and 5th May,2013 postponed for some centers in Karnataka

Papers Postponed -

Group – 1, Paper 2, Strategic Financial Management

{Final Examination}

&,

Group – 1, Paper – 2, Business Laws, Ethics and Communications

{Intermediate/Integrated Professional Competence}

 

Centers Affected -

Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Hubli, Mangalore, Mysore and Udupi

centre(s)

{For other cities scheduled is unchanged}

 

Dates on which postponed exams are

Re-scheduled -

18th May and 17th May 2013

 

Click

HERE

to read the concerned Notification dated 25th March, 2013

The Companies Bill, 2011

--- CLICK HERE ---

RTP : CA Final November 2012 – Download Links

GROUP – 1

Financial Reporting

Strategic Financial Management

Advanced Auditing & Professional Ethics

Corporate & Allied Laws

 

GROUP – 2

Advanced Management Accounting

Information Systems Control & Audit

Direct Tax Laws

Indirect Tax Laws

Important Announcement: Non-applicability of taxable services in PCE-Paper 5: Taxation, IPCE-Paper 4: Taxation and Final-Paper 8: Indirect Tax Laws for November, 2012 examinations

Read it HERE on BOS Portal of ICAI

Exclusion of certain topics from ITSM Syllabus for November,2012 Attempt & Onwards

Certain topics from ITSM syllabus have been excluded for the purpose of November,2012 attempt and onwards, relevant announcement regarding the same can be read on BOS portal

 HERE

Amendments for IPCC November 2012 Attempt

TAX

Read Online  Download

ADVANCED ACCOUNTS

Read Online  Download

LAW

Read Online  Download

ACCOUNTS

Read Online  Download

(Source: RTP Nov,12)

How Banks make Money ?–A Quick Analysis

How Banks make money is something which comes to mind of many of us when we hear about their reported profits, come across their financial statements and when we watch an analyst on any business news channel talking about profit maneuvers and earning or growth possibilities of banking sector. To answer this question we must take a look on different type of “banks” in the market.

In market we can come across either Pure Retail Banks (For example; Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank, SBBJ etc.), Pure Investment Banks (For example; JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs etc) and a an intermediate category of banks which act as both Retail and Investment Banks (For example; Axis Bank, IDBI, HSBC, ICICI, Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited etc.).

So, in a nutshell, so far this article has led us to a conclusion that majorly, banking revenue and profit generating activities can be divided into two broad categories:

Retail Banking –

Retail bank consists of activities which are generally coined to fulfill the financial needs and services required by a retail individual service consumer or small sized corporate entities. Major activities carried out by a bank in retail banking sphere of services are as follows:  

 

ü Organizing Loans & Mortgages for Retail Consumers

ü Maintaining Saving Accounts, Currents A/Cs etc

ü Maintaining FDs and other deposits etc

ü Furnishing Loans to Retail Consumers for their various needs

ü  Bank charges an interest rate (say X₁) from all its clients to whom it lends money accompanied with other charges like service fees, accountant maintenance fees, paperwork charges etc. and pays at an interest rate (say X₂)(of course X1>X2),  to all its clients who have deposited their money in the bank and hence, Retail Banks earn an interest margin(or Intt. Differential) on all of the above transactions plus pockets a fair amount of service charges. So, in a nutshell, tagline of Retail Banking is- Lend at high rates, Borrow at low rates and eat margin while doing both

Characteristics of Retail Banking: Low Risk, Solid Cash Flow Generating Sector (from bank’s perspective)

---

Investment Banking –

Investment Banking is one of the Chief Operations in modern banking, if you have heard of any major M&A activity recently, read about an upcoming IPO/FPO, or have seen a report on an upcoming business deal; you must consider that in one way or other, Investment Bank(s) are involved in these. Some of the Major Activities carried on by an Investment Bank are as follows:

ü  Proprietary Trading

§  Taking care of Bank’s Money at Hand

§  Using money with bank to make money

§  Taking Investment Decisions

§  Financial & Liquidity Management

ü  Market Making

§  Trade at several types of trading market to maintain flow in the market (let’s call it maintaining the demand-supply equilibrium on a micro level by banks for simplicity)

§  For understanding this feature of banking, we must understand that in a trading market, every prospective buyer of stuff needs a prospective seller who can sell him the requisite stuff as and when required and similarly a seller in a market needs a buyer already existing in the market, an investment bank monetizes this situation by acting as a seller or buyer at different times. Technically speaking, an investment bank carries a long or short position depending upon the type and need of the client and charges a “premium” or “margin” or “service charge” for doing the same

ü  Merger & Acquisitions

§  Investment Banks render services by the way of providing advice on Mergers

§  Every major prospective acquirer or absorber seeks the advice of Investment Banks to decide about the valuation of target, its growth prospective, market sentiment about the target etc

§  For such M&A advising and assistance bank charges advising fees which is known by various names, such fees can be fixed or may depend on the size of the deal

ü  Assisting Corporate Events

§  Assisting various corporate clients for corporate deals and other events including publicity events, brand management, service feedback procurement etc

§  Helping in issuance of Debt

ü  New Issues

§  Investment Bank also helps in issuance of New Equity (and even in issuance of further equity). In other words banks contribute in issuance of IPO/FPO

§  Investment Bank also acts as underwriter of shares and charges underwriting commission for the same

ü  Structured Products

§  Investment Banks assist in design and sales of various Financial Securities/Instruments or a group/combination of them

Characteristics of Investment Banking: High Risk, High Expected CF but proper financial management and employment of risk minimization tactics is required 

http://Ca4all.blogspot.com/

CARO 2003 Audit Notes in Hindi - कंपनी अंकेक्षक प्रतिवेदन आदेश - 2003

कंपनी अंकेक्षक प्रतिवेदन आदेश – 2003

 

गूगल डॉक्स पर पढने के लिए कृपया यहाँ क्लिक करें

Membership of Company - A Handbook

Membership of Company - A HandBook CA4ALL

Download from Google Drive -

Click Here

Or, enter in address bar:

 https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4t5fcrTlPOCWkJJa2hQOWFCMW8

Slideshare Link -
Click Here
Or, enter in address bar:

http://www.slideshare.net/CA4ALL/membership-of-companya-handbook

RTP : IPCC November 2012–Download Links

Group 1

Paper 1 – Accounting

Paper 2 – Business Laws, Ethics and Communication

Paper 3 – Cost Accounting & Financial Management

Paper 4 – Taxation

Group 2

Paper 5 – Advanced Accounting

Paper 6 – Auditing and Assurance

Paper 7 – Information Technology and Strategic Management

Pass Percentage of IPCC & CPC Examinations held in May 2012

DIRECT ENTRY TO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANCY COURSE – AMENDMENTS TO THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS REGULATIONS, 1988

Notification No. 1-CA(7)/145/2012 

on August 1, 2012,

The provisions relating to Direct Entry Scheme for Graduates/Post Graduates, etc., with prescribed percentage of marks, to the Chartered Accountancy Course have come into force from August 1, 2012.

Download Full Notification/Announcement   

Bullwhip/Whiplash Effect & The Factors Contributing to Bullwhip Effect

A Phenomenon in forecast driven distribution channels/ A problem in forecast driven supply chains.

In periods of rising demand, down stream participants will increase their orders. In periods of falling demand, orders will fall or stop in order to reduce inventory.

The effect is that; variations are amplified the farther one gets from the end-consumers.

Factors Contributing To Bullwhip Effect -