Chartered Accountant: Course Details, Duration, of Course, Exam & Job Prospects

Chartered Accountancy is a very lucrative high paying professional course. An individual who happens to be an accounting professional has to mandatorily earn a certified degree from a statutory body to imply that he/she is officially qualified enough to take care of matters related to taxation and accounting of an individual or a business organization. 

To become a certified Chartered Accountant an individual requires to complete the three levels of training designed by ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountant of India). Every organization need a chartered accountant such as government, private, non-private, commercial, big, small and so on. There is no maximum age limit is required.

Chartered accountants are widely considered by the public to be among the most trusted professionals in the industry. What makes chartered accountants so trustworthy? Is it their years of professional training and experience or is it something else? The answer may come as a surprise, because what really separates chartered accountants from other accounting professionals is not their knowledge of accounting principles, but rather their dedication to upholding ethical standards.

CA Course Highlights:

Degree	Bachelors
Full Form	Chartered Accountant
Duration	The duration of CA course is 5 years
Age	The minimum age is 17 yr and maximum age is 25 yr.
Minimum Percentage	50% of aggregate marks
Average Fee Structure	INR 2 LPA
Average Salary Offered	INR 7 LPA
Employment Roles	Accountant, Financial Manager, Banker, Taxation Consultant, and Consultant

The course of chartered accountancy is done to manage the financial account work as well as maintains the GST. The chartered account keeps the record of the financial transaction along with gives the financial advice to the big firm or business persons. The big firm usually hires a Chartered accountant to handle their business transactions. Consequently for becoming a chartered accountant the candidates should be from commerce stream in their 10+12th academics. The charter accountant course is considered as the difficult course as the candidates should have completed knowledge related to the course as well as they have to face pre and mains exams for clearing the exam which is quite difficult for the candidates.

Chartered Accountant

Although the career path of a Chartered Accountant may be quite challenging, but at the same time it is equally promising which makes all the challenges worth it. The course duration is five years. Only those people who are ready to devote enough time and efforts to their education should think about taking up Chartered Accounting as a profession.

There is enough demand for Chartered Accountants in both public and private sectors.A qualified CA is hired by an organization to look after the accounting and finances department- one of the most important departments while running a business. A CA can oftentimes solve financial disputes and can also successfully prevent bankruptcy within any agency. 

What is Chartered Accountancy?

An individual who happens to be an accounting professional has to mandatorily earn a certified degree from a statutory body to imply that he/she is officially qualified enough to take care of matters related to taxation and accounting of an individual or a business organization. Such a person who is certified and a CA degree holder is known to be a CA or Chartered Accountant. A Chartered Accountant is qualified to look after the finances and accounting of an organization, to give financial advice to business clients, file tax returns, maintain records of investments, audit financial statements and business practices, prepare and review financial documents and reports. A Chartered Accountant is also capable of offering advisory services to clients that comprise companies and individuals.  

Benefits of becoming a CA:

Over the years the Chartered Accountancy profession has achieved rapid growth by virtue of quality professional services being rendered by its members. Increasing responsibilities are being entrusted by the Govt. and the society at large on the members of this profession and their specialized skills and knowledge are being utilized in various fields of activities. The audit/certification of a professional CA is insisted upon for various purposes and in different situations. 

CA.s are in great demand within auditing firms, banks, finance companies, stockbroking firms, legal firms, etc. Salary options are not bright during the initial days but candidates can expect a good salary after completing the course.

The average starting salary of a CA varies from INR 4 to 6 lakh per annum after completing the final course. The salary of a CA depends on the city and company he/ she gets employed with.  

Skillset

It is important to possess certain skills in order to become a successful Chartered Accountant.

It is essential for Chartered Accountants to possess strong analytical skills and a love for numbers, as this involves the majority of their work. They must have the ability to negotiate terms with suppliers. They must know how to work with computers, laptops and the like. Chartered Accountants must be good at organising and completing the work on time. Communication and interpersonal skills are a must for them.

STEPS TO BECOME A CA:

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 CA exams are:          ▪CPT (Common Proficiency Test)

                                                                 ▪IPCC (Integrated Professional Competence Course)

         ▪FC (Final course)

      CA Eligibility Criteria:

The ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) decides the eligibility criteria for the CA Examination. These help to decide whether a student has enough previous qualification to be a future accountant. All candidates are suggested to go through these set of criteria before enrolling themselves into a CA course:

• Candidates are eligible for Chartered Accountant CPT registration after class 10 but they will be able to appear for it only after passing class 12.
• Students of commerce, science as well as arts stream can apply for CPT.
• Students of Commerce stream need to secure 50% aggregate marks in Class 12 exams in order to be eligible for CPT.
• Students of all other streams need to score an aggregate of 55% excluding Mathematics and 60% including Mathematics in Class 12 board exams.
• On clearing the CPT exam successfully, candidates become the member of Indian Chartered Accountants Institute (ICAI) – the exam and course conducting body for all CAs in India.

CA Course Details and Exam

There are several steps that need to be obeyed before becoming a full-time professional Chartered Accountant. As it is, CA is one of the most lucrative and sought-after professions that students go for after passing 10+2 from commerce stream. Any such candidate aspiring to be a CA should look at the following steps carefully in details. Each and every one of these is extremely important.

1.Enrolling oneself for Accounting Technician Course (ATC):

 ▪After clearing the Chartered Accountant CPT, candidates have to enrol for the ATC. The same can be done after clearing 10+2

▪Candidates who have already cleared Entrance Examination or Professional Education (Examination-I) or Foundation Examination will be eligible to register for ATC.

▪Candidates who had formerly registered for Intermediate/ Intermediate (Professional Competence) programme/ Professional Education (Course-II) can enrol for ATC. 

2. Applying for IPCC:  

▪Candidates must have scored at least 100 out of 200 marks in CPT after class 12 in order to apply for IPCC programme.

▪Registration for IPCC must be dome nine months before the first day of the month in which the exam will be conducted.

▪The courses comprise 7 subjects, each worth 100 marks. In order to clear the course, you will have to score at least 40 marks in each subject and an aggregate of 50% or above.

▪Scoring 60 marks and above in any subject will exempt you from reappearing for that particular subject in case you fail the course and plan to give the exams again.   

 3. Articleship in CA:

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.

4. Final Course:

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.  

Course Content—The Chartered Accountancy course can very broadly be classified into 3 levels. These are the Foundation Level, the Intermediate Level and the Final Level. The course content of each of these levels are different, described below in tabular form:

CA Salary and future Prospects:

CA exams are quite difficult and hard to crack. Besides, it takes a lot of time —5 years, to be treated as a fully qualified CA. Hence it is always advised to the pursuing candidates that they continue with their graduation degree side by side along with CA preparations. A B.Com. degree will add more weight to their qualification, plus will keep an alternative option open just in case the candidate wants to opt out of CA course, considering its difficulty and the amount of time that it consumes. 

CA.s are in great demand within auditing firms, banks, finance companies, stockbroking firms, legal firms, etc. Salary options are not bright during the initial days but candidates can expect a good salary after completing the course.

The average starting salary of a CA varies from INR 4 to 6 lakh per annum after completing the final course. The salary of a CA depends on the city and company he/ she gets employed with.