Can Cost Accountants (CMAs) Advertise in India? ICMAI

Cost and Management Accountants sit under the same kind of framework as CAs and CSs: no soliciting work, but a controlled ability to promote your practice honestly. The Institute refreshed the rules in 2025, so it's worth knowing exactly where the boundaries now sit.

The foundation: no solicitation

The Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 prohibits a member in practice from soliciting clients or professional work. As with the other professional bodies, the reforms opened up promotion, never solicitation.

The ICMAI Advertisement Guidelines, 2025

Issued under Clause (7) of Part I of the First Schedule to the Act, the Council Guidelines for Advertisement, 2025 set the parameters for how practising members and firms may promote their services. The core philosophy is transparency, honesty and professional integrity — any promotional write-up or public statement must be unequivocally honest.

"Promotional material" is defined broadly: printed text, digital content, audio, visual media or electronic transmissions a firm develops to highlight its services, within the regulatory boundaries.

Key limits

• No solicitation — promote your existence and services, never chase a specific client.
• Absolute ban on testimonials or endorsements for Statutory Audit and Assurance services — this protects the actual and perceived independence of the auditor.
• Nothing dishonest, misleading, or sensational, and nothing that undermines professional integrity.

What a CMA can publish

1. An honest write-up of your services and firm details.
2. Educational content — cost audit, GST, costing methods, compliance updates — that genuinely informs.
3. Factual credentials, stated plainly and without superlatives.

The educate-don't-solicit principle is shared across the regulated professions — see our guides for Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries.