Articleship for CA Students
Many a times i am approached by students who want to pursue Chartered Accountancy course and even through this website many prospective Chartered Accountants approach us with all sorts of questions and queries regarding the course, its various aspects, prospects etc. and its very heartening to answer them. Also, lot os prospective CAs have lots of questions regarding the articleship which is a three year mandatory rigorous training required to be done in order to become a Chartered Accountant. For the benefit those aspiring students i thought of comming up with this article.
Chartered Accountancy is the highest degree in India in the field of accounting and auditing. The course though being very tough is very interesting and covers subjects like Accountancy, Finance, Economics, Audit, Taxation and Information Technology too. The Chartered Accountant’s course not only makes u intellectually strong but increases your business acumen and makes u mentally strong too. Further, the rigourous compulsary Articleship training not only develops ones stamina and appetite for work but also increases his/her exposure to various industries. During the articleship period, the auditing/articled trainee is required to visit a lots of companies in various industries (like manufacturing, service, inssurance, banking etc) for auditing works and hence gets un-imaginable exposure which no other profession gives to their students. As a result, this profession doesnt only helps in making someone a good professional but incase someone wants to start his own business, the learnings from this profession shall take him/her a long way.
Having said all this, i would like to answer few questions which are being asked to me or any other Chartered Accountant by the aspiring/prospective Chartered Accountants.
Q – Why should i do CA….?? How shall it benefit me in the long run…?
A – I guess i had already answered this in the above paragraph by mentioning that CA is the highest possible degree in the field of Accountancy and Auditing plus i have mentioned the bout the fact that it makes u a winner for life by making u intectually, mentally and emotinally strong.
Q – Should i go for articleship or shall i go for dummy training??
A – Many students come and ask whether we should really enrol for articleship or rather go for dummy training. Dummy training means that you get yourself enrolled with a Chartered Accountant as a articled/audit clerk but do not work for him rather, either sit home and study or work somewhere else and get paid more than what the Institute Of Chartered Accountants of India has prescribed as stipend for such audit/articled clerk. There are few reasons why students prefer to do such malpractice. The first reason might be that they want to concentrate more on studying than on working. Secondly, as most of the CA students are from humble background, they need to support themselves and hence prefer to work some where else for some extra bucks. My answer to this is that articleship is a very important phase in a CA’s career life. With all its pros and cons, it is destined to take you long way as a propessional and plays a very important role in defining a CA’s career path. I have heard bout a lot of CAs getting absorbed in the companys of the clients they have audited. This might serve as a bonus for someone who has done his articleship dillegently.
Further, though the institute does not have any control mechanism to check malpractices like dummy registration, however, if such thing is found out later, even the students might face the threat of the registration being cancelled. So my advice is to be beware before one even thinking of indulging in such malpractices. However, if the student indulges in such practices, it is the students who are the loser. Always remember CA is about the professional exposure and experience that one gains during articleship without which the CA is just another degree.
Q – What does the term Big-4 ( Big Four CA Firms for Articleship) connote…??
A – In the CA circuit every now and then one comes across the prevalent jargon “Big-4″ or “Big four”. Now what does Big four imply…?? Big four is a common jargon used in the CA circuit for the top four consultancy companies in India. These companies nowadays provide all forms of business consultancy and varied other services like merchant banking, company valuation, auditing, surveys, polls, business plan formulation and evaluation, project appraisal to name a few. These so called ‘big fours’ have a world-wide presence and consultancy income constitutes the major chuck of their revenues.
Q – Is Big four the only solution..? Arn’t there any other good CA firms for articleship??
A – No denying the fact that the audit firms linked or attached to the so called ‘Big Fours’ are the biggest CA firms in India but there are many other big CA firms from where an aspiring Chartered Accountant can pursue his articleship. Few big CA firms are Lodha & Co, S.S Kothari & Co, KS Aiyar & Co (linked with Baker Tilly), RSM & Co, Ajay Sethi & Associates, Chaturvedi & Co etc.These companies too provide consultancy and other services like merchant banking, project evaluation etc. One can pursue his/her articleship from these big professionally run CA firms. The considertation that one should take while joining a CA firm for articleship should be based on the following facts :-
The big four Consultancy companies in India are KPMG, Ernst and Young (E and Y), Delloitt and Price WaterHouse Coopers (PWC). Technically speaking, these Big fours are consulting companies and hence one cannot pursue articleship from these consulting companies. According to the rules and regulations of Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI), one can pursue articleship only from a Chartered Accountants firm (i.e a CA firm). CA firms as basically parnership firms constituting of all the partners who are CAs.
However, one can pursue articleship from the CA firms attached with these Big four consulting companies who stand a very good repute in the industry. For Eg KPMG is attached to BSR & Co ( earlier called Bharat S Raut & Co), Ernst & Young (E & Y) is linked with SR Batliboi & Co, Delloitt with AF Ferguson & Co, C.C chokshi & Co, Fraser & Ross, P.C Hansotia & Co, S.B Billimoria & Co and Price Waterhouse & Coopers (PWC) is& Co, ajay Sethi associated with Lovelock & Lewis etc…etc…etc.
– - – How professionally the organisation is run?
– - – Who are the people behind the organisation?
– - – What kind of services does the organisation provide?
– - – Who are the present and the past clients of the CA firm?
– - – Do they absorb the students after they complete the articleship and complete their CA?
– - – what prospects are the students enjoying in the market after completing their articleship from the firm?
– - – What is the reputation of the CA firm in the market?
Q – Why is the information on the CA firms so limited…??
A – According to the rules and regulations of the ICAI and the professional code of ethics issued by the Institute for its members, the CA firms and its members are prohibited to advertise or canvass for business. Also, the web sites of CA firms are regulated by the code of ethics. Hence the information on these are very limited. Whatever limited publicity happens is due to word of mouth.
Q – Does the Size of the CA firm matter?
A – This question is being answered by me in a previous post. Kindly click here to view the same.
I have tried to answer the above questions with utmost sincerity and to the best of my knowledge and from my past expieriences. I hope that it would help the prospective CAs. Incase anyone has more questions, kindly leave me a comment and i shall be more than eager to reply to the same.
Regards
Wish all the prospective Chartered Accountants Good Luck.
CA. Madhur Khandelia
CAclubindia
