Articles – Page 2 – india vidya

In a society that over values Engineering and Medical courses, Chartered Accounting and Cost Accounting standout as dream careers. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has consistently been churning out meritorious students since its inception in 1949. Around 9 lakh students have enrolled till now and out of that around 1.75 lakh have passed over the past 60 years. This would mean on an average around 3,000 Chartered Accountants join the profession every year. Of late the number of CAs joining the profession each year has moved up to 10,000 plus. As of now 4.5 lakh are still pursuing CA. There is a steady surge in the number of girl students opting for CA course in the recent past. Around a lakh new enrollments take place every year.

The Institute of Cost and works Accountants of India, which was recently rechristened as “the Institute of Cost Accountants of India“ is the only recognized statutory professional organization and licensing body in India specializing exclusively in Cost and Management Accountancy. The institute has 50,000 members and overseas training and qualification of 4,00,000 students aspiring to be Cost Accountants. The need for cost accountants too is growing making this profession also a dream career. You may have several questions and doubts on cost accountancy career, for which answers were given in another article.

Stages in completing Chartered Accountancy and Cost Accountancy:

There are three stages in both Chartered Accountancy and Cost Accountancy. The stages in Chartered Accountancy are Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and IPCC Final. There are two groups in IPCC. After passing Group – I of IPCC, a candidate must undergo a rigorous 3 year on-the-job training as article or audit assistant, articleship. Only members in practice are entitled to engage such assistants. IPCC Final also has two groups. The three stages in Cost Accountancy are Foundation, Intermediate and Final. Intermediate and Final stages have two groups each.

Both the Institutes are integrating skill development courses such as IT Training and Communication skills in these professional programs to meet the corporate requirement for computer and soft skills. It is generally perceived that Cost and Management Accounting is more difficult to qualify than Chartered Accountancy. However demand for Chartered Accountants is more than the demand for Cost Accountants.

Examinations:

The foundation course examinations are held in June and December every year in both the programs. The IPCC and IPCC Final examinations are conducted during May and November every year. In the case of Cost Accountant the examinations are conducted during June and December every year.

While both Chartered Accountants and Cost Accountants are high profile career paths, the market pays higher compensation for CAs. Because of the statutory role that the Chartered Accountants have in certification of Company accounts, they can also have thriving private practice. The growth in the industry during the post-liberalization era has led to high demand for both Chartered Accountant and Cost Accountants. There was no corresponding growth in the qualified professionals. Hence the demand for these professional is here to stay.

A Chartered Accountant usually starts his career with a package of around Rs.6-8 lakh. For successful Chartered Accountants the sky is the limit for their earning potential. The Cost Accounts do have good earnings package, but may be marginally lower than the Chartered Accountants.

Differences between CA and CMA:

1. The Chartered Accountancy course equips the student with in depth knowledge on every aspect of accounting, auditing and taxation where as the Cost Accountant would focus more on cost and financial management leading to a fine balance between expenditure and the available resources.

2. Chartered Accountants are involved in the core accounting work that is a part of day-to-day business. Cost Accountants concentrate on the costing of the financial transactions.

3. Chartered Accountants analyse risk and design of effective financial systems, work on optimizing taxation and undertake auditing work and are authorised to certify the annual reports and balance sheets. On the other hand the Cost Accountants assess the feasibility of projects, design cost controls and management systems for effective cost cutting measures.

4. The skill requirement for Chartered Accountant includes logical and methodical approach in work, attention to details, patience and confidence to handle responsibility. A Cost Accountant needs analytical mind to interpret facts and figures, logical approach in work, attention to detail, ability to communicate expressly and clearly.

5. Those who are extremely good at accounting and number crunching should opt for Chartered Accountancy. For those who are comfortable with accounting and interested in cost management part of it, Cost Accountancy is the right course.

