Generated
The signing chartered accountant generates the number on the ICAI UDIN portal, at signing or up to 60 days after the date of signing.
Under the member's own membership; nobody else can generate one for them.Glossary · CA Certification
UDIN (Unique Document Identification Number): What It Is on a CA Certificate
abbreviation · also written "UDIN number" · one number for one document
Definition
A UDIN (Unique Document Identification Number) is the number a practising chartered accountant generates on the ICAI UDIN portal for each certificate, report or other document they sign, so that the document can be traced to that member. ICAI has required a UDIN on every certificate signed by a practising chartered accountant since 1 February 2019.
The number is printed on the document itself, usually in the signature block, and anyone who receives the document can look it up on the portal to confirm that the member generated it for that document.
When ICAI made it mandatory
The start dates, by kind of document
- CertificatesEvery certificate signed by a practising chartered accountant, which is the kind of document this glossary covers.
- GST and income-tax audit reportsThe two audit reports with their own filing deadlines were brought in next.
- All other audit and assurance workFrom this date every document a practising member signs in that capacity carries one.
Generation window. The number is generated when the document is signed, or up to 60 days from the date of signing, under the Institute's decision of September 2021.
Meaning
01What a UDIN is, word by word
The name says most of it. Each word commits the number to something, and together they describe what the reader is holding.
Unique
One number for one document. No two documents share a UDIN, and a document never has two.
Document
It belongs to the thing signed, a certificate, a report or another document a practising member signs, not to the member.
Identification
It identifies who generated it, on what date, and for what kind of document.
Number
A reference written on the document itself. It is 18 characters long: two for the year it is generated, six for the member's ICAI membership number, and ten letters and numbers generated at random by the system.
A UDIN is generated by the chartered accountant who signs the document, on the Institute's UDIN portal, under that member's own membership. The number is created for that document alone and is then written on it, so the document carries its own reference back to the Institute's record. Nothing about the figures is entered into the number; it records the act of signing, by whom and when.
Its purpose is traceability. Anyone who receives a document that claims to be signed by a chartered accountant can take the number to the portal and see whether a member generated it, and for what. A number that is not on the record is found out at that step. ICAI introduced it because documents attested by people posing as chartered accountants were misleading authorities, and it was receiving complaints of members' signatures being forged by non-members; the number lets regulators, banks and other readers check that a certificate is genuine.
ICAI has required the number on every certificate signed by a practising chartered accountant since 1 February 2019; audit reports followed in the same year. The number is generated when the document is signed, or up to 60 days from the date of signing, under the Institute's decision of September 2021.
Printed on it
The number is written on the certificate itself, in or beside the signature block, next to the member's name and membership number.
Section 02 reads that block line by line.Looked up
Whoever receives the document enters the number on the portal and sees whether a member generated it, and for what kind of document.
Section 03 points to the guide that walks through the look-up.On the page
02Where the UDIN appears on a certificate, and what it is not
On a certificate the number sits with the signature, among other numbers that look alike and mean different things. Reading the block line by line keeps them apart.
The signature block, line by line
What a CA-signed certificate usually carries at the foot of the page, and what each line is tied to
- Place and dateWhere and when it was signed. The date is the one the generation window runs from.When
- Firm name and firm registration numberThe practice unit the member signs for, where the certificate is issued in a firm's name.The firm
- Member's name, designation and membership numberThe person. The membership number is what the Institute's member search runs on.The person
- UDINThis document. One number, generated for this certificate and no other, by the member named above.This document
The layout varies from firm to firm; the certificate is the firm's own document, not an ICAI form. Every line above is plain text on the page, which is why the number is only as good as the look-up behind it.
Membership number
Allotted to every member of the Institute on enrolment, in practice or not, and kept for life. It says who signed; it says nothing about the document.
One per memberFirm registration number
Allotted to a firm of chartered accountants on its registration with the Institute. It identifies the practice unit, not the partner who signed or the document signed.
One per firmCertificate of Practice
The Institute's certificate that a member is entitled to practise and so to sign for clients. It is the permission behind the signature; the UDIN records the act, the certificate of practice records the entitlement.
Renewed by the memberUDIN
Generated for one document, by one member, on one occasion. It is the only one of the four that changes with every certificate, which is what makes it the number worth checking.
One per documentWhat the number tells you
- That a member generated it. A member of the Institute generated this number for a document of this description, on a date the record shows.
- That the document can be traced. The certificate leads back to a practising chartered accountant's own account on the portal, not to a letterhead alone.
- That the signer met the Institute's requirement, which has applied to certificates since 1 February 2019.
What it does not tell you
- That the figures are right. The number records the act of signing, not the quality of the work behind it.
- That ICAI has read or approved the certificate. Generating a number is an entry by the member, not a review by the Institute. ICAI states that it takes no responsibility for what a member certifies, and that generating a UDIN does not by itself make a document authentic.
- That the recipient must accept it. Each bank, consulate or tender body applies its own rules to the certificate in front of it.
Where that leaves a missing number. UDIN is mandatory for the signing chartered accountant, and many banks, consulates and tender bodies check it before relying on a certificate. Which documents must carry one, and what a recipient does when the number is missing, depends on the certificate and the recipient; that is a question for the page on each kind of certificate, not for this entry.
Before relying on it
03Checking a UDIN
The look-up is public. The number on the certificate is entered on the Institute's UDIN portal, and the result shows whether a member generated it and for what kind of document. The entry you are reading stops there, because the look-up is not the hard part; reading the result against the certificate in front of you, and knowing what to do when the two do not match, is.
That method, with what each result means and what a failed check looks like, is in how to verify a certificate with its UDIN.
One more question
04A question readers ask about the number
What is a UDIN used for?
It is used to tie a signed document to the chartered accountant who signed it. The member creates the number on the ICAI portal and writes it on the document; the person who receives the document can then look the number up and confirm that a practising member generated it for a document of that kind. ICAI has required it on certificates since 1 February 2019 and on audit reports from later that year, so a certificate signed by a practising member today is expected to carry one, and recipients who deal in certificates treat the look-up as a first step rather than a last one.
Written by Subham Jhunjhunwala · Reviewed by CA Sundram Gupta
Sources: ICAI's announcement making the UDIN mandatory, with the start dates for certificates, audit reports and other assurance work (ICAI); the Council decision of September 2021 setting the generation window at 60 days from the date of signing (ICAI); the ICAI UDIN portal. This entry describes Indian practice in general terms and is not advice on a particular certificate; look the number up for the document in front of you.