Chartered Accountancy

What it takes to be a Chartered Accountant!!

My contemporaries, some of whom had either acquired a medical or an engineering degree, or were sure to get one within a year or so, often queried, "How much longer will it take you to be a CA?" It was, I must say a very difficult question to answer. Others were married or were well settled in business. This would leave me perturbed and shivering ...

Yes, this is what a Chartered Accountancy student is all about.

From innocence to experience. It is a journey through the ups and downs of life itself, because a student of the Chartered Accountancy course experiences various emotions. It is a novice’s graduation to not only professional but also a philosophical maturity brought about by this vexatious course.

The entry to the course is perhaps all too easy. Yes, enrolling as a student of Chartered Accountancy is a surprisingly simple process, but emerging as a Chartered Accountant is most definitely not. There is trauma and tribulation, not to mention endless number of tests you got to clear. Your life narrows down to a numbing routine of study, work, and more study, punctuated only by painful treks... . to examination centres almost every six months.

The enrollment as said above is a simple task and it leads to a simultaneous entry to a saga of a 3-year journey through articleship. A saga of fun and camaraderie. A saga of toil and sweat. The 3 years teach the fledgling accountant the art of accounting and something besides - the art of survival.

Articleship is a necessity to the course, a must for becoming a successful Chartered Accountant. The first year, though for an article may be at the bottom of the ladder, but has a pivotal role to play. He/ She is the firm’s face to the world. is a necessity to the course, a must for becoming a successful Chartered Accountant. The first year, though for an article may be at the bottom of the ladder, but has a pivotal role to play. He/ She is the firm’s face to the world.

The second year, article has settled down, and can be said is a beginning of a more matured, more trained article.

In the third year, comes up a fresh problem- the problem of unwanted freedom. Freedom because the article has to finalise audits all by himself.

After the completion of 3-years or on the verge of completion, fate smiles one of its beatific smiles.

The article clears the Chartered Accountancy exams. Incredulous bosses turn up, sheepishly to offer congratulations! Retributions at last!

The innumerable number of tests, or so to say GROUPS is not an easy task to sail through. The Foundation is the beginning of the hardship, leading to the Intermediate - and then comes the most dreaded Final examinations.

I, a student of Chartered Accountancy before joining the esteemed and extremely formidable (especially so for beginners) course of Chartered Accountancy, had visualised all the future pros and cons that were inherent and the uncertainty attached to passing the CA Final exams.

The best part of the whole story is that till you actually sail through the Final exams you are an almost 0% Chartered Accountant.

Now, that you have scaled the summit and attained the objective that had consumed all working hours, all that is left to figure out is what you will do next - armed of course with that precious CA qualification.

Some get a job easily with a 5-figure pay packet and others gather up the courage to start yet another journey of success - practicing as a Chartered Accountant!!

... But that is a whole new story altogether. I ‘ll share those experiences with you too - just let me pass my Finals! Gotta go now, the books beckon... .

Pooja Saraf