Chartered Accountancy is a course that is considered to be among the highest paying professions. The students interested in the course of CA can find all the details about it in this article.
Chartered Accountants are regarded as one of the highest paying career professionals in India. Chartered Accountancy is a good career option if you are interested in subjects like taxation and accounting. The career path to becoming a Chartered Account (CA) is challenging but very promising as well. The entire Chartered Accountancy course duration is almost 5 years. Therefore, if you are willing to take up a career as a Chartered Accountant, you will have to be prepared to devote that much time to your education.
There is a good demand for Chartered Accountancy professionals in India within private as well as public organisations. A qualified CA is hired to deal with the account details of an organisation. They also help in solving disputes and preventing bankruptcy. If you are planning to pursue this career then it is a better idea to start after class 10. The interested candidates can find the Chartered Accountancy course details along with Chartered Accountant salary and jobs of CA in this article.
Chartered Accountant is a designation that is given to a professional of accounting who has received certification from a statutory body that states he/ she possesses the necessary qualifications to take care of the matters related to accounting and taxation of a business. These matters include file tax returns, maintaining records of investments, audit financial statements and business practices, preparing and reviewing financial documents and reports. A Chartered Accountant is also qualified and capable of offering advisory services to clients that comprise companies and individuals.
To become a certified Chartered Accountant, a candidate is required to complete three levels of training that are designed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). It is only after qualifying all the three levels that the candidate will be given the designation of a CA. The ICAI is a statutory body which is responsible for regulating and maintaining the profession of chartered accountancy in India. The course of Chartered Accountancy is completed in roughly five years.
The Chartered Accountant exams or CA exams that a student has to give in order to receive the designation of a CA are given below. Only when the candidate has qualified all these exams is he/ she considered a Chartered Accountant and gets authenticated as the same. The exams of CA are:
In order to proceed with the course of Chartered Accountancy, the candidate will have to go through the CA eligibility criteria and check if they possess all the requirements that are asked by the ICAI. The CA eligibility criteria are decided by the ICAI and are helpful in determining if the candidate has the qualifications that will assist him/ her in the profession in future. The eligibility of Chartered Accountancy is given below. Candidates interested in pursuing the course of Chartered Accountant must go through the CA eligibility before they enroll themselves.
There are several steps that need to be followed in order to become a Chartered Accountant. Candidates who wish to know how to become a CA can find the steps in detail here. It must be noted that each of these steps is extremely important.
After clearing the IPCC, you will have to do an internship of 3 years under a certified CA. The articleship is an opportunity to learn how accountancy is handled under an experienced Chartered Accountant.
During the last six months of your 3-year article-ship, you can appear for the final course exams. Once you have cleared the final course, you will be awarded the designation of Chartered Accountant.
The course of Chartered Accountancy is divided into three major parts. The three parts of CA are the Foundation Level, the Intermediate Level, and the Final Level. The course content of all the three parts of CA differs from each other. Find the CA curriculum for all the levels in the tables given below.
Paper |
Subjects |
Sections |
Paper 1 |
Principles and Practice of Accounting |
- |
Paper 2 |
Business Laws and Business Correspondence and Reporting |
Section A: Business Laws Section B: Business Correspondence and Reporting |
Paper 3 |
Business Mathematics and Logical Reasoning and Statistics |
Part 1: Business Mathematics and Logical Reasoning Part 2: Statistics |
Paper 4 |
Business Economics and Business and Commercial Knowledge |
Part 1: Business Economics Part 2: Business and Commercial Knowledge |
Group 1 |
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 |
Paper 5: Advanced Accounting
Paper 6: Auditing and Assurance
(Section A- Enterprise Information Systems, Section B- Strategic Management) (Section A- Financial Management, Section B- Economics for Finance) |
Group 1 |
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 |
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 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) |
CA.s are in great demand within auditing firms, banks, finance companies, stock broking firms, legal firms, etc. Salary options are not bright during article ship but candidates can expect a good salary after completing the course.
The average starting salary of a CA varies from Rs. 4 to 6 lakh per annum after completing the final course. The salary of a CA depends on the city and company he/ she get employed with.