Career of the week – Chartered Accountant (CA)

Chartered Accountancy is a course Commerce students can pursue to become Chartered Accountants. To pursue CA in India, the candidate needs to register with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Any candidate who has completed Class 12^th or equivalent with at least 50 per cent aggregate from a recognized board or university can pursue CA.

Here is some useful information for aspirants looking to take up CA:

• CA Institutes in India
• ICAI Exam

The four stage procedure is as follows:

1. Any student who has passed 10^th class or any course equivalent to that can apply for the Common Proficiency Course (CPC) first.
2. Post qualifying for the 10+2 exam, a student has to then qualify in CPT exam.
3. After the CPT IPCC, successful article-ship or training under an officially practicing C.A has to be done for 3 years.
4. Then comes the CA Final.

• Before taking the Integrated Professional Competence Examination, the candidate must have qualified cpt.
• A minimum of 55% score is required for graduates/post graduates in commerce whereas other graduates or post graduates require a minimum of 60% to apply for CA.
• Candidates need to register 9 months prior to the exam and then complete a 100 hours of Information Technology Training.

The following points need to be checked for becoming a CA

1. Common Proficiency Test needs to be qualified.
2. Integrated Professional Competence Course needs to be qualified.
3. Three years Article ship or training has to be undergone under a Practicing Chartered accountant.
4. CA Final exams need to appeared for.

• You have to register 60 days prior the first day of the month in which the exam happens.
• Appearing for CPT (Common Proficiency Test ) Exam
• A Student can appear for the chartered accountant course after 12^thclass and immediately register and appear for CPT.
• Students need to wait for at least a minimum of 60 days post registering for the CPT.
• Students can only appear for the exam in the month of June/December exams if they register before 1^stApril or 1^st October.

• 100 hours of ITT needs to be completed.
• Orientation (15 days) and Information Technology training also need to be completed before undertaking the article ship. General Management and Communication Skills (GMCS) – I Course has been merged with the syllabus of Orientation Program since 2016.
• The ITT and Orientation can be completed any time before undertaking the article-ship.

Both groups of IPCC can be appeared for together or Group 1 and Group 2 can be appeared for one after the other separately. To qualify in this exam, you need to secure 40% in each of the subjects and an aggregate of 55% overall.

Post qualifying IPCC Group 1 exam or both groups` exams, the candidate is eligible for registering for the article-ship under the supervision of a practicing chartered accountant. The period of article-ship is for 3 years.

Students need to appear for the Chartered Accountancy Final examination during the last six months of their ongoing article-ship and pass the CA final exams of both the groups. To qualify in the CA exams, you need to get 40% in each of the subjects and an aggregate of 50%.

Post all the examinations, when you successfully enroll yourself as a professional chartered accountant, you are all set and will be bestowed with the title of a “Chartered Accountant”.

The council has taken the decision of reducing the chartered accountant course duration from 5 years 3 months to 3.5 years.