The ICAI's 13th Edition Code of Ethics — approved at the 447th Council Meeting on 12 December 2025 and effective from 1 April 2026 — is the most significant change to how Chartered Accountants may promote themselves in decades. If you've been waiting for clarity on LinkedIn, websites and social media, this is it.
The headline change: "push" is now allowed
For years, a CA's website had to follow a "pull" model — information could sit there for someone who came looking, but you could not push it out to an audience. The 13th Edition formally permits "push"-mode promotion for non-exclusive services — the consultancy, advisory and accounting work that isn't reserved exclusively to the CA profession. In practice, that means you can now actively post, share and distribute content to build an audience, rather than waiting to be found.
Platforms you can now use
The revised Code recognises the platforms professionals actually use. Permitted channels include:
- Firm and individual websites, in your name or the firm's trade name
- X (Twitter)
- Instagram professional pages
- Google Business profiles
- Professional directories
Content you can publish
The Code allows you to share:
- Service offerings — what your practice does.
- Educational posts — explainers, how-tos and guidance for business owners.
- Regulatory updates — tax, GST, MCA and compliance changes.
- Credentials and experience — stated factually.
The content standard: fact-based and dignified
Freedom to post comes with a standard. Every communication must be fact-based, verifiable and non-sensational. That rules out:
- Superlatives and rankings you can't prove ("best", "No. 1")
- Comparative or disparaging claims about other professionals
- Guarantees of outcomes (refunds, savings, results)
- Anything that undermines the dignity of the profession
What's still off-limits
- Direct or indirect solicitation of a specific client or engagement
- Listing on app-based aggregator platforms for services exclusively reserved to CAs
- Sensational, misleading or exaggerated messaging
Generate ICAI-aware content in seconds
BrandSaathi drafts LinkedIn & Instagram posts for practising CAs and flags the ICAI 13th Edition rule each draft touches — so you can review before you publish.
Staying compliant at scale
The hard part isn't understanding the rules once — it's applying them to every single post, week after week. That's the problem BrandSaathi was built for CAs to solve: it drafts your LinkedIn and Instagram content and annotates each variation with the specific 13th Edition rule applied, so the compliance reasoning is visible before you publish. Explore BrandSaathi for Chartered Accountants, or start with the social media playbook for CA firms.