[FAQs] Chartered Accountancy CA – Articleship Related Questions

• While pursuing CA course, the candidate after clearing intermediate one/ both group(s) needs to undergo articleship/practical training under a practicing CA. The option of going for Industry Training is available with the candidate only after completion of two years of the training period, i.e., in the third (last) year of articleship.
• During articleship in a firm, the aspirant gets an opportunity to learn and come across all the practical aspects of work covered in the CA Curriculum especially those related to consultancy. The level of work delegated shall vary with the succeeding years in articleship.
• Industrial Training basically refers to training in a corporate/industrial environment that assists an individual to develop the potential skills of working in the said environment, handling greater responsibilities on a wide platform, in order to give an insight to the candidate of the role of CA in the industry. As this training demands a matured and responsible attitude, the same has been permitted for only in the last year of CA articleship. Hence, a student who desires to opt for a career in industry after qualifying as a CA should preferably proceed with the industrial training.
• List of approved firms by ICAI for Industrial Training can be accessed from the following link – https://www.icai.org/post.html?post_id=823
• At the end, both serve the purpose of giving practical exposure to the candidate, however the choice rests in the hands of individual.

Eligibility Criteria

A CA candidate in order to be eligible to undergo industrial training as a part of his articleship must fulfill the following criteria as per the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 –

1. Should have cleared both groups of CA Intermediate.
2. Completed 18 months of practical training/articleship with a CA Firm.
3. Must give a notice to the principal, at least 3 months prior to the commencement of such industrial training.

Procedure

The candidate must fill in Form No. 104 in order to register himself for the industrial training. The same can be filled and submitted online by logging into the SSP Portal (https://eservices.icai.org).

The duration of practical training in CA course is three years. It is mandatory for the aspirant to undergo the first two years of the training period with a practicing CA i.e., a CA firm. However, in the third year, there is an option of choosing between either continuing the training under the same practicing CA or going for industrial training with a CA in industrial employment (Note: Industrial training shall be received under a member of the Institute working in the company/industry where the article registers as an Industrial Trainee).

For aspirants pursuing CA through Foundation Route: The training period of three years starts, once they clear either one or both the groups of Intermediate and on completion of the four-week Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (ICITSS).

For aspirants pursuing CA through Direct Entry Scheme: The training period of three years starts immediately after registering for the Intermediate Course and on completion of the four-week Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (ICITSS).

ICAI has recognized the need of the talented students in search of good firms/industry who could mould them towards a better career, and at the same time the reputed companies/firms in search of bright human resources, who are ready to learn and explore new facets of industry.

Keeping in mind both of their requirements, it on-boarded as a mediator to bridge the gap between the two and launched the official portal https://app.icai.org/homepage wherein the companies come forward and get themselves registered, post vacancies and select candidates by following their recruitment process.

Likewise, the students too can come forward and search for vacancies on this portal and connect with their desired firms/industries to get the best experience during this period of three years of articleship that forms a vital part of the CA course.

Vacancies for both articleship as well as industrial training are posted on this site by various firms/industries, thus, assisting the candidates to search as per their requirement.

• “Big 4s” is the name given to the network of top 4 accounting firms (in terms of revenue and workforce) in the United States. Big 4 comprises of Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG).
• Services offered by them include auditing, tax, strategy & management consulting, valuation, market research, assurance, legal advisory services and the like.
• These firms have their offices worldwide and cover most of the auditing work of the largest public companies in the world.

Benefits of doing articleship in any of the Big 4 firms are enumerated below-

• Outstanding knowledge and incompatible expertise at a very young age.
• Good client contacts and exposure to varied fields and industries.
• Opportunity to work with experts in specific fields and thus, acquire knowledge and experience.
• Challenging projects including international opportunities.
• The recognition given in these companies helps one build great self-confidence.
• Gateway to a bright and secure career owing to the experience of Big 4s being highlighted in the resume.
• In-depth application of the theoretical knowledge acquired during the initial years of study.
• Early experience of real and corporate world.

Modes to apply for practical training (articleship) in Big 4 Firms:

1. Company’s Official Website

One can directly browse the company’s vacancies/career section on the official website, to search if there is any requirement for the same.

Also, one can e-mail the resume on company’s official e-mail id, which can be easily accessed from the contact details section available on the website.

2. ICAI BOS Articleship Portal

One can also take the advantage of the online job search facility introduced by ICAI with regard to exploring vacancies with the firms/companies registered on the portal. One can easily visit https://app.icai.org/homepage, login to the same and connect with Big 4s if they have posted any vacancy on the said portal by following the prescribed procedure.

3. ICAI Notice Board

Big 4s often advertise their article/job vacancies on the Institute’s Regional Notice Board depending upon the location of their respective branch office in which such vacancy arises.
So, one must keep checking the same for the latest updates.

For instance, the link to browse vacancies on the Notice Board of Institute’s Western India Regional Council is https://www.wirc-icai.org/article-vacancies.

4. Online Job Portals

There are many online job portals like Naukri, Monster, etc. which can help one to connect easily with the aspired articleship firm/company. He/She can forward the resume to such portals mentioning the accurate requirement and if found suitable, the companies shall contact him/her directly.

5. Personal Contacts and References

One can always make use of his/her personal contacts (family, friends, mentors, etc.) or any references who are already working in any of the Big 4s or is indirectly connected with any such employee working in these companies.

Such contacts can at times at least help one forward his/her resume to the HR department.

6. Online Professional Networks

In the recent times, online professional networks like LinkedIn, Udyomitra, Xing, etc. have served job hunters in a great way to find their dream job.

