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    CA Certification

    CA Certificates in India

    Every certificate a chartered accountant signs when a bank, an embassy, a tender committee, a court or a regulator asks for a verified figure: net worth, solvency, turnover, income, net owned fund, fund utilisation and the rest, each on its own page with its documents and process.

    • Every certificate carries a UDIN the reader can check on the ICAI portal
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    Written by Subham JhunjhunwalaReviewed by CA Sundram GuptaReviewed on Updated Sources: ICAI Guidance Note on Reports or Certificates for Special Purposes (Revised 2016), ICAI UDIN portal

    The 22 certificates on this page

    Grouped by what the reader is testing. Two of them are the place to start.

    1. 10
      Net worth and solvencyWhat you own net of what you owe, for a person, a company or a firm; or solvent to a named sum. Start with Net Worth Certificate or Net Worth Certificate for Visa.
    2. 5
      Turnover and incomeSales for a current account, a tender or the MSME classification; annual income for a visa, loan or admission.
    3. 7
      For companies, lenders and regulatorsNet owned fund, capital account, fair market value, CMA data, fund utilisation, provisional financials, actuarial valuation.

    Whoever receives the certificate can check its UDIN on the ICAI portal without contacting you.

    Start from who is asking

    Which certificate do you need?

    A CA certificate is a chartered accountant's signed statement that a figure or a fact has been checked against your records and found as stated, written for a named reader and purpose. It is not the chartered accountancy qualification. The reader decides which one you need, so start from them.

    1. A bank or lender

      Tests what you own net of what you owe, and whether it can be realised

      For a loan, a limit or a guarantor's file the credit team asks for a certified net worth of the borrower, the co-applicant or the guarantor, dated close to the sanction.

      Net Worth Certificate for Bank Loan

      If the bank asked instead for sales proof or a working-capital file: Turnover Certificate for Current Account or CMA data.

    2. An embassy, university or visa consultant

      Tests that the funds exist, where they came from and who holds them

      A visa or admission checklist usually names a net worth or funds document from the applicant or the sponsor, in rupees with a second currency where the mission asks for one.

      Net Worth Certificate for Visa

      If the checklist asked for annual income rather than assets: Income Certificate by CA.

    3. A tender committee, licensing office or court

      Tests that you are solvent to a sum its own document names

      A bid condition, a contractor-licence rule or a court taking surety fixes the figure; the certificate is written to that figure and that reader, not to your whole position.

      Solvency Certificate

      If the bid tests sales rather than solvency: Turnover Certificate for Tender. For a matrimonial or succession matter: Net Worth Statement for Divorce.

    4. A regulator: RERA, the RBI or a FEMA filing

      Tests a figure against a floor or a form the regulator itself prescribes

      A state RERA authority reads promoter net worth against the project; the RBI reads an NBFC's net owned fund; a cross-border filing reads the capital account.

      CA Certificate for RERA Registration

      For an NBFC: Net Owned Fund Certificate. For a FEMA or ECB filing: Capital Account Certificate.

    5. Your own company, its investors or the MCA

      Tests the company's net worth, a share's value or an interim position

      A board, an investor, a buyer or a filing may want the company's net worth as the Companies Act defines it, a fair market value for shares, or financials certified before the audit closes.

      Net Worth Certificate for Company

      For a share issue, transfer or ESOP: Certificate of Fair Market Value. For an interim position: Provisional Financials Certificate.

    6. A grant-giver, donor, auditor or the Udyam registration

      Tests that money was spent as agreed, or that sales fall inside a class

      A grant, CSR or sponsored-project agreement asks how its funds were used; the Udyam classification reads turnover against the limits the MSME notification sets.

      Fund Utilisation Certificate

      For the MSME class: Turnover Certificate for MSME Classification.

    Not sure who will read it, or asked for "a CA certificate" with no name attached? Say who sent the request and we tell you which one it is.

    Net worth and solvency

    Net worth and solvency certificates

    Ten certificates that state what a person, a firm or a company owns net of what it owes, or that it is solvent to a named sum. Two are the place to start; the other eight are drawn for a particular reader or entity.

    Start here

    Two certificates to start from

    The general certificate, or the version a consulate reads. If a lender, a tender or a court asked for it, the two drawn for them are listed just below.

    The general certificate

    Net Worth Certificate

    The general certificate for an individual: assets less liabilities on one named date, issued with a UDIN. What goes into it, the documents and the fee are on its own page.

    Open the certificate page
    For a visa file

    Net Worth Certificate for Visa

    For the applicant or the sponsor, planned back from the appointment date, with a second currency and legalisation only where the checklist says so.

    Open the certificate page

    Drawn for a lender, a tender or a court

    • Net Worth Certificate for Bank LoanWritten to a lender's own checks: whose position is being assessed, what is pledged elsewhere, and which annexure the bank uses
    • Solvency CertificateSolvent up to the sum a tender, a licence rule or a court names, as at a stated date, after setting aside what is already charged

    The same certificate, drawn for a particular entity or reader

    Turnover and income

    Turnover and income certificates

    A turnover certificate states the sales of a business for the years named, reconciled to its GST returns and accounts. The reader decides which version: the bank opening a current account, the tender committee and the MSME registration each read it differently. An income certificate is a different figure: a person's annual income from every source.

