Our Founder

About our Founder, Late Tirtha Raj Upadhyay

Late Tirtha Raj Upadhyay established the firm TR Upadhya & Co. in 1971 and managed the firm for over 50 years until his untimely death on 13 May 2022. As Senior Partner, he led his staff in such a way that he exemplified leadership. He gave energy, commitment, and inspiration to his staff and to others with whom he worked.

Mr. Upadhyay was deeply concerned with improving and maintaining the dignity of the profession of chartered accountancy in Nepal and he was very keen to innovate as he was the first person to bring KPMG, a Big 4 accounting firm into Nepal in 1995 with the purpose of bringing international quality in the delivery of assurance and advisory services and development of trained and professional manpower.  

In addition to the pursuit of excellence in the delivery of the highest standard advisory and assurance services to numerous multinational companies, international not for profit organizations, banks and financial institutions, other corporates, and public enterprises in Nepal his involvement with the study of the two state-owned commercial banks as a local partner from 1989 to 1991 in the CBPASS project initiated the process for the restructuring of Nepal Bank Limited and Rastriya Banijya Bank, two ailing government-owned commercial banks.  His involvement with KPMG Malaysia in the two projects with the Office of the Auditor General, Nepal showed the way for OAG/Nepal to base their work on international standards audit tools.

Mr. Upadhyay did not limit his work just to the firm he founded.  In 1998-99, he became the second President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal, the same Institute where he played a stellar role in its establishment.  The Institute now boasts of approx. 1800 chartered accountants and 11250 students pursuing the chartered accountancy course as per published data in annual report FY 2021-22 of ICAN. 

Similarly, in March 2003 he was appointed the Chairman of the Accounting Standards Board, Nepal for a three-year term.  It was during his term that the foundation for the development of the accounting standards in Nepal based on International Accounting Standards was initiated.  The Board now issues Nepal Financial Reporting Standards for the preparation and presentation of financial statements in Nepal.  He also was appointed as the first Chairperson of the Accounting Technician Institute of Nepal.

Mr. Upadhyay’s inspiring leadership and pursuit of excellence has created a firm with an enviable reputation for high-quality assurance and advisory services in Nepal. In his career as a professional accountant, he worked with passion, integrity and energy.