These days C.A aspirants are busy burning their midnight oil preparing for the first hurdle on their way to becoming a Chartered Accountant- the CPT. This year the Common Proficiency Test or CPT as it is commonly called, is scheduled to be held on the 22ND of JUNE 2014.

With the rapid growth in economy, careers in finance and accounts have gained tremendous popularity. Chartered Accountancy - the core of all businesses, is a dynamic, challenging and rewarding profession.

What does a Chartered Accountant do?

As a C.A your work will involve compiling, analyzing, verifying and reporting on the financal affairs of businesses and individuals. You will be responsible for providing a wide range of advice about financial control and planning to companies, public bodies and private citizens. You may choose to specialize in particular aspects of financial management. This number-crunching profession offers a wide variety of jobs in any environment- advertising, manufacturing, media, banking, consulting etc and in all sizes of businesses and public enterprises.

On Becoming a C.A

The study route for a student who is interested in pursuing a career in Chartered Accountancy essentially involves 3 main stages –

1. enrolling & apearing for the Common Profieciency Test (CPT) appearing for
2. clearing the Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC)

clearing the CA Final examination.  Following is a detailed outline of the stages involved in becoming a C.A:

You are first required to register with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) after passing class X.

You can then appear for the CPT after appearing for your10+2 exams i.e. the senior secondary examination. The ICAI conducts CPT twice a year i.e. in the months of June & December. However, students have to register for these exams before 1st April & 1st October respectively. Students can only appear for CPT after successfully completing the specified period of 60 days from the date of registration.
AFTER CLEARING THE EXAM
After students have successfully cleared their 10+2 exams and CPT, students are then eligible to enroll for Group I or Group II or both Group I & II of Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) by ICAI.

After enrolling for IPCC, students are then required to successfully complete a 9 month study course from the date of IPCC registration.

After completing a one week orientation course of 35 hours & a 100 hour Information Technology Training (ITT) and clearing IPCC, students are then required to register and practice as an articled assistant for 3 years.

During their training, students also need to register and simultaneously prepare for CA Final Course.

During their last 12 months of their training, students have to undergo a General Management and Communication Skills (GMCS) (15 days) course.

During the last 6 months of their training, students become eligible to appear for the final examination.

After successfully completing GMCS and clearing CA Final exams, students can then enroll as a member of ICAI and be designated as Chartered Accountant.