Somewhere in an office block in Ahmedabad, a chartered accountant is preparing the tax return of one of the most famous basketball players who ever lived. Down the corridor, a colleague is sorting out the finances of a talk show host whose name is known in every English-speaking household on the planet. The names stay off the record. The work, however, is real. The clients are as A-list as it gets, and the people handling their finances are based in Gujarat.While the city’s reputation rests on its industrial heritage and a certain brand of Gujarati entrepreneurial instinct, a second economy has been growing in its office spaces — one built not on goods, but on numbers, and on serving foreign clients.Around 10 large firms operate in the international accounting and taxation outsourcing space in Ahmedabad alone, employing more than 20,000 people. Of these, more than 3,000 are qualified CAs. They handle accounting, taxation, auditing, and bookkeeping for businesses and individuals in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. The American market dominates, accounting for roughly 80 per cent of revenues for many firms, and it is growing. “Gujarat has a proper taxation, knowledge and process ecosystem, and we provide quality services at very competitive rates. The returns of many sports and entertainment celebrities are prepared in Ahmedabad. GIFT City will also play a major role in establishing Gujarat as the global hub of accounting and taxation,” says Jainik Vakil, chairman of the direct tax committee of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). Why Gujarat, of all places? The answer has several layers, and cost is only the most obvious one. Gujarat has always been inclined to commerce. The result is a steady, self-renewing pipeline of accounting talent — and one that western firms, facing persistent staffing shortages, have come to depend on. “The main reason Gujarat gets this work is the talent pool. Most western countries are dealing with ageing populations, and their youth prefer careers in technology over accounting,” says Kshitij Patel, managing partner of Manubhai & Shah LLP, whose 1,500-strong team works almost entirely on foreign accounts. “In Gujarat, we have a proper accounting education set-up, and that gives us an ample supply of young talent.”The pandemic turbocharged what was already a strong trend. When US tax firms found themselves short-staffed and under pressure, they accelerated offshoring to India. Orders came in faster than firms could hire. And Gujarat, already well-positioned, captured a disproportionate share.Setting the paceShalin Parikh, a chartered accountant, started MYCPE ONE in 2015. Today, his firm employs around 3,000 people and turns over approximately Rs 500 crore a year. “Gujarat now has more than 27,000 professionals working in this field. The average revenue per employee is around $36,000 a year, and our services are 70 per cent cheaper than equivalent services in the US,” Parikh says. By that calculation, the state’s accounting outsourcing sector earns close to $1 billion (roughly Rs 9,000 crore) annually.Parikh’s ambitions run well beyond the anglophone world. With AI beginning to dissolve language barriers in financial processing, he is preparing to take Gujarat’s accounting machine into non-English markets. He has already opened branches in 14 Indian cities, from Surat and Vadodara to Lucknow, Jaipur and Kochi, as well as two offices in the Philippines. Mexico is next — chosen specifically to enable real-time collaboration with North American clients across time zones. “Competition in Ahmedabad has intensified sharply. Talent costs have almost doubled over the past five years. The smaller cities offer equally capable professionals at a fraction of the cost, so we have moved there,” says Parikh.Vivek Shah built Smart Accountants over the past decade. “We have seen tremendous growth in demand after Covid. US tax firms increased orders to India, and it has helped the entire sector,” he says. Shah’s response was to invest in the supply side: a dedicated two-month foreign taxation training programme, college recruitment camps across Gujarat, stipends of up to Rs 8,000 for students during training, and starting salaries of Rs 30,000 for BCom and MCom graduates who made the cut. The model worked. Smart Accountants and his second firm, Infinity Globus, were recently acquired by US-based Springline Advisory for approximately Rs 130 crore. The diaspora dividend There is a softer factor behind Gujarat’s rise that the numbers alone do not capture. The state’s ties with the US through its diaspora have built the kind of business familiarity that is hard to manufacture. Combined with cheaper real estate, which allows firms in Ahmedabad to generate better margins than their Mumbai or Bengaluru equivalents, this has made the city a natural choice for multinational companies setting up global capability centres for finance and accounting work.“In the last 15 years, around 20,000 people have built careers in companies providing taxation services to foreign firms from Gujarat,” says Aniket Talati, former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). “Multinationals are coming here not only because the service is cheaper, but also because the quality of work justifies it.” The sector has created opportunities well beyond the CA community. BCom and MCom graduates are finding that specialized training opens the door to foreign taxation work, with average salaries reaching around Rs 1 lakh per month after 10 years. For qualified CAs with CPA training, the numbers are more dramatic — Rs 1 lakh per month within two years, and upwards of Rs 4 lakh after five years. And Ahmedabad is only part of the story. Surat steps up The talent pool, it turns out, runs all the way to Surat, which has never had trouble spotting something worth polishing. More than 10 big firms and a constellation of smaller ones have set up shop here, employing over 1,500 professionals. The work spans accounting, bookkeeping, payroll processing, and taxation for clients in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, the Gulf and parts of Europe. Many firms run early morning or afternoon shifts to stay aligned with their clients’ time zones. Surat has developed a particular strength in self-managed super fund processing for Australian clients, a specialized field involving individual superannuation structures that requires familiarity with Australian regulatory frameworks.
