Chartered Accountant

A career as a chartered accountant is for people who have a natural inclination towards numbers and problem solving. They must be hardworking people who work endlessly to reach solutions. People in this field must show that they have an innate interest in business and that they are motivated enough to learn while on the job.

Most importantly, chartered accountants must work methodologically and maintain extreme amounts of precision. The ability to remain organized is an essential part of this job, and chartered accountants must be proficient in managing their limited time to do a seemingly unlimited number of tasks.

The main purpose of chartered accountants is to gather, organize, analyze and present data on financial records of a particular company or corporation. Their job details may range from auditing, financial reporting, creating and maintaining accounting systems, forensic accounting and even corporate finance. Many chartered accountants opt to specialize in taxation.

A chartered accountant may work for a practice firm, or else they may work in the finance division of any organization. If they choose to work for the former, they provide various services to a wide variety of companies that seek assistance from the practice firm. On the other hand, those who wish to work for a particular firm find themselves specializing in the finances of that firm.

Chartered accountants are often required to perform a wide variety of tasks at work. What they end up doing depends largely on who they choose to work for, but generally, their job entails planning and preparing the taxes of their clients, doing risk analysis, maintaining records of financial transactions, installing systems to prevent any type of fraud and much more.

They use all these tools to make their client’s organization as profitable as possible, within the monetary framework they collect and analyze. This may entail a considerable amount of communication with people in other departments etc.

Chartered accountants can have various qualifications depending on where they choose to live. While in most countries, entry is open to individuals who have a degree in any discipline; graduates with majors in fields such as finance and accounting are given considerable preference.

Certified chartered accountants are given preferential treatment by employers. There are a number of qualifications one can seek to gain certification. The various sets of qualifications that potential chartered accountants can avail generally last two years, at the end of which candidates must do an internship at a chartered accountancy firm before they can work as a chartered accountant.

Chartered accountants can expect to earn a starting salary of anywhere between USD $30,000 and USD $50,000. Experienced chartered accountants can expect to be paid more than US$ 100,000 per annum depending on location and who they end up working for.

The average starting salary of a CA is around Rs. 6.5 lakh per annum. Multinational companies pay even more – sometimes over Rs. 10 lakh per annum to freshers

Even though they are well paid, chartered accountants receive various fringe benefits, ranging from free transportation to even house and car leasing. They also normally get health insurance, life insurance and property insurance free of cost if they work for a large corporation.

Life as a

chartered accountant

can be very tedious. An average day normally entails working from 9am to 5pm, with minimal breaks in between. Most work is done in ones assigned office. However, a certain amount of traveling may also be required as some clients wish for their financial services to be done on their premises.

While chartered accountants have fixed working hours, they normally find themselves working a lot of overtime, especially if they find themselves working for a larger company. A large amount of stress comes with the tight deadlines and difficult problems once has to solve on a typical day of work.

There are a number of perks associated with this career path. Besides the high salary that comes with experience, chartered accountants enjoy the respect of people in society. It is one of the most prestigious jobs that many desire but few get.

Chartered accountants enjoy a large number of non-monetary benefits that come with their job. Moreover, they have considerable job security as firms try to avoid replacing experienced chartered accountants.

Chartered accountants live stressful lives. They never know how long they will be required to work overtime, and they must constantly deal with the pressures of nearing deadlines. Chartered accountants often find themselves relocated on a regular basis to offer financial services to people in various parts of a region, so settling down into a family life can be a difficult task.

There is a lot of competition in the field of chartered accountancy. Because of the number of perks associated with the job, there are always a high number of people trying to become certified in this field. Regulatory authorities in most countries cap the number of chartered accountants who pass their ACCA examinations annually, so that the number of entrants into chartered accountancy remains limited.

The job outlook is getting progressively better. It is estimated that in the US, there will be 10,000 new openings in this field annually for the next five years. People who are able to become certified chartered accountants are generally able to find jobs within a short period of time. The highest level of competition is for senior positions in various companies, and those with the most experience and qualifications tend to have the edge when applying for them.

There is a demand for chartered accountants in any place where there are businesses. The world’s financial capitals have the highest number of job positions for chartered accountants because of the high density of commercial setups in these regions.

Within India, chartered accountants have generally settled into the larger cities because of the number of job openings available there. Mumbai seems to be the preferred destination for chartered accountants who want to earn the highest salaries.

After passing Class 10, one can enroll for the Common Proficiency Test (CPT). Take CPT after Class 12 in June (or December). Register for the Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and 100-hour Information Technology Training (ITT). After IPCC, you do the CA final course and are mandated to undergo a three-year articleship under a practising CA.

Another short training course on general management and communication skills is required before you apply for a CA membership. Students may start preparing for the CA course in their formative years ie, during the plus-two stage. It is believed that only commerce students should consider a chartered accountancy course, but this is not true as the entrance scheme for the chartered accountancy course is subject-neutral.

Though commerce students at the school level have some knowledge of accounting, it has been observed that a large number of students from the science
background do quite well in this profession.

Students can register for Common Proficiency Course (CPC) after passing Class 10, but can appear in the CPT after appearing for the Class 12 examination or
any examination recognised by the Central government as its equivalent.

Before appearing for CPT, students have to complete the specified period of 60 days from the date of registration for CPT as on the first day of the month in which examination is to be held. Students registered on or before April 1/October 1 will be eligible to appear in June/December CPT