Indian Civil Accounts Service

The Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) is one of the Group Central Services in which the candidates are selected from the Civil Service Examination conducted by UPSC. The Indian Civil Accounts Organization plays a crucial part in providing the Indian government with financial management services. The organization handles government-wide accounting and financial reporting tasks as well as internal audits in civil ministries of the Union Government. It also supports the tax collection system.

ICAS is under the Department of Expenditure in the Union Ministry of Finance. Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in the Ministry of Finance heads the organization and is responsible for administering this system. In line with the rapidly evolving technological landscape and the rising ICT penetration in the nation, the organization has been at the forefront of utilizing information technology for the delivery of these services.

The goal is to provide reliable information that brings transparency to the use and reporting of public funds through an integrated government-wide financial information system. Accordingly, the focus has been on providing client-oriented, integrated applications that aim at achieving operational efficiency across streams of public financial management systems.

Roles and Responsibilities

Principles, forms and standards of accounting: On behalf of the President of India, CGA lays down the principles of government accounting, prescribes the form in which accounts are to be maintained and formulates the procedure for recording and consolidating the accounts of Union and State Governments with the objective of encouraging standardization and transparency in government accounts.
Receipts and Payments: Indian Civil Accounts Organisation administers the receipts and payment functions for more than 90% Government of India’s budget through a nation-wide network of 28,000 branches of twenty-nine scheduled commercial banks who act as agents of Reserve Bank of India, which is the banker to the Union Government. The organisation performs accounting and reporting functions for the entire tax and non-tax receipts of the Union Government. The organisation is responsible for payment functions in civil ministries.
Pensions: The organisation is responsible for disbursement and accounting of pension payments to Government employees of all Civil Ministries as well as former Presidents/Vice-Presidents, retired Supreme Court/High Court Judges, Members of Parliament, All India Service Officers and Freedom Fighters. It is the central budgeting and accounting unit for civil pensions providing a single point interface between the government, banks and pensioners.
Accounting and Financial Reporting: CGA as head of the organisation is responsible for operating and overseeing the government’s central accounting and reporting system. CGA consolidates the monthly and annual accounts of the Union Government on the basis of accounts submitted by Ministries and Departments.
Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System: The Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS) is one of the recent initiatives of this organisation and CGA is responsible for its design and implementation. n. CPSMS has been envisaged as a comprehensive expenditure tracking system for central plans schemes that, apart from enhancing transparency and accountability, will have far reaching implications for public financial management in the country. The organisation has been able to leverage its core capability and experience in developing a web-enabled application that enables single point registration of implementing agencies, monitoring of fund flow from the central government to the implementing agencies, reconciliation with accounting data and generation of customized reports for the program managers on sources and use of funds.

Officers Trainee of ICAS are trained in three stages.

At first, ICAS officials receive their first training for a total of six months at the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad. A tour of a foreign nation is also included.
The Institute of Government Accounts and Finance is where the second round of training is performed (INGAF).
In one of the 87 Pay & Accounts offices spread around the nation, On the Job Instruction (OJT) is the third step of training.

Organizational Structure

Indian Civil Accounts Organisation is headed by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. This accounts service, which is a part of the premier civil services currently, has a sanctioned strength of 226 officers who are supported by around 9,000 employees professionally qualified in the government accounting system.

An OT starts his career as the Assistant Controller of Accounts after successful completion of the training. Below the hierarchy of the service is mentioned

There are two kinds of posting in the service. One is Headquarter posting and the other is in Ministries.

In Headquarters the designations and hierarchy are given below

Assistant Controller of Accounts (ACA) > Assistant Controller General of Accounts (ACGA) > Deputy Controller General of Accounts (Dy. CGA) > Joint Controller General of Accounts (Jt. CGA) > Additional Controller General of Accounts (Addl. CGA)

In Ministries the designations and hierarchy are given below

Assistant Controller of Accounts (ACA) > Deputy Controller of Accounts (Dy. CA) > Controller of Accounts (CA) > Chief Controller of Accounts (CCA) > Principal Chief Controller of Accounts (Pr. CCA)

The equivalence of the posts is given below through a diagram

As per the departmentalized accounting arrangements in government, operational responsibility for accounting, reporting and internal audit function in civil ministries is with the officers of this organisation. These units are headed by the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts (Pr.CCA), Chief Controller of Accounts (CCA) or a Controller of Accounts (CA) in the respective ministries. Under the overall supervision of CGA, they assist the Secretary of the Ministry who is the chief accounting authority in the ministry. The Pr. CCAs / CCAs / CAs discharge their duties and responsibilities through the Principal Accounts Office (Pr. AO) at Ministry’s headquarters and Pay & Accounts Offices (PAOs) at the field formation level. There are currently 358 PAOs located at 87 stations across the country.

Indian Civil Accounts Service

Roles and Responsibilities

Officers Trainee of ICAS are trained in three stages.

Organizational Structure

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