CA as a Career

About CA

One of the most sought after professional courses for Commerce students is Chartered Accountancy, popularly known as CA. Its importance lies in the fact that CAs are the people who make the financial statements of different organisations at the end of the accounting year. It is one of the backbones of the financial regulatory system of the country. All companies, big or small have to be audited by a CA who prepares documents like the Balance Sheet and Profit& Loss Account, and only then are they accepted by various government departments. So the work of a CA revolves around - accounting, auditing, taxation and financial analysis. The CA course provides a multi-faceted perspective to the CA aspirant ranging from economics and operations of a business to its marketing, audit, financing and legal aspects. CAs frequently occupy highest echelons of Indian business and carry a very high brand image in the society. Currently there are approximately 5,20,000 students and 1,55,000 active members.

The CA Advantage

As recession scares come back to haunt the world, here's a profession which is free from the vagaries of the economy. The work of a CA is such that it will always be in demand, irrespective of the times. Infact you do not even need to find a job as after qualifying as a CA; you can start working independently and start your own firm. With your competence you can steadily gain clients and establish yourself soon enough.

Why Work as a CA

There is never any dearth of work for CAs as any and every organisation needs them.
You can start your professional career as a CA as soon as you qualify your exams so there is no gestation period at all.
The compulsory articleship period provides the necessary industry exposure to prepare you for a job or independent practice, right after your degree
The remuneration is usually high as well. Starting salaries are a minimum of Rs. 20,000 and can go up to 80,000 in a short while. This of course depends on the kind of organisation you choose to work in. With experience, it is possible to get paid much more.

Nature of Work

The work of a CA will be very interesting to students of commerce as they deal with accounts and finance. The work would entail the following:

Accounting:The most basic of these is preparing the accounts of a company, private or government owned. This will include all kinds of financial statements, from the Balance Sheet to the Profit and Loss Account.
Auditing:This means going through the financial statements of companies and checking if they're in order. This ensures that there is little scope of financial irregularities by companies.
Cost Consulting:CAs can also diversify and take up cost consultancy. Making use of their skills they can help big enterprises make viable budgets for particular operations so as to minimise costs.
Taxation:If auditing and accounting put you to sleep, a Chartered Accountancy course can still be of use as you can take up tax related issues as your main work. This would include filing tax returns, doling tax advice and minimisation of various taxes through legal means.
Legal Matters: CAs also have a big role to play in legal matters of financial contracts, estate planning as well as during insolvency and liquidation of companies.
Management Consulting: This is slightly different from the main auditing as it involves analyzing the financial information of different departments within an organisation to assess past performance and determine the present.
Planning and Management: Unlike regular management jobs, planning and management for CAs mean mostly financial management.
Company Secretary: The nature of work is similar to that of CA but the title is different. The work of a CS would primarily include taking care of legislations and their perusal within the organisation. It keeps a tab on that and reports to the boards members of various legal obligations of a company.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI)

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 for the regulation of the profession of Chartered Accountants in India. In the six decades of its existence, the ICAI has achieved recognition as a premier accounting body not only in the country but also globally. Its contribution to the field of education, professional development, maintenance of high accounting, auditing and ethical standards has been widely acknowledged. Today, the ICAI is the second largest accounting body in the whole world.

Certificate Courses for Members

Apart from the Chartered Accountancy Course, the ICAI offers the following:

Certificate Course on Enterprise Risk Management
Certificate Course on Master in Business Finance
Certificate Course on Corporate Governance
Certificate Course on International Taxation
Certificate Course on Forensic Accounting & Fraud Detection using IT & CAATs
Certificate Course on International Financial Reporting Standards
Certificate Course on Forex and Treasury Management
Certificate Course on Derivatives
Certificate Course on Valuation
Certificate Course on Arbitration

Post Qualification Courses

Information Systems Audit (ISA)
CPE Course on Computer Accounting and Auditing Techniques (CAAT)
Diploma in Insurance and Risk Management (DIRM)
Management Accountancy Course (MAC)/ Corporate Management Course (CMC)/ Tax Management Course (TMC)
International Trade Laws & World Trade Organization (ITL & WTO)
ERP Courses on SAP FA & MA Module, Microsoft Dynamics NAV

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CA as Career