Charted accountancy is a highly reputed profession, and many aspirants, looking to have a great career in the field of commerce, apply for it every year. Companies such as Deloitte, E&Y, PwC, BDO, and many government organisations hire chartered accountants to help them manage their financial accounts.
In order to become a chartered accountant, a student must pursue the CA (chartered accountant) course, which has been divided into three segments, i.e., the CA foundation course, the CA intermediate course, and the CA final course. This course is conducted by ICAI (the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India). The fee charged is in the range of 3 lacs to 5 lacs. The base salary after completing the CA course is 5 LPA.
Table of Contents
What is Chartered Accountancy?
It is a profession that involves managing the finances of an entity. They (CAs as professionals) are responsible for managing financial accounts, budgeting, auditing, business strategy, and taxation for an organization.
Steps to Become a Chartered Accountant
- Students who want to become CAs after finishing their 12th board exams must enrol in the CA foundation course.
- After a period of 4 months, a candidate has to appear in the CA foundation exams.
- After clearing the CA foundation exams, the candidate has to enrol themselves for the CA intermediate course.
- Before the beginning of the articleship, a candidate has to complete 4 weeks of an Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (ICITSS).
- Following that, a candidate must complete an 8-month study period for intermediate courses and sit for the CA intermediate exams. There are two sets of exams to qualify for the next level. The candidate has to pass at least one.
- After clearing CA intermediate exams and completing ICITSS, one has to attend 3-year article training.
- After this, a candidate must clear the remaining group of CA intermediate exams.
- After fulfilling the above steps, the candidate must complete a 4-week advanced integrated course on information technology and soft skills (AICITSS).
- Finally, appear for the CA final exams.
- After clearing the CA final exams, a candidate must enrol themselves at ICAI to be designated as a chartered accountant.
Career Opportunities for CA’s
CA offers a very promising career. After doing CA, there are a lot of options and different job profiles to work on.
Accountant: The main role of an accountant is to compile and prepare the financial records of a company, budget, investment, and business plans, and examine the records.
Tax Consultant: A tax consultant must consult with their clients and provide them with different investment options through which they can save their taxes.
CFO (Chief Financial Officer): This is the highest profile one can achieve after completing the CA course. Their job is to contact other companies and the board of directors to help in operating, developing, and managing the company to meet the company’s financial goals.
Auditor: The job of an auditor is to go through the balance sheet of a company and know if there is any discrepancy while preparing it or not.
Eligibility criteria for CA foundation course after 12th grade
To be eligible for CA foundation, one must clear a well-defined exam with at least 50% marks for commerce students and a 55% mark for non-commerce students.
Registration
Eligible students need to register for the CA foundation course online through ICAI’s official website. Registration once done is valid for 3 years. That means 6 attempts after registration, you will be provided with a steady period of 4 months.
Syllabus
The syllabus for a CA foundation course is almost like the 11–12 standard commerce stream; it has been primarily divided into 4 subjects.
- Principles and Practices of Accounting
- Business Laws and Business Correspondence
- Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning, and Statistics
- Business Economics and Business & Commercial Knowledge
Exam Pattern
The exam pattern for CA Foundation is a hybrid of objective and subjective papers. The first 2 papers are subjective and the last 2 papers are objective. The papers consist of 100 marks.
Passing Criteria
To clear the exams, students need to get at least 40% in each subject or an aggregate of 50%.
CA Intermediate Exam
It is the next level of the journey to become a chartered accountant after clearing the CA foundation course.
Eligibility
There are three ways in which you are eligible to appear for a CA intermediate exam – clearing CA foundation, passing graduation or postgraduate level; clearing ICWA or intermediate level of CS.
Registration
For the November and May sessions, eligible students can register in March and September, respectively, for CA intermediate. Students are provided with a time period of 8 months to prepare for the CA intermediate exam. The validity for intermediate CA registration is 4 years, which means 8 attempts.
Training
The applicant also needs to complete 4 weeks of ICITSS training along with the preparations.
Syllabus
The CA intermediate syllabus consists of 8 subjects categorised into groups. The syllabus is lengthy and tough as compared to the CA foundation course. Students need to study thoroughly and prepare accordingly for the examination.
Group One Includes
- Accounting
- Corporate law and other laws
- Cost and management accounting
- Taxation
Group 2 Includes
- Advanced accounting
- Auditing and assurance
- Enterprises information system and strategic management
- Financial management and economics for finance
Exam Pattern and Passing Criteria
This exam is also both subjective and objective, and the maximum marks are 100. To pass out, you need to get 40% marks in each subject or 50% aggregate. One has to clear both the groups to move on to the finals.
CA Articleship
Candidates can start their CA articleship as soon as they pass any group of CA intermediates. Before that, they also need to undergo the ITT and OT programmes and thereafter register for CA articleship training.
You will gain vast exposure to the practical work that a chartered accountant does in 3 years of articleship training. After completing 2.5 years of practical training, students are eligible to appear for the CA final exams.
CA Final Exams
This is the last step in the chartered accountant’s journey and the biggest challenge. ICAI checks the understanding of a student in detail, at this stage, about every topic included in the course
Eligibility
The candidate needs to clear both the intermediate group and complete 2.5 years of articleship.
Registration
Eligible candidates can register themselves through the ICAI website for the CA final. The registration is valid for 5 years, which means 10 attempts.
Syllabus
It consists of eight subjects that are categorised into two groups. They are as follows:
Group 1
- Financial Reporting
- Strategic Financial Management
- Advances Auditing and Professional Ethics
- Corporate and Economic Laws
Group 2
5.Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation
6 (a). Risk Management
6 (b). Financial Services and Capital Markets
6 (c). International Taxation
6 (d). Economic Laws
6 (e). Global Financial Reporting Standards
6 (f). Multidisciplinary Case Study
7. Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation
8. Indirect Tax Laws
Exam Pattern
The CA final exam pattern is both subjective and objective. Each paper consists of 100 marks, and paper 6 is an open book.
Passing Criteria
To pass the exam, candidates need to obtain 40% marks in each subject or 50% as an aggregate. After clearing both the groups, the candidate can apply for the ICAI membership. Thus, this is the complete procedure to become a CA in India.
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I am Adesh Vats presently pursuing my MBA in Business Analytics. I am an optimistic person who believe more in practical than in theoretical. Exploring the different places and taking photographs is my hobby.
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