Career prospects as a Chartered Accountant


Most students are busy focussing on getting excellent scores in grade 12. Once the results are out, they have to select a course which will help them pursue a career of their choice at a later stage. A basic understanding of all the careers helps them take the right decision.

Who is a chartered accountant?

  • A chartered accountant is basically a person who ensures that all the accounting procedures are followed properly in a business.
  • After a few years of experience as an auditor, a chartered accountant can play a crucial role in any organization as a financial or investment consultant.
  • So, basically if you are good at Math and/or accountancy and love working with numbers and tallying balance sheets etc– this will prove to be a good career for you.

What are the basic qualifications required?

  • The general notion is that commerce group students are well equipped with basic knowledge of accountancy. Hence pursuing chartered accountancy as a career is ideal for them.
  • But students of science and arts too can pursue it successfully. If they have a logical/analytical bent of mind, they can grasp the nuances of accountancy very easily and quickly.

What is the scope of a chartered accountant?

  • Chartered accountants are in great demand in public and private sector banks.
  • Private and public limited companies always have a requirement for investment/capital management experts.
  • Experienced chartered accountants use their expertise as financial consultants in legal, stock broking firms etc.

Is it a lucrative career?

  • It is important to get some practical experience in business houses in theinitial stages. Once you understand the finer aspects of financialoperations, there is no limit to the growth of your career.
  • An experienced chartered accountant can command a salary which is atpar with other equally well paying jobs. Most reputed firms pay excellentsalary packages because chartered accountants have vast, diverse andexpert knowledge about their domain.

Preparing to become a chartered accountant:

  • Students who wish to pursue chartered accountancy as a career can start preparing for it along with their 11th and 12th grade subjects. Some students prefer to prepare for it while they are pursuing theircollege degree.
  • They have to clear a Common Proficiency Test (CPT) in four subjects first.
  • Once they clear these papers, they can start preparing for the Integrated Professional Competency course.
  • This course is divided into two groups. Students can appear for one or both groups together. After clearing the first group, they can start doing their article ship under an experienced chartered accountant.
  • The last stage is clearing their CA final exam, after which they will have to register for membership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Chartered accountants command a great deal of respect in the market. They have the right mix of theoretical as well as practical knowledge. The trading practices, financial rules and regulations keep changing all over the world. So they need to constantly update themselves.

It is definitely an interesting career for people who thrive on numbers and are interested in finance/money/trade etc.