--By Sujan Tiwari

 

Mahesh Kumar Guragain, President of Institute of Chartered Accountants Nepal (ICAN) started small, with very few ambitions. Born and brought up in a remote village of Nepal, Guragain later achieved in life what many  high-borns dream of attaining. A Chartered Accountant by profession, Guragain is associated with numerous nationally and internationally recognised accounting and financial institutions.

 

Before being the President of ICAN, Guragain served as the Vice President and Council Member. He was the Director at Auditor General’s Office from 2003-2009. He also served as Finance Director of Mobile Directorate, NTC from 1999 to 2001. Guragain is the Board Member of South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and Member of Public Sector Financial Management Committee of Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA). 

 

Current Position

Apart from his personal auditing jobs, the majority of his time is spent with ICAN. ICAN is an autonomous body established under Nepal Chartered Accountants Act, 1997 to enhance social recognition of accounting profession. It seeks to raise public awareness towards the importance of accounting profession and economic and social responsibility of the accountants. 

 

Guragain says that the overall responsibility of ICAN rests on the President, including mobilizing the council and making policy decisions, administrative duties, maintaining organizational structure, decisions regarding students among others. The council designs the syllabus and prepares study materials for CA students. Training, monitoring and conducting examinations are some of its other responsibilities. Other major function of the Council is to raise awareness regarding local and global financial and taxation systems through professional education. The Council is also the regulatory body that coordinates with Nepal Rastra Bank, Ministry of Finance, Securities Board of Nepal, Insurance Board, Inland Revenue Department, Office of Company Registrar and Nepal Government for the development of accounting and financial management. 

 

Apart from that, he is busy auditing banks and financial institutions, municipalities, NGOs and INGOs among other institutions. Personally, he has audited a number of reputed firms and organizations such as Lalitpur Municipality, Chilime Hydropower, Nepal Electricity Authority, Dairy Development Corporation, Rastriya Banijya Bank and other institutions. “Auditing is getting more challenging these days. A few years back, any chartered accountant could do the job, but now, auditing has to be more systematic, and there has to be strict compliance with the established global standards,” says Guragain.  

   

The Profession

According to Guragain, being a chartered accountant is a very responsible job as it deals with the auditing of many government institutions and big corporations. “We are the ones to submit the report to the government depicting the profitability, efficiency, loan management, income management, expenses, and asset handling among others of such institutions. Auditors’ report also reflects responsibility of such institutions towards public,” says Guragain. 

 

Guragain says that financial transaction within a fiscal year, long term asset and liability resulting from those transactions, their effect on current and future concern of the organization are the major areas auditors pay attention to while auditing. “After auditing is complete, the final report is submitted to Auditor General’s Office and then to the Parliament in the case of government bodies. Such report of private organizations is presented to the Board of Directors,” explains Guragain. 

 

Accomplishments as President of ICAN

Guragain is now in the final month of his tenure as the President of ICAN. He initiated some major reforms during his tenure. The Council implemented a single examination system terminating the system of four different examinations for CA students under his leadership. He also started training sessions for CAs who studied in other countries. License and registration fee was harmonized according to the global standards. His tenure also saw the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) system in Nepal which is the standard adopted by 90 countries around the world. “Another major accomplishment during my time as the President is the construction of new building of ICAN. We received 20 million rupees from the government for the purpose,” says Guragain. 

 

Early Life

Guragain was born in 1969 in Taplejung to Angirath Guragain and Late Pampha Devi Guragain. Born and raised in a remote hilly village of Nepal, Guragain still recalls having to walk for hours to reach school. “I was born in a simple middle class family, and didn’t get to avail many facilities,” shares Guragain. When he was in school, Guragain says that his teachers used to punish students. In his childhood, he always dreamt of being a Head Master of a school in his own village. He also tried joining the British Army, but was disqualified as he was underweight.

 

He still recalls walking for two days to reach Illam to get a bus to Biratnagar. He did his ICom from Biratnagar, and went to his village and worked as a teacher in a government school for two years. After that, he came to Kathmandu and finished his BCom from Minbhawan Campus in 1994. After a few years, he went to Chennai to study CA. Guragain completed CA course in 1998 from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He also holds a Masters in International Political Economy.

 

Personal Side

Guragain married Anita Kafle in 1999, and has a son Shashwat and a daughter Rishika. On a normal day, Guragain gets up at 6 in the morning, takes his children to school, reads newspapers and takes his breakfast. He spends about two hours in his personal office, and then comes to ICAN office. His days are occupied with meetings, correspondence, monitoring his auditing jobs and maintaining personal relations. Unless there is an important meeting or so, Guragain always reaches his home by six in the evening. “I go to gathering and parties very less often and only if I have to. I rather spend time with my family,” says the family person. His evenings are spent reading books on history, literature, politics, economics and socialism. He spends his Saturdays with his family. His hobbies include reading books, swimming, trekking and travelling. He has been to around 20 countries around the world including USA, South Africa, Korean and Japan.  

 

Philosophies

Recalling his past, Guragain says that time has favoured him, and he is lucky to land in his current position. “I started from an underdeveloped village of Nepal. Looking back and looking at what I have been able to achieve, I consider myself successful,” says Guragain. He says that he doesn’t give much importance to being financially well off. “In my opinion, being ethical in your job makes you satisfied and keeps you happy. I have enough to run my life and family, and that is more than enough for me,” says Guragain contentedly.  

 

Guragain emphasises on learning a lot and having many acquaintances as it provides you with many lessons. He advises not to be over ambitious. “You need an ambition, but don’t be overambitious. If you cannot achieve what you aim for, it might frustrate you. For happiness, you need to be satisfied with whatever you have,” says Guragain.