Dear All,
My name is Shouvik Chakraborty. I am 26 yrs old, B.Com (H), CA Final Student and also doing a job in a private limited company as Accounts Executive. Since the last few months I am facing some kind of experience which I have never faced before. I want to share all my experience with you all.
In 2002 when I was giving the test examination in X standard school, a small phrase raised in my mind, “what I want to be in future”. After researching with the openings at that time by regularly following the newspapers I decided to do CA course. Initially I was told that it was very tough course and very rare Bengalese, belonging from financially sound family, has become a CA. I took chance and chose commerce and became the highest scorer in commerce in my school in XII standard. In 2004 I took admission in Goenka College of Commerce (Kolkata). In my college I had come across many talented students from whom I took the complete details of the course and found that it is one of the cheapest courses in India and also a highly paid profession. In 2007 I became a bachelor in commerce scoring 70% marks. Then, I appeared for CPT and cleared it in first attempt. I joined a semi-big CA firm and cleared the PCC in May’2009 in my second attempt scoring more than 60% marks in five papers out of the six. After finishing my Articleship training I appeared the second group of CA Final (November’2010) for the first time with not enough preparation and as usual failed. I realized that I need in depth knowledge of each paper as I was giving one of the toughest exams in India and started to prepare for myself.
In the mean time expectation (financial) grow among my family members. At that time I was very confused whether to carry on the study for the next attempt or do a job. One of my close friends suggested me to study for the next attempt (May’2011) and gave me credit (as my family is not financially sound) to join coaching classes. After a couple of months I found that I could not concentrate on my studies due to the uncertainty about my future. I started to consult with my seniors. They told me that this feeling is very natural and most common among CA Final students. Most of them told me that they had also gone through this situation before and advised me to join a midsized company and simultaneously study regularly for atleast 2hours a day. At that time I thought how can I study after joining a company? Again confused…..again financial expectation from my family…..uncertainty about future…..low confidence….conclusion, can’t concentrate on my studies. In May this year I joined a company on a pay scale of Rs.1.20 lacs p.a. as Accounts Executive. Now the experience starts.
While doing a job I found difficult to study for the initial two months. It was not very surprising to me as I knew this will happen. After two months, when the responsibilities started to increase in my shoulders (work pressure), I realized that I have to study those topics ,which are directly related with CA final exam, to survive in the company. E.g. Taxation work (related with DT & IDT), making proposal for working capital loan (related with SFM and FM), finalization of accounts (related with Financial Reporting), helping our CS to file return with ROC (related with Law), helping our statutory auditor (related with Auditing & Assurance). I became habituated to study in the night. Now I can study after returning from office and also can support financially to my family.
During this few months tenure I found that most of the CA Final students, like me, quit at this moment, though this is the last step of a great career. Now the question is why? As per my opinion the most common cause is uncertainty about the career. When a student fails attempt after attempt then he/she compares himself/herself with their friends. Then he/she begins to find what are their friends’ earnings, what are their position and gets frustrated. Belief me friends I have many friends who are well established, getting 25,000/- plus in government sector or semi government sector. Many of them are also married. But I know that if I become a CA even after 2-3 yrs from I will be in a position which is far far better than my friends. Think, if you work hard now and become a CA, then there will be no time for retirement for you. You can practice after 60s. In my opinion CA is a type course, which has no time bar to qualify, no income limit, no retirement. When I go somewhere (party, get together etc.) and met new people, the type of respect and honour which I receive from them is unbelievable due to the only reason that I am CA Finalist. I sometimes wonder what a great time is waiting for me after qualifying the final exam. Just think why others respect a CA or a CA Student. Because CA demands not only bookish knowledge but also combination of hard work, patience and courage, which others find very difficult to implement at the same time.
I am writing this for the entire CA Final students, especially for those who are suffering from financial crisis. I know what a middle class CA Finalist may face a situation as I have already faced it. I had many ups and downs in career and am also struggling today. So let’s face the situation. IT’S TIME TO SHOW, WHAT WE ARE MADE OF!
Best of luck to all the CA Students for May’2012.
CAclubindia
