Chartered Accountancy is considered to be amongst the highest paying occupations. The responsibilities of a chartered accountant include accounting, financial planning, auditing, and taxation. The profession of a chartered accountant is challenging as well as gratifying. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) manages and conducts the CA curriculum.
Chartered Accountancy is a great career opportunity for someone interested in subjects like taxation and accounting. The entire Chartered Accountancy program duration is nearly 5 years. There is good demand for Chartered Accountant(CA) professionals in India within the public and private organizations. A qualified CA is appointed to deal with the account details of an organization. They also assist in resolving disputes and preventing bankruptcy.
A student can pursue CA after the 12th or after completion of graduation, both options are available. In this article, we will discuss attempting CA after 12.
Eligibility
The minimum criterion to pursue the ICAI CA program is Class 12. Students from the Commerce, Science, and Arts stream after class 12 can register for CPT (Common Proficiency Test (CPT). CPT is also known as CA Foundation, which is the entry-level exam to start a career in Chartered Accountancy. The course of CA is divided into three levels; they are CPT(or CA Foundation), IPCC (Intermediate) is the second stage, and the last stage is the CA Final.
Let's go through these stages in detail;
CA Foundation
As discussed above the CA foundation is the entry-level exam for CA organized by ICAI.
The subjects for the CA foundation exams are as follows;
Paper 1 -Principles and Practice of Accounting.
Paper 2 -Business Laws and Business Correspondence and Reporting.
Paper 3 -Business Mathematics and Logical Reasoning and Statistics.
Paper 4 -Business Economics and Business and Commercial Knowledge.
A candidate would have to clear the foundation exam to enter the next stage.
CA Intermediate or IPCC (Integrated Professional Competence Course).
The second stage after clearing the foundation exam is IPCC. The subjects of IPCC is divided into two groups,
Group 1 papers include
Paper 1 -Accounting
Paper 2 -Corporate and other Laws (Part 1- Company Law, Part 2- Other Laws)
Paper 3 -Cost and Management Accounting
Paper 4 -Taxation (Section A- Income Tax Laws, Section B- Indirect Taxes)
Group 2 papers include
Paper 5 -Advanced Accounting
Paper 6 -Auditing and Assurance
Paper 7 -Enterprise Information Systems and Strategic Management
(Section A- Enterprise Information Systems, Section B- Strategic Management)
Paper 8 -Financial Management and Economics for Finance
(Section A- Financial Management, Section B- Economics for Finance)
Candidates would have to score at least 40 marks in each subject and a total of 50% or above to clear IPCC. If a candidate scores 60 marks or above in any subject, he/she will be exempted from reappearing for that particular subject in case he/she fails the course and plans to give the exams again.
Clearing the IPCC exam opens the gateway for the aspirants to pursue an internship of three years in an organization to learn and have an in-hand experience of the actual work under the guidance of experienced Chartered Accountant and professionals. In the final six months of the three-year Articleship, the aspirants can appear for CA Final exams.
CA Final
The CA final exam completes the entire course of the CA curriculum, and the candidates clearing the exam are granted the designation of Chartered Accountant. The CA finals exam subjects are also divided into two groups.
Group 1 papers include
Paper 1 -Financial Reporting
Paper 2 -Strategic Financial Management
Paper 3 -Advanced Auditing & Professional Ethics
Paper 4 -Corporate & Economic Laws (Part 1- Corporate Laws, Part 2- Economic Laws)
Group II papers include
Paper 5 -Strategic Cost Management & Performance Evaluation
Paper 6 -Elective Paper
List of all Elective Papers:
6A -Risk Management
6B -Financial Services & Capital Markets
6C -International Taxation
6D -Economic Laws
6E -Global Financial Reporting Standards
6F -Multi-disciplinary Case Study
Paper 7: Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation (Part 1- Direct Tax Laws, Part 2- International Taxation)
Paper 8: Indirect Tax Laws (Part 1- Goods & Services Tax, Part 2- Customs & FTP)
List of Recruiting Agencies
The following are some of the organizations that recruit Chartered Accountants in India:
KPMG, Deloitte, Indian Oil, Sri Guru Kripa, Real-time Taxsutra Services, SS Kothari Mehta & Co., Bhatia and Bhatia Chartered Accountants. Apart from this various government organizations/institutions also hire Chartered Accountants.
Career and scope
CA.s are in great demand in banks, auditing firms, legal firms, finance companies, stockbroking firms, etc.
The average starting payroll of a CA lies in between Rs. 4 to 6 lakh per annum after completing the final course, however, the salary also depends on the city and company the candidate gets employed to.
Job Profiles
Few of the job roles of Chartered Accountants are; Auditor, Business Services Accountant, Accounts Clerk (starting salary per annum in INR-Rs. 1,50,000), Chief Financial Officer (starting salary per annum in INR-Rs. 2,00,000), Cost Accountants(starting salary per annum in INR-Rs. 1,50,000), Financial Controller, Tax Accountant, Entry-level Chartered Accountant -INR 618,943 per annum, Early Career Accountant- INR 707,200, Mid-career Accountant-INR 1,119,501 per annum, Experienced Chartered Accountant-INR 1,796,020 per annum.
By Usha Saha
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