ICAI president Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal spoke about a long-held desire of the students. Chartered accounting students write exams two times per year. The examinations happen in June and December. The new proposal of ICAI says that the examination will happen three times. The students studying foundation and intermediate levels may write the examination in three attempts. According to the statement of the ICAI president, the CA Final students are allowed to write for two terms only. ICAI has announced the timetable for the 2024 examinations. The dates for the intermediate level are May 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. The CA final dates are May 2, 6, 8, and 12. The blog walks us through the benefits to the CA foundation and intermediate students of this new CA examination structure.
CA Foundation students:
The CA foundation and intermediate students will have examinations in January, May June, and September. The ICAI president mentioned that professional courses around the world receive more flexibility in professional education. The students find it beneficial to take appropriate time to clear the CA examination. The ICAI president is aligning Indian education with international education. The best practices in the education and profession help the students to gain intense knowledge.
CA intermediate students:
ICAI president said after the introduction of the new scheme, student enrolment is experiencing a hike. The working professionals are showing more interest in the CA course. Flexibility matters to the professionals. The official website says the total number of registrations for May or June of 2024 is 4, 36,500 students. CA intermediate students find the new change helpful to clear the CA course in time.
Why a high demand for chartered accountants?
The exam structure of three times a year brings changes in the pass percentage. The number of professionals released per year is notable data for the corporates to recruit people. The top ten professionals contributing to the growth of the Indian economy are doctors, scientists, engineers, auditors, lawyers, legal professionals, bank employees, equity analysts, teachers, and cost accountants. Auditors play a vital role in the legal and financial system of a country. ICAI is conducting an All India managing committee members meeting in Kolkata. The date of the program was the 10th of March 2024. The participants are from 180 cities in India. Around 1200 members are attending this program. The theme of the program is DRISHTI. The theme talks about the vision of the chartered accountancy profession. The members speak about the regional council activities and vision of ICAI. The following points explain the latest changes made by ICAI and the demand for chartered accountants:
- The ICAI president said in a statement that the demand for chartered accountants in future is around 30 lakh professionals. According to the data, the number of chartered accountants from last year is 22,000. The demand for the chartered accountant is far higher than the original number.
- Technologies like artificial intelligence are helping the time management of chartered accountants. Due to a hectic schedule, chartered accountants find it difficult to focus on the analytical work.
- ICAI had initiated a committee for AI. Technological advancement and artificial intelligence help the professional community to develop knowledge.
- ICAI had made peer review mandatory for certain types of audit firms. The audit firm does attestation services. By increasing the quality of attestation services, ICAI increases the trust of the investors.
- The technological advancement, professional ethics, trust building, and scaling up of the profession to international standards increase the value of professionals in the international job market.
- Artificial intelligence is contributing a lot to the compliance work of auditors. AI is similar to the human brain. The technology matches the financial data and laws. The annual report of the company can be converted into a PDF, and this PDF is merged with Chat GPT. The chat GPT will bring the answers to the questions from the 700-page document. The auditor gets the answer through Chat GPT.
- The previous year’s data shows that the number of passed-out student’s number is 22,000. The number of students with an offer of campus placement is 22,000. The average salary offered to beginners in the campus placement is 12.5 lakh. The highest salary in an Indian company is 24 lakh, and the overseas company is with 41 lakh offer. The passed-out number, placement number and salary reveal the demand and value of the chartered accountants.
Final Thoughts:
ICAI had introduced a new course for the rural people. The course is for the municipal bodies and panchayats. The eligibility to join this accountancy course is a pass in the 12th standard. The course duration is four months. The course creates an interest in the low profile jobs. The rural population get more job opportunities. The development of rural India ends up with equal distribution of Income. ICAI and the prime minister’s vision related to accounting firms is to establish a big Indian accounting firm. The committee for aggregation of CA firms work to increase the global professional opportunities for Indians. The functions of the committee for aggregation of CA firms are as follows: merger and demerger guidelines, domestic and overseas networking process, management consultancy services, MDP guidelines, and promoting collaboration with global professional communities. ICAI is focusing on the internal and external growth of the country. ICAI promote job opportunities for domestic people and creates a bridge to fill the gap in global opportunities. The change in the syllabus, scheme and exam structure increases the admission numbers and fills the gap in the demand of the professionals.