    One figure

    Turnover for the years named, from the books, reconciled to the returns filed, signed with a UDIN.

    Turnover Certificate
    A different figure

    Income Certificate by CA

    Annual income of a person from salary, business, rent and other sources, attested against returns and records, for a visa, a loan or an admission. Asked for where the reader wants income, not assets and not sales.

    Companies, lenders and regulators

    Certificates for companies, lenders and regulators

    Seven certificates asked for by a regulator, a lender's credit team, a grant agreement or a company's own filings. Each tests a specific figure against a form or a basis the reader prescribes, so the reader's own document is the first thing we read.

    1. Net Owned Fund Certificate for NBFC
      Asked for byThe Reserve Bank, at registration and in annual filings
      What it certifiesOwned funds less investments in and lending to group companies, computed the way the RBI defines net owned fund, against the floor the RBI sets
    2. Capital Account Certificate
      Asked for byAn authorised dealer bank or a FEMA filing
      What it certifiesCapital account transactions and balances for a cross-border reporting requirement, such as external commercial borrowing returns
    3. Certificate of Fair Market Value (FMV)
      Asked for byA company issuing or transferring unlisted shares, an ESOP trust, an investor
      What it certifiesThe fair market value of unlisted shares on the basis the Income-tax Rules prescribe, as at the valuation date
    4. CMA Data Preparation and Certification
      Asked for byA bank's credit team for a working-capital limit
      What it certifiesPast, current and projected financials in the format the lender uses, with the ratios and the permissible bank finance worked
    5. Fund Utilisation Certificate
      Asked for byA grant-giver, a CSR donor, a sponsored-project agency, sometimes a lender
      What it certifiesThat the funds received were spent on the purposes agreed, matched to the agreement and the vouchers
    6. Provisional Financials Certificate
      Asked for byA lender, an investor or a tender before the audit for the year closes
      What it certifiesAn unaudited balance sheet and profit and loss for the period, compiled from the books and marked as provisional
    7. Actuarial Valuation for Employee Benefits
      Asked for byThe auditor and the board, for the year-end accounts
      What it certifiesThe gratuity, leave and pension liability as AS 15 or Ind AS 19 requires it to be measured and disclosed

    Before anyone relies on it

    What makes a CA certificate acceptable

    Banks, consulates, tender bodies and courts do not read the figure first. They check who signed, whether the signature can be traced, and whether the certificate speaks to their request. Those checks are the same for all 22 certificates.

    A chartered accountant explaining a certificate to a couple in their fifties at a meeting table

    Four things every acceptable certificate carries

    1. A UDIN. The Unique Document Identification Number is generated on the ICAI portal for each document signed. ICAI has made it mandatory on certificates issued by practising members since 1 February 2019. Many banks, consulates and tender bodies look it up before relying on a certificate.
    2. The reader and the purpose on its face. The certificate is addressed to the person who asked for it and says what it was prepared for, with the basis of the figure and its limitations, as the ICAI Guidance Note on Reports or Certificates for Special Purposes (Revised 2016) requires.
    3. A date the reader accepts. The figure speaks to one date. No law fixes a validity period for these certificates; the reader who asked for one decides how recent it must be.

    What the reader checks, and how you can check it first

    • The UDIN on the ICAI portalReturns the signing member's number, the date and the document type, without contacting you or us.
    • The member's standingWhether the member holds a certificate of practice, from the ICAI's member records.
    • The request against the certificateWhether the sum, the date, the addressee and the format match what their own document asked for.
    • The basis statedWhich records were examined and which were taken as represented, so the reader knows what the signature covers.

    Step-by-step, with what each portal screen shows: how to verify a certificate using its UDIN.

    One path for every certificate

    How a certificate is prepared

    The five steps are the same whichever certificate you need. What changes is the figure, the records behind it and the reader's format, and each certificate page lists those.

    1. 1

      Name the reader

      You tell us who asked and send their request: the checklist, the bid clause, the sanction condition or the form. That fixes which certificate it is.

    2. 2

      Share the records

      The certificate page lists them. Statements, title papers, returns, accounts or vouchers, depending on the figure being certified.

    3. 3

      The CA examines them

      Each figure is traced to a record or a confirmation. Anything that cannot be traced is excluded or shown as represented, and you are told which.

    4. 4

      Drafted to the reader's format

      Where the bank, mission or authority prescribes an annexure, that is used. Otherwise the certificate follows the ICAI guidance on certificates for special purposes.

    5. 5

      Signed with a UDIN

      A practising chartered accountant signs, generates the UDIN on the ICAI portal and prints it on the certificate. You send the signed original to the reader.

