Importance of becoming a CA

WHY BECOME A CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT?

-          BY SUYASH KORDE

Why sit counting somebody’s money when you can make stockpiles of money on your own by doing your Family Business?

Why not make money just by doing a MBA course by taking up a job in some company or at a Stock Broking Firm or at a Bank or by doing a programming course and joining a lucrative Software Firm?

Why invest Four and half years of your life just learning accounting when you can get a job straight away by becoming a MBA and that too completing the degree in just two years? Why become a Chartered Accountant?

         These are just some of the questions that remain unanswered in the mind of a student who has just passed his 10^th SSC or ICSE examinations and then he opts the easy, faster and best way out. These are my reasons to show a way to such a confused mind.

            Young minds now a day just want the faster way out, for being wealthy in a short time is the ultimate definition of success today. They want to look for a future overseas like in the UK, USA etc, and not to mention money in dollars. But while running after money in a foreign exchange difference overseas, they forget the importance of knowledge. Acquiring money does not take time, acquiring knowledge does. It is the art of knowing a subject that helps you do your job better. A chartered accountant deals with in a wide arena of topics like business accounting, auditing, company law, taxation, Foreign Exchange management, Inventory and Working Capital Management just to mention a few.

               All this accounting stuff does not go as unregulated and mismanaged as a student would think!! We have our own Chartered Accountants Act, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is the premier body in charge of implementing this. The Institute helps its members to update their knowledge through various seminars, study circle meetings and conferences, thus opening new avenues to practice. It also gives students coming from different regions a chance to study by eliminating border barriers across the state, so that the Institute has a regional office in every corner of India. It always updates a course so that students get new subjects to learn as time changes and with time business needs also undergo a change. Its is because of this that the institute carrier on computer training for its article students and updates courses with new compliances like US GAAP (for Final course students) and VAT (for PCC). It does not have an all work and no play philosophy as a result of which student study circle meetings, student conferences, elocutions, sports meets are held by different regional offices. This contributes to all round development for a student. All this in just Rs.10, 000!!! This is why it is one of the least expensive but most respected course in the country.

                Knowledge when applied becomes wisdom. So you think Education in India was just a policy made by British to produce clerks!!! You can acquire knowledge in other courses also. But you don’t know how to apply it until you take up a job. It is recognizing this need to apply knowledge that the Institute offers a three year article ship training to all its students who clear CPT. The Three year experience working with a chartered accountant teaches you how to handle a client in future by showing him the best ways to improve his business practice through different compliances. Thus making the Chartered Accountant to liaison between himself and the government bodies so the businessman can concentrate on flourishing his business. This work experience shows the students the way of work which is later on bound to become their way of Lifestyle itself!!

                Reasoning drives business Decision’s. The power to reason every small business practice helps to get the best evaluation for the client. Be it through a project consultancy report made by a chartered accountant for a loan sanction for a client’s business or audit which helps to reason a transaction to its capability to do value addition to a accounting system or a tough capital budgeting or a expansion decision. Thus even the most complicated decisions are made with great care, study and regard for the client. A chartered accountant does this by strengthening a business internal controls by a through study of the client’s transactions so that the audit system implemented itself takes care of nuisance activities and ensures a company its perpetual existence. Reasoning helps in justification for the client’s accounts for availing of various exemptions in the taxation arena. The Institute also takes up the controversial areas in commerce to make the practicing professional aware about the disputed areas. Institute also renders advice to government on and compliance and regulatory decisions. The increase in awareness about compliances also helps the Finance Ministers and the Government in particular to make the job for the businessmen easier by identifying the performing sectors and giving them due credit and making government procedures faster thus reducing corruption levels in the country. This change has been the major factor in the India Inc. growth story. This way a Chartered accountant can fuel the Finance engine of the Economy.

                 So you have a drive to become a leader and think only a Political Science Program abroad will grant you a leadership spirit? Think again. Every three year’s the institute’s President is elected by a voting process in which the institute members are encouraged to participate. The Institute is presided by the council which has 40 members 32 of which are elected. Thus there is no selection criteria thus reducing personal bias. The Presidents then move on to show the members their vision for the profession in their tenure.  There are regional council heads for different states as well. The code of ethics for practicing professionals also encourages mergers for CA firms. Through such mergers the chartered accountants can engage in collective practice and better work opportunities. This drive for leadership in turn builds team work.