So, one is advised to stay active on such networks too, by creating a profile on the same. Here, he/she can get an opportunity to directly connect with the HRs of respective companies/firms.

• Dummy training in CA is when one gets registered with a practicing CA for a mandatory period of three years but do not attend the office, i.e., all the things are merely on paper and no actual training is being imparted by the principal to the article.
• Basically, the said practice is not legally acceptable as per the guidelines laid down by the institute.
• So, such a training would be imparted only by a CA who is a family member or in very close contact of the article.
• Some CAs agree to provide dummy training, but only at the cost of some remuneration (varies from city to city) for bearing such risk, as it involves going against the norms laid down by ICAI.
  Note: It is not advisable to undergo dummy articleship as it deprives one of the very core of the CA Course i.e. essential practical knowledge.

A CA aspirant can always choose areas of training based on his or her personal interests from the many fields available. However, when the candidate is about to begin his articleship, he/she is a newcomer to the practical world of CA and has no idea about the various aspects of the work done by a firm.

As a result, a candidate should always try to select a firm that specialises in a variety of fields. However, some of the options to consider for articleship training are the following:

• Tax Audit
• Bank Audit
• Statutory Audit
• Stock Audit
• Insurance Audit
• Internal Audit
• SOX Audit
• ERP Audit
• Accounting Work
• Drafting of Certificates and Reports
• ROC Work
• Assisting in Litigation Matters, Scrutiny Proceedings
• Preparing Project and Finance Reports
• Taxation matters including Direct and Indirect Taxes
• Consultancy
• Transfer Pricing and other International Taxation matters

The minimum rates of stipend to article assistant during articleship are prescribed by ICAI under the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988.

The rates of minimum monthly stipend payable are fixed depending upon the situation of the place of service of the articled assistant. They are mentioned as follows-

However, the aforementioned amount is only the minimum amount prescribed by the institute, and a higher amount of stipend may vary depending upon the size of the firm/ industry in which the articled assistant is engaged.

As per the norms specified by the ICAI, the articled assistant is eligible for taking leaves equal to 1/6^th of the articleship period served by him/her. Here, period served by him/her means period of actual service (excluding leaves).

For instance,

• Total No. of Days Served – 365*3 = 1,095
• Less: Total Leaves Taken (other than weekly holidays) = 140
• Actual Period Served (1 – 2) = 955
• Entitlement of Leave (1/6^th of Actual Period Served) – 955/6 = 159

Excess Leave allowed – (2 – 4) = Nil

Note:

• Days on which a trainee appears for examination conducted by the Institute (including holidays) are considered as period on duty.
• The day/days on which the articled assistant is attending any seminar, conference or any other workshop with the consent of the principal, organized by the Institute shall be included in the period actually served and not counted as leave.

Articleship period in CA course is of three years. The rules for transfer as prescribed by the Institute are discussed henceforth.

List of all the forms that might be required for/during CA articleship is as follows-

The key forms required by the article for/during the training period –

Form 102 – Deed of Articles

It is the contract between the prospective article and the principal which needs to be executed on a Non-Judicial Stamp Paper or Special Adhesive Stamp Paper.

The same is executed for a period of 3 years and signed by both the articled assistant and the principal.

The articled assistant shall retain a copy of the same for his/her record while the principal shall keep the original copy.

There is no requirement of sending the said deed to ICAI.

To fill the said form online, login to the Self-Service Portal (https://eservices.icai.org/) and go to Articleship icon wherein the articled assistant needs to click “Articleship Deed Form -102”, fill in the details as asked for.

Later download the deed PDF and execute the same on a stamp paper and keep a scanned copy of the same ready for upload.

For any queries, one can refer the manual provided by ICAI at https://resource.cdn.icai.org/55785sspfaq-articles.pdf

Form 103 – Articleship Registration Form – Statement of Particulars

After submitting Form 102, once again login to SSP and go to “Submitted Applications” tab and click on “Articleship Deed Form” icon.

Click on ‘View’ button in the ‘Action’ column.

Further, tap on “click here” to edit the application and fill the registration form as asked for.

Once the form is submitted by the candidate, the principal needs to login and approve the registration form, from the “Forms for Approval” tab.

Later on, the candidate needs to upload signed and scanned copies of Form 102 and Form 103 in PDF format.

Click on Submit and make the fee payment as applicable.

On approval of registration request by the regional office, the candidate gets registered for articleship under the said member.

Form 108 – Service Certificate for Articleship

Once the period of three years of articleship registration is completed, the student can see the Articleship Completion Form in the Articleship Tab.

Thus, on completion of articleship period after three years from commencement of articleship, the Member (Principal) can fill and submit Form 108 (being shown in his/her login details on the SSP) for the candidates registered under him/her.

The candidate may find all the forms which are applicable for him/her in the “Other Forms” tab, and fill and submit the same accordingly as per the requirement.

One may also refer the following link https://www.icai.org/post/help-us-to-serve-you-better-a-little-compliance-can-save-you-from-lot-of-discomfort for any further queries.

A CA student can pursue other courses along with CA. But the aspirant must keep in mind that he/she must take this step only if he/she is passionate enough to do the same as it shall involve additional effort and time, and must not do it merely for the sake of gathering degrees.

ICAI has prescribed certain regulations regarding the same which can be referred from the link https://www.icai.org/post.html?post_id=137.

Also, a student must precisely plan his career path well in advance and only then proceed for pursuing any of the courses. This would help him/her save time and money. The exemptions which are provided by other similar courses while doing CA have been explained herewith –

Note: Attendance at the other course taken up along with CA cannot be compromised and must be outside the working hours of the CA Articleship.