    What the reader's request fixes, before any work starts

    • The figureNet worth, a sum to be solvent to, turnover for named years, income, a fund balance or a value.
    • The dateThe date the figure speaks to, and how recent the reader wants it.
    • The addresseeWho will rely on it; the certificate names that reader and that purpose.
    • The formatThe reader's own annexure where one exists; otherwise the certificate's own form.

    The method in full, from the engagement letter to the representation letter: how a chartered accountant prepares a certificate.

    Fees

    What certificates cost

    The fee is quoted per certificate, in writing, before the work starts, and it is shown on each certificate's page. Four things move it.

    • Scope

      One figure on one date for one reader costs less than a schedule with several entities or several dates.

    • Entity

      An individual's position is simpler than a company's, a partnership's or a group's, where more records must be read.

    • Records

      Clean statements and audited accounts shorten the work; missing papers, unpriced assets or contested records lengthen it.

    • Format

      A prescribed annexure, a second currency or a court-ready schedule takes more drafting than the certificate's own form.

    Professional fee by group

    • Net worth and solvency Starting from INR 1,499 (Exl GST and Govt. Charges)
    • Turnover and income Starting from INR 1,499 (Exl GST and Govt. Charges)
    • Companies, lenders and regulators Starting from INR 2,499 (Exl GST and Govt. Charges)

    Government charges, stamp paper, apostille or attestation, where the reader asks for them, are separate and shown separately.

    Read before you order

    Guides and references

    Four pages our chartered accountants send when a client wants to understand the signature before asking for it.

    Everything in one place

    Tools, formats, guides and glossary

    Every calculator, sample format, guide and term we have published on CA certificates.

    Calculators and checkers 8

    Certificate formats 4

    Word files laid out the way a chartered accountant signs them, with every value shown as X, so you can see what goes where before you ask for one.

    Guides by topic 39

    Getting a certificate 10

    How it is prepared, checked and used

    Visa and proof of funds 5

    What embassies and lenders look for

    Loans, guarantees and solvency 7

    For banks, tenders and guarantors

    Companies and NBFCs 7

    Net worth and net owned fund

    Firms and proprietors 6

    Partners, LLPs and sole owners

    Individuals, family and courts 4

    Joint owners, divorce and maintenance

    Glossary A to Z 47

    A
    Adjusted net worthAnnual Information Statement (AIS)ApostilleAttestation
    B
    Bank guarantee (BG)Blocked account
    C
    Capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR)Certificate of practice (COP)Circle rateCollateralContingent liabilityCredit information report (CIBIL)
    D
    Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)Debt-to-equity ratio
    E
    Earnest money deposit (EMD)Encumbrance certificate
    F
    Fair market value (FMV)Form 26ASFree reserves
    H
    Hypothecation
    L
    Legal heir certificateLetter of credit (LC)LienLiquid assetsLiquidityLoan-to-value ratio (LTV)
    M
    Management representation letterMargin moneyMoratoriumMortgage
    N
    Net owned fund (NOF)Net worth erosion
    P
    Performance guaranteePledgeProof of funds (POF)
    R
    Revaluation reserve
    S
    Securities premiumSlump saleSolvency ratioSource of fundsStamp dutyStatement of affairsSuccession certificateSurety
    T
    Tangible net worthTier I capital
    U
    Unique document identification number (UDIN)

    Questions

    Questions about CA certificates

    What is a CA certificate?

    A written statement, signed by a chartered accountant in practice, that a stated figure or fact about you or your business has been examined against your records and found as stated. It names the reader it is issued to, the purpose, the date the figure speaks to and the basis of the examination, and it carries a UDIN the reader can look up on the ICAI portal.

    The phrase is also used for the ICAI's own membership and rank certificates, which are the chartered accountant's qualification and are not what a bank, embassy or tender means by it. This page covers the certificates a chartered accountant issues to clients.

    How can I get a CA certificate?

    Start from whoever asked for it: their checklist, clause or form names the certificate. Open that certificate's page above, send the records it lists, and a practising chartered accountant examines them, drafts the certificate to the reader's format and signs it with a UDIN.

    If the request only says "a CA certificate" with no name, send us the request itself; which certificate it is becomes clear from what the reader is testing.

    What is a CA certificate in banking?

    Banks use the phrase for several different documents, and the checklist usually says which: a net worth certificate for a borrower, co-applicant or guarantor; a turnover certificate when a current account or a limit is opened; CMA data for a working-capital limit; a provisional financials certificate before the audit closes; or a fund utilisation certificate for the end use of a disbursement.

    Each bank sets its own requirement, and many issue their own annexure. Read the checklist line, or send it to us, before any certificate is drafted.

    Talk to an expert

    Talk to an expert about your certificate

    Tell us who asked for the certificate and what it is for, or forward their request when we call. A chartered accountant tells you which certificate it is, what records it needs and the fee, before any work starts.

    Tell us who is asking

    A chartered accountant calls you back.

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      What happens next

      A chartered accountant reads the request, names the certificate, lists the records needed and sends the fee in writing before the engagement starts.