6. In terms of earnings potential, CA is considered to be better as it has got more scope for employment. A Cost Accountant is eligible to undertake Cost Audit under Sec. 233B. But a Chartered Accountant can undertake Cost Audit as well as Statutory Audit. Chartered Accountants are preferred for Tax Audit. Despite continuous efforts to increase the awareness on Cost Audit, many companies are still not implementing this for various reasons.

There are many career opportunities for commerce students. But the dream careers are offered by Chartered Accountancy and Cost Accountancy. Those who want to reach top positions and would like to get involved in high level decision making should pursue these programs. For the hardworking and intelligent students moving away from Engineering and Medicine and pursuing courses like Chartered Accountancy and Cost Accountancy are more lucrative. These professions are promising and success is within the reach of the students. Let a million dreams come true in this fascinating world of accounting and finance. But in the end it all depends on your Dedication to Studies and Experience. Earnings grow automatically.

Students aspiring to seek admission into premier Business Schools are subject to considerable stress due to the requirement of multiple admission tests they are required to attend. This is because our B-School education has evolved over a period of time and developed its own character. For example the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted for admissions into the IIMs has become a prestigious test and became a benchmark. Similarly Xavier Admission Test (XAT) too became a respectable national level management admission test. Both CAT and XAT have become acceptable to a good number of schools offering management education. Now, AICTE has added CMAT for MBA admissions in AICTE approved colleges across the country.

Effective from 2012 admissions, IITs have done away with Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) for admission to the Post-Graduate Programmes in Management offered by IISc Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee. They are now accepting CAT scores for granting admissions.

Apart from these premier admission tests, there are numerous management admission tests conducted by various institutions listed below:

1) International : Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). The test score is accepted by over 5,000 B-Schools across the world, including some in India.

2) National: Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the IIMs. Xavier Admission Test (XAT) conducted by the XLRI. Management Aptitude Test (MAT) for admission into member institutes of All India Management Association (AIMA) and registered AICTE approved colleges and some private universities. AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA). CAT/MAT/XAT/ATMA test scores are also accepted by many other B-Schools.

3) Regional: Many states conduct Common Entrance Test (CET) primarily for admission into the concerned State Universities and affiliated colleges.

4) Institute based: Institutes such Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMAT), IBS (IBSAT), Symbiosis International University (SNAP), FMS Delhi, IIFT, Tata Institute of Social Science, NIFT, Central Universities, etc. conduct their own admission tests.

It has been long felt by aspiring students for business education that the admission tests should be streamlined and the burden on them reduced. Typically a student seeking admission into a reputed B-School appears for 3 to 4 entrance/admission tests ending up spending Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000/- on test fee, preparatory material, coaching fee, transport expenses, etc. This is a big burden on parents and often unaffordable. For students, it is a question of making trade offs as the exams are scheduled from November to February, some times conflicting with their regular academic schedules.

Management Aptitude Test (MAT) conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA) and AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA) conducted by Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) tried to address this problem and designed tests which could be accepted by multiple institutes. In the recent past many B-Schools, most of them recognized by AICTE, have started accepting CAT and XAT test scores as these tests meet the standards and are credible. MAT and ATMA have to come a long way to match the stature of CAT and XAT.

5) Common Management Admission Test (CMAT):

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is conducting the first National level Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)-2012 for facilitating institutions to select suitable students for admission in all management programs approved by AICTE for the year 2012-13. The testing window for computer based test will be open for nine days i.e. from 20th February, 2012 to 28th February, 2012 in 61 cities. The candidates will have option of selecting date and city for appearing in the test. Hyderabad and Vizag are two test centers in Andhra Pradesh.

According to the notification “the initiative has been taken by AICTE to address the issue of physical, mental and financial burden being imposed on the students through a multitude of entrance examinations being followed by the institutions for admission into all Management Programs in AICTE approved institutions and University Departments.” We have to wait and watch to know how far AICTE will succeed in its efforts to minimise the MBA entrance tests.

CA or Cost Accountancy – Which is Better Choice

MBA Entrance Tests in India – CMAT, CAT, XAT, MAT and Others