                 Thus now a Team of Chartered accountants verifies and             re verifies jobs thus reducing error margins that can adversely affect the client. Within the team every CA remains independently answerable. Team work also reduces stress and risk that such certification jobs involve.  Thus a Chartered Accountant can work as a tool becoming a employee and also has drive for business by engaging in his own practice.

                   Every opportunity has its own rewards. Taxation and Audit and Accountancy have been the building blocks for any chartered Accountant. The idea of audit gives insight into a company’s way of doing business to the accountant. Having knowledge of business of clients the chartered accountant becomes aware for industry benchmarks of every business. The arena’s in which the institute can participate are increasing as foreign companies have started recognizing the potential growth in India. This has increased compliances to be followed for Indian companies. Like large investors abroad require compliance with US GAAP and IFRS standards. There has also been a surge in the Management consultancy areas in which chartered accountants can participate for raising money through Banks , Financial institutions and the Capital Markets .The capital markets have also opened up to new debt & equity instruments. The stock market also offers opportunity to conduct equity research for companies and investors through Mutual Funds, Bank’s and Foreign Equity research firms. Indian Business Development has urged Global Accounting Bodies to recognize the profession. With the flag bearers of the Institute being nominated in the International Federation of Accountants (IFCI) in Auckland. Institute also inaugurated the International Conference on accounting towards value creation. These areas helped to increase the demand for a certifying professional’s advice. Clearly the monetary gains from these opportunities are not less. Every year the institute invites Campus Placement program’s in which the past leading recruiters have been Reliance Industries, ICICI bank and Jaypee Capital Services. The highest salary offered to a Fresher clearing Final Ca in the first attempt is Rs.38.25 Lakhs also the most percentage opportunity is generated in Banking Companies and Chartered Accountancy firms as per recently study by the Institute.

                  So you wanted to see the world by becoming a door to door Marketer?? One can think about practicing in Finance abroad and search prospects there as well. Since in these countries one has to spend a lot of money for education, such professionals are a rare sight. This is where we stand to gain better chance. And why not? There’s no less knowledge that such a Indian Course can give right? Thus proving that the course is gaining international recognition as well!!! The Institute also has its branches in the Gulf countries since Realty and Investment sectors are on the rise there. Naturally recognition comes not only for business but also from the society.

People spend years doing re search to acquire a “Phd” or a “Dr.” title. We are not far behind. The institute quite recently has come up with the novel idea of affixing “CA” before the First names of the members. So you are awarded with a title even if you are a fresher in the area.

The article ship experience always ensures you know more than you could do anywhere. You are just 24 years old and you already are somebody!!!!!

                    The confidence that a chartered accountants advice or certification offers that business money is not misused, that the accounts are true and fair. The chartered accountant also ensures ways of safeguarding the business assets to management. The standards laid down by the Institute are a guide to all business transactions. The Professional offers privacy and personal attention to one and all clients.

                     And last reason but not the least, Relationships are not build on money, they are built on trust and confidence. The trust that a patient keeps while going to a eye surgeon for operation or trust that a software company wants to build by signing a non disclosure agreement with its employee so that he does not leak the software code to rivals, is priceless!!! Internal Records are a tricky area and are to be safeguarded since a leakage of these can mean a major threat of acquisition by a rival. Ethics help the professional community at large by rotating audits among different audit firms, ensuring work to all and no monopoly concept.   The institute also lays down its code of ethics for practicing chartered accountants as regards Fees to be charged, its policy of no advertising etc and prescribes the harshest penalty to safeguard the interest of the profession.

                        These reasons I have stumbled across while doing the course, as I read more about my institute through its student newsletters and journals. And now I give reason close to my heart as to why I decided to do Chartered Accountancy. My teacher showed me the way to do this course, when most of my relatives were against it. But he tried to show me a vision, a vision which is doing good work. Now I look forward to a better prospect with my article ship period ending around a few months now – giving my Final CA examination. A Exam which is difficult but not impossible to crack. Students now must be encouraged to do difficult tasks. As Education teaches you a task is difficult and not impossible. Owing to industry demand for finance which is not expected to go down anytime soon, thousands of students are taking up the course but only hundreds pass. Hence young articles must be encouraged to go on and helped while they are at such a uphill task!! Students like this also learn to manage their studies while doing article ship…just as one would work in a hotel part time abroad and use the rest of the time studying. Only with CA you earn with dignity!!!!

                  And hence I say to all those students beginning their profession Opportunity, Learning, Reasoning, Trust, Leadership are Lifestyle principles and hence I call out to a student who enrolls in my institute, “Welcome to knowledge and opportunity, welcome to chartered accountancy!!”