Approval of Trade/Firm Name

(1). Members holding Certificate of Practice and intending to practice under a trade/firm name, are required to make application for approval of the trade/firm name in Form 117. The member can seek approval of the firm name while applying for membership of the Institute in Form 2. He may give the details of proposed firms against column 19 of Form 2.

(2). Requirements:

Form 117 complete in all respects and signed by the member or all the partners of the proposed firm, clearly mentioning the names (as entered in the Register of Members ) and the membership number(s).
Form should be sent directly to Deputy Secretary. M & C - MSS Section, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Post Box No. 7100, Indraprastha Marg, New Delhi - 110002.
In case of newly enrolled member a photocopy of letter of enrolment issued by the Institute is required to be submitted.
In case of an existing member on his obtaining fresh Certificate of Practice he is required to submit a photocopy of letter of grant of Certificate of Practice issued by the Institute. Similarly, in case of a member whose name has been restored prospectively, he is required to submit a photocopy of letter of restoration of name while seeking approval of firm name in Form 117.

(3). In case of removal of name of a member from Register of members, action regarding approval of name will be taken only after his name is restored to the Register of Members.

(4). Criteria For Approval of Trade/Firm Name

A trade/firm name is restricted to the name/s of the proprietor / partners as it / they appear in the Register of members.
The only suffixes to be allowed in firm name are Either :- "& CO", "and CO", "& Company", " And Company"

OR :- "& Associates", " And Associates".
In case of partnership firm the firm name can be proposed by taking the first full name or the surname of the partners by using "&" or "AND"

Examples :

NAME OF THE PARTENRS
(i) DINESH KUMAR BATRA	(ii) RAJESH KUMAR CHOPRA
Combination of firm name :
DINESH & RAJESH OR BATRA & CHOPRA or vice-versa. :: Approval of firm name not allowed by splitting the name of the member/partners :-example BAT+RAJ=BATRAJ, PRA+BAT= PRABAT, DIN+RAJ=DINRAJ :: Initials of first name or the full name are allowed : D R& CO /&Associates, D K B+ R K C=D K B K C & CO/ & Associates :: Initials of surname not allowed. :- BATRA, CHOPRA = B C & Co / & Associates OR C B & CO/ & ASSOCIATES :: Combination of initials of first name alongwith initials of surname not allowed = D + CHOPRA = D CHOPRA & CO / & ASSOCIATES R + BATRA = R BATRA & CO / & ASSOCIATES

Surname or commonly known name: If a member wants to adopt / include / use the surname or any name by which a member is commonly known, does but not conform to the name or surname as it appears in the Register of Members, he is required to : (i) Obtain certificates from two Gazetted Officers of the rank of Deputy Secretary or above with Government of India/State Government Format of the certificate is given at page 59. OR (ii) Get his name changed in the Register of Members. On receipt of the confirmation of change in name, member may send a copy of the confirmation letter alongwith Form 117. By Adopting Family Member's Name: If the name of the member is a very common name and no combination is available for approval of firm name, he can apply for approval of a firm name by adopting the name of one of his family members. Member is required to declare the name (full name) of such family member e.g. father, mother, spouse, son or daughter, by an affidavit sworn in before a First Class Magistrate or Notary public. Format of the affidavit given at page 58. Practice In Own Name An associate and a fellow member holding Certificate of Practice is eligible to practice in his own name. He is not required to apply for approval. However intimation to that effect may be sent to the concerned Decentralised Office. Practising the profession of chartered accountancy in own name is subject to holding Certificate of Practice. The entry of personal name of the member is not published in the List of firms.

Change In Firm Name
In case an existing firm desires to change the name of the firm, the following conditions may be fulfilled:
A written request for change in name from the firm. The application in Form 117 must be signed by all the existing partners of the firm. In case of a proprietary firm a separate request alongwith Form 117 must be submitted. The change in firm name approval will be considered as per provision under Regulation 190. The approval of name will be considered in order of preference mentioned in Form 117. The new proposed name will be approved under the provisions of the Regulation 190. The application for approval of firm name in Form 117, proposing the new names should be sent to Deputy Secretary, M&C MSS Section, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Post Box 7100, Indraprastha Marg, New Delhi 110002. On receipt of the approval letter of new name, proprietor/partners should submit the particulars in Form 18 to the concerned Decentralised Office duly filled in & signed by all the concerned partners/proprietor.
The letter of approval of firm name will be sent by the Institute at the address mentioned in Form 117.
It is clarified that mere approval of a trade/firm name does not entitle the member/s to practice in the said name. It is further clarified that the validity of the approval letter is for a period of one month.