A digital visiting card for chartered accountants, inside ICAI's advertisement guidelines
ICAI lets members in practice publish a write-up of their particulars - in print, on websites and on social networks - within its Council Guidelines for Advertisement. A Beeps profile built from that list gives a client your membership number, qualifications, services and a way to reach you, with a tap on your card.
What ICAI's Council Guidelines for Advertisement say
The guidelines are issued under Clause (7) of Part I of the First Schedule to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, for members in practice. They let a member advertise through a write-up setting out their particulars, and define a write-up to cover print and electronic displays, including websites and social networking websites. A digital card profile is exactly that kind of display.
Every write-up has to be honest and truthful, with no exaggerated claims about services, qualifications or experience, no disparaging references or unsubstantiated comparisons to other people's work, and nothing that could bring the profession into disrepute. ICAI will not approve a write-up in advance, and may direct that all or part of one be removed.
The edition read for this page is the one ICAI publishes as updated up to December 2025. ICAI's Ethical Standards Board page lists it alongside the CA logo guidelines and the other current guidance.
What a member's write-up may include, and where it goes on a profile
This is the list in paragraph 3.2.1 of the guidelines, for a member. Firms have a parallel list that adds the firm registration number, year of establishment, working hours and partners.
| Permitted particular | On a Beeps profile |
|---|---|
| CA [your name] | On a Beeps profileThe profile name |
| Membership number with the Institute | On a Beeps profileThe first line of the About section |
| Age; dates of becoming ACA and FCA; date from which you have held a certificate of practice | On a Beeps profileAbout section |
| Recognised qualifications; languages known | On a Beeps profileAbout section |
| Telephone, mobile, professional address, website, email | On a Beeps profileCall, WhatsApp and email buttons, a map pin, and your website link |
| CA India logo; passport-style photograph | On a Beeps profileProfile photo and logo, following ICAI’s logo guidelines |
| Staff numbers: chartered accountants, other professionals, articles, others | On a Beeps profileAbout section |
| Services provided | On a Beeps profileService listings, as plain names with no prices |
| Clients and assignments, with the client’s permission (name only for services reserved for CAs) | On a Beeps profileAbout section, or leave it out |
The pull rule: hand it over, don't broadcast it
For services reserved exclusively for chartered accountants, the website guidelines allow only a "pull" model: the information is shown to someone who asks for it, and none of it may be circulated by email or any other mode except on a specific request. Members also may not send material soliciting people to visit their website, though they may print the address on professional stationery and in email.
A card fits that model naturally. When you hand someone your card and they tap it, they asked. When a client asks for your details and you send the link, they asked. What falls outside it is pushing the profile at people who did not - a WhatsApp broadcast, a bulk email, a paid promotion.
The same goes for social media: the guidelines let a firm link to its page on a social networking site, but members should not solicit people to visit or like it.
What to keep, and what to switch off
A general-purpose profile - ours included - has room for reviews, a price list and a gallery. For a CA in practice, those are the parts to leave switched off.
- CA prefix with your name
- Membership number
- ACA and FCA dates, certificate of practice date
- Recognised qualifications and languages
- Phone, email, office address with a map pin
- CA India logo and a passport-style photo
- The services you provide, without prices
- Testimonials or a Google review buttonParagraph 3.1.3(E): no testimonials or endorsements
- Fees or a price listWebsite guidelines: the fee charged cannot be given
- Awards and positions held with other organisationsParagraph 3.1.3(F), except awards from the Central or State Government or a regulator
- Slogans, catchwords or a monogramParagraph 3.1.3(G)
- Photographs of eventsParagraph 3.1.3(H)
- Banner advertisementsWebsite guidelines: not permitted
Setting up on Beeps: leave the Google review button, testimonials, prices and the gallery switched off. The guidelines allow online advice to clients who specifically ask for it, so an enquiry form a client chooses to fill in fits the pull model; if you are unsure about any feature, ICAI's Ethical Standards Board is the body to ask.
This page explains ICAI's published guidelines. It is not professional advice, and ICAI has the final word on how they apply to you.
How a client opens it - NFC or QR
NFC - tap the card
The client holds your card to the back of an iPhone XS or later, or an NFC Android phone, and taps the notification. Your profile opens in the browser - no app.
QR - scan the code
The same profile opens from the QR code, on any phone with a camera. Your website address can go on your stationery and email signature, as the guidelines allow.
What a practice pays
Every particular the guidelines list fits on Basic.
Questions from chartered accountants
Can a CA in practice use a digital visiting card?
Yes. ICAI’s Council Guidelines for Advertisement let members in practice publish a write-up of their particulars, and define a write-up to include electronic displays, websites and social networking websites. A profile that sticks to the permitted particulars fits within them.
What may the profile show?
For a member: your name with the CA prefix, membership number, age, dates of becoming ACA and FCA, the date from which you have held a certificate of practice, recognised qualifications, languages, phone, professional address, website, email, the CA India logo, a passport-style photograph, staff numbers, and the services you provide.
Can I add client reviews or testimonials?
No. The guidelines say a write-up should not contain testimonials or endorsements concerning the member or the fees charged.
Can I show my fees?
Not on a website-style profile. The website guidelines say the fee charged cannot be given, with a narrow exception where a regulator requires the disclosure.
Can I name my clients?
Only with the client’s permission, with the nature of the assignment. For services reserved exclusively for chartered accountants, only the client’s name may be mentioned.
Can I send my profile link to a WhatsApp list?
Be careful. Information about services reserved for chartered accountants may be shown only on a specific request, and must not be circulated by email or any other mode without one. Handing someone your card, or sending the link when they ask for it, is a request; a broadcast to a list is not.
Do clients need an app?
No. A tap on the NFC card or a scan of the QR code opens the profile in the phone’s browser, and the client can save your contact in one tap.
Also for regulated professions: advocates and Bar Council Rule 36 and doctors and the medical ethics code.
Sources
The guidelines are quoted from ICAI's own publications. Each was read on the date shown.
- The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Council Guidelines for Advertisement, 2008 (updated up to December 2025). Checked .
- The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, ESB - Guidelines/ Features. Checked .
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