What CA Students Should Learn During their Articleship?

The Chartered Accountancy (CA) Articleship is an essential and mandatory part of the CA curriculum, managed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). It is a practical training period that every CA student must undergo to gain hands-on experience in various aspects of accounting, auditing, and finance.

Here are key points about the CA articleship:
– Duration: The articleship is a three-year training period that typically begins after passing either Group I or both groups of the CA Intermediate examination (previously known as IPCC).
– Registration: Students must register for the articleship within a specific timeframe after clearing the CA Intermediate exams. They need to find a practicing chartered accountant or a firm of chartered accountants under whom they can undergo this training.
– Scope of Work: During the articleship, students are exposed to a wide range of financial and accounting tasks including auditing, tax returns, financial reporting, and consultancy services. This hands-on training is designed to equip them with practical skills and knowledge that are crucial for their career as a chartered accountant.
– Stipend: Articleship is a paid training, and the stipend varies based on the city or town's tier, the size of the firm, and the policies of the individual firm. The stipend is generally modest but is meant to support the basic expenses of the trainees during their training period.
– Leave and Exams: Students are allowed to take leave for exam preparation, and this is accounted for in the three-year training period. However, excessive leaves can extend the duration of the articleship.
– Assessment: The ICAI mandates periodic assessments during the articleship. Students are required to complete these assessments to proceed with their final CA exams.
– Transfer/Secondment: The regulations allow for transfer or secondment under specific circumstances within the first year of articleship. This provides some flexibility to students who need to change their training environment due to various reasons.
– Completion: After completing the articleship and passing the CA Final examination, the trainees are eligible to apply for membership with the ICAI and practice as Chartered Accountants.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Accounting and Preparation of Financial Statements
2. Audits
3. Taxation Matters
4. Company Formation
5. ROC Compliances
6. Due Diligence
7. Project Financing
8. Other Assignments

Introduction

It is fair to say that articleship is one of the most important phases in the journey of CA (Chartered Accountancy) course. Once a candidate clears both the groups of Intermediate examination, he/she has to mandatorily complete two years of practical training under a Chartered Accountant (known as the principal) permitted to train Articled Assistants.

CA articleship helps students in developing the required skills for applying theoretical knowledge to practical situations and mould them into true professionals by providing them with the necessary experience to handle clients in the real world and helping them develop a professional attitude and better communication skills. Articleship also serves as a stepping-stone for those candidates who are planning to start their own practice post CA qualification. It is at the option of the candidate to choose the field in which he/she wants to pursue his/her articleship based on his/her area of interest.

The work profile in articleship differs from firm to firm. Some firms may for example, have large clients requiring internal audit, hence the candidate will get an in-depth exposure to mostly internal audit assignments; whereas some mid-size firms may have multiple clients with varied assignments including statutory audits, bank audits, tax compliance, internal control testing, etc. Majorly, the scope of work of articleship can be summed up in the following points:

1. Accounting and Preparation of Financial Statements

During articleship, students are required to familiarise themselves with the basic accounting software which their clients are using and they may also get an opportunity of hands-on experience in those software for accounting of those clients’ day to day transactions. Also, some CAs undertake the work of accounting and preparing financial statements of their clients which one should learn at the time of articleship so that they can become confident in implementing the same in future.

2. Audits

During articleship, an articled assistant may come across different types of audit assignment like tax audits, bank audits, stock audits, internal audits, statutory audit, etc. which he/she might be expected to undertake. These audits help in developing a questioning and a skeptical mind. These assignments also give opportunities to have meetings with client officials and resolve various audit points thereby improving one’s presentation and communication skills. Audit includes vouching and verification of samples on test basis to verify the accuracy of the financial statement area or the population in hand. It will also help in understanding the business operations of the clients in detail.

3. Taxation Matters

Taxation is divided into two main fields i.e. Direct Tax (particularly Income Tax) and Indirect Tax (particularly GST). Taxation matters include different types of work like computation and preparation of Income Tax Returns (ITR) of various entities, ITR Form filing on income tax portal, filing of GST Returns, filing of TDS Returns, calculation of capital gains, providing tax consultancy, preparing submissions and replies to the notices issued by the income tax department/GST department and representing to the department on client’s behalf, etc. It also requires timely compliances of filing various forms within prescribed due dates. Taxation also opens up niche profiles like international taxation, transfer pricing, etc. which provide expertise in specific areas to the articles.

4. Company Formation

Chartered Accountants are authorized to approve and certify all the documents that are required in company registration process. Many firms undertake the responsibility for digitally signing forms for ascertaining Director Identification Number, getting the approval of the company name from MCA as per the rules, drafting of Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association, etc. Getting an experience working in this area during articleship will definitely open up his/her mind with the practicality of the issues being studied in the Course.

5. ROC Compliances

The annual ROC compliances are detailed reporting of the business procedures that every registered company/LLP in India should submit within the due date prescribed under the Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies Rules. The basic work profile includes running through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) website, learning to file different ROC forms with required attachments, digital signature and final submission.

6. Due Diligence

Due diligence is the process or analysis done by CA to be undertaken before any investment, acquisition, partnership in order to determine the value of the subject/asset of the due diligence and whether such decision is viable/profitable. Under due diligence, articles get to learn about drafting of due diligence report, areas of focus while conducting due diligence, types of due diligence report and its importance, etc.

7. Project Financing

Project finance is a long-term financing of any business enterprise generally of the nature of infrastructure and industrial projects based upon the projected cash flows of the project. Firms prepare projected cash flows, tests financial feasibility, finalize sources of funds, vet detailed project report, etc. Working in this area can help an Article develop a financial perspective of different businesses along with the pragmatic dealing with the important ratios.

8. Other Assignments

Other assignments may include valuation of shares, insolvency compliances, SOX audit, GAAP conversion, other certification works, etc. Articleship can include various other works depending upon the size of the firm and nature of the clients.

Articleship makes a candidate a responsible and versatile professional bearing a constant pressure of handling and completion of assignments within the timelines. It provides the requisite skill-set for a candidate to work in corporate sector or even starting his/her own venture. CA Course tests determination and perseverance of students which shall require right learning attitude so as to manage the studies along with articleship. The better the learning experience in articleship, the more are the chances that a candidate will possess a problem-solving approach which shall prove to be of utmost importance in every phase of his/her life.

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Important Software Skills Required for CA Students