What is Chartered Accountancy and How Does One Become a CA?: Chartered Accountancy (CA) is a prestigious and globally recognized professional qualification in the field of accounting, finance, and business. CAs are financial experts who provide valuable services in areas such as auditing, taxation, financial reporting, and business advisory. They play a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy, transparency, and compliance of financial information for organizations and individuals.
What do we understand by the term Chartered Accountancy or a Chartered Accountant?
1. Let us try and learn today about one of the most qualified posts in the commerce field and that is none other than a chartered accountant.
2. Chartered accountancy is an international accounting designation granted to accounting professionals in many countries around the world, aside from the United States.
For example, in India, we have Chartered Accountants whereas in the United States there are Certified Public Accounts
3. Also a Chartered Accountant’s main focus areas are Audit & Assurance, preparing of financial statements and reporting the same to higher authorities and shareholders.
4. A Chartered Accountant plays numerous which also include Management accounting. He is the best person for finance and taxation.
What is the Role of a Chartered Accountant?
1. A Chartered Accountant possesses all the skills and qualifications to file Income Tax returns for all individuals and more importantly to file tax returns for Business Corporations
2. A CA duly offers his services in regards to advising his clients and updating the clients on all the financial matters relevant to them.
3. Most of the time a CA focuses on these 4 areas of Audit & Assurance, Financial Accounting and reporting, Management Accounting, and Applied Finance or Taxation.
4. Depending on their area of focus, CAs may handle one aspect of a company’s business, they may oversee all of a company’s accounting needs, or they may work as freelance CAs who handles accounting matters for multiple clients. Chartered accountants work both in the private and public sectors.
In this article, we will also discuss how a student can become a Chartered Accountant in India. But before we begin, let’s summarize what exactly a Chartered Accountant (CA) does?
1. Kindly note that once a student enters class 12, apart from the stress of board exams, they also struggle with the decision about their future career path.
2. Often enough due to lot of apprehension and popularity of a designation leads a student to the possible career choices that he/she chooses and one such course is definitely a benchmark in itself which is none other than a Chartered Accountancy course.
3. In India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, ICAI is also responsible for maintaining the highest standards in CA education.
4. A student who wishes to enter the profession of Chartered Accountancy, they have to enroll for Foundation Course offered by the Institute after appearing in the class 12 examination held by a recognized education board in India.
Students need to register by June 30/December 31 for being eligible to appear in November/May Foundation Course Examination.
Earlier, ICAI held Common Proficiency Test (CPT) for admission to the CA course but the exam was replaced under the new scheme with the Foundation Course.
5. Kindly note that there is one very important in a CA course which is known as Article ship.
The articled training is of 3 years and a CA student can either appear for CA Final exam after completing the articled training or while serving the last 6 months of articled training. Students who clear the CA Final exams have to enroll as a member of the ICAI to be designated as a Chartered Accountants.
6. Very importantly ICAI has crafted an alternative entry of a student to this complex yet interesting CA course.
Another entry method is the direct entry method which is available for commerce graduates/ post graduates with a minimum of 55% marks or other graduates/post graduates with 60% marks. Such students can enroll directly in the intermediate course. The rest of the conditions remains the same.