Prashant Vekariya, who founded one of the city’s established international accounting practices, says, “The volume of international accounting work has grown since Covid. High costs and a shortage of qualified professionals in western countries have driven significant work our way. We handle weekly and fortnightly payroll runs for overseas employers in real time, which requires precision and reliability, not just low cost. The forex we generate for the country through this work is significant.” Mayank Desai, whose firm has handled international taxation for over two decades, has watched the old map redrawn. “The work of accounting and taxation has risen sharply over the past five years. Big foreign accounting firms are tying up with Surat firms. Earlier, Ahmedabad and Vadodara were preferred, but now foreign clients come to Surat too.” Rahul Agrawal, chairman of the ICAI Surat branch, sees the same shift. “Even Mumbai and Delhi firms are routing work to Surat now. The talent here is as good as anywhere, and the rates are competitive.”THE QUALIFICATIONS THAT REVERSED THE COURSE OF DREAMS Not long ago, a Gujarat accountant pursuing an international qualification was almost certainly planning to emigrate. That is no longer the case. The qualification offered by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), is accepted in the UK, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and dozens of other countries. Earlier, it used to be the credential of the emigrant. Now it is the one they pursue to bring the world’s work in. Student enrolments in the ACCA course in Surat have nearly tripled in three years, a shift that coaching experts say reflects the growing volume of international work arriving in Gujarat.Big Four and beyondRavi Chhawchharia, who runs one such coaching centre, has watched the change up close. “Three years ago, I had 25 students. Today I have 100. Students with ACCA are preferred in the Big Four companies. Those who want to go abroad choose this course to improve their prospects, but Indian firms dealing in international taxation also prefer ACCA-qualified professionals. In Europe and the Gulf too, the demand is strong.”
Enrolments in ACCA course in Surat have nearly tripled in three years
The ICAI Surat branch has introduced three-day intensive courses in country-specific taxation, recognizing that the CA qualification, while comprehensive, covers international taxation in broad strokes rather than the specific detail that foreign client work demands. “The CA course has papers on international taxation, but we give three-day extensive training for country-specific work,” says branch chairman Rahul Agrawal. “Every country has its own CPA framework and its own rules. We equip CAs to navigate the laws of each country they work with. We have also launched French, German and Spanish language courses for CAs dealing in international taxation and accounting.” ‘Indians are valued’“Our CAs are globally recognized for the quality and rigour of their training. ICAI has 54 chapters and 31 representative offices across 47 countries. Those figures reflect how widely Indian taxation and accounting professionals are valued across the world,” said Prashant Vekariya, international taxation practitioner. The opportunity is not limited to those with CA or ACCA qualifications. BCom and MCom graduates are finding that short, specialized training opens the door to roles in tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, audit support and compliance processing for foreign clients, with average salaries reaching around Rs 1 lakh per month after a decade.
