A Chartered accountant is one who is specialised in accounting, auditing and taxation. He also serves as a management and corporate caretaker. In recent times, accountancy has become popular as a profession. The services of a CA is required in money matters even in a small business . Moreover according to the Company Act only CA's in professional practice are allowed to be appointed as auditors of companies in India. A chartered accountant is a person who is accepted as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) after having passed the Final examination of the Chartered accountancy course conducted by the institute.
Many multinational companies have come forward in the Chartered
Accountancy field. ICICI Prudential, Om Kotak Mahindra, Birla Sun-Life, Tata AIF Life, Reliance, HDFC Standard Life-Chartered Accountancy Co., Max New York Life, SBI Life Chartered Accountancy, ING Vysya Life etc. are the top companies in the private sector. In non-life Chartered Accountancy segment, major private players are ICICI Lombard, Royal Sundaram, Cholamandalam, IFFCO Tokyo, Tata AIG etc. All Chartered Accountancy companies come under the Chartered Accountancy Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) which is established to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of Life and General Chartered Accountancy industry in India.
CA programme is a professional course which has three sections namely, Common Proficiency Test (CPT); Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and Final Course. The registration for CPT and IPCC is open throughout the year. A student may register at any time during the year. However, as the examinations will be held twice a year in May and November, it is necessary that a student must register at least ten months before the examinations. After passing the Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) candidates are eligible for registration as articled clerks/ audit clerks for practical training. Computer Training Programme, ie 100 hours Information Technology is compulsory for the candidates who wish to register themselves as auditor clerk. Students can undergo this programme while pursuing CPT or IPCC.Articled clerk is a trainee attached to a practicing chartered accountant under a Deed of Articles for the duration three years. During this period the articled clerk will also need to continue studies for the CA exam. An audit clerk is a person who has served as a salaried employee for a minimum period of one year under a practicing chartered accountant. During the training period, candidates would be required to work in different areas learning the basics of auditing and taxation . This training enables them to learn the technical details of the job as well as to get an idea of the working environment of the profession.