ICAI provides the accounting technician course for students who have completed the foundation course, and one group of Inter. Students can opt for this course when joining the CA intermediate course. If the students have not opted, they can submit the registration form for the accounting technician course. After 12 months of job experience, the students get eligibility to write an ATC examination. After paying the fee, the students receive the study materials for the ATC examination. The ATC examination is for the members of ICAI. Similarly, the new CA scheme offers business associate certificates for students with CA intermediate qualifications. After passing CA intermediate, the student should complete the self-paced online exams, and integrate courses on IT and soft skills. After passing these two examinations and paying relevant fees to the council, the student receives the business associate certificate. RR Academy intends to provide information regarding the business associate certificate.
CA intermediate examination:
The new scheme has six papers in the intermediate and final levels. The old scheme was with 36 months of practical training. The new scheme offers 24 months of practical training. Students get six months of a gap for learning the CA final course. Under the new scheme, the students should get one year of real-time job experience to get a certificate of practice. At the intermediate level, students have six subjects. The two accounting papers are merged and given as advanced accounting. The syllabus for accountancy is the same as the previous batch. Students read business law at the foundation level and corporate law at the intermediate level. The subject Enterprise information system is outdated. The student will learn about technology at the final level. Important dates in 2024 for CA students are May 2024 (the first examination for intermediate and final students under the new scheme), and June 2024 (the first exam under the new CA scheme for the foundation level).
Self-paced online modules:
The purpose of a self-paced examination is to inculcate creative and cross-disciplinary thinking. The National Education Policy 2020 insist on incorporating a multi-disciplinary approach. The self-paced examination satisfies the needs of NEP and the global education system. Set A consist of economic laws, and Set B consist of strategic cost management and performance evaluation. Set C and D are elective subjects. The ten subjects in set-C are risk management, government accounting and public finance, integrated sustainability reporting, introduction to the digital ecosystem and transformation, international taxation, arbitration, mediation and conciliation, forensic audit, financial services and capital markets, forex and treasury management and valuation. The five elective papers in set D are the constitution of India, entrepreneurship to include MSME and start-ups, Psychology, communication and philosophy. Set D papers are related to general awareness and not subject-oriented papers. General awareness and knowledge are essential for practising chartered accountants.
Integrate course on IT and soft skills:
In the integrated course on IT, the students will learn about communication skills, management skills and information technology. The syllabus for the IT course covers the following topics: Word, Excel, PowerPoint presentation, MS- Access, CAAT, data analytics, audit techniques, data analysis using IDEA, advanced-level data analytics, Tally ERP 9, and the Income-tax e-filling process. The management and communication skills subject has lessons as follows: leadership and management, conflict management, communication skills, time management, business communication, negotiation skills, leadership, team building skills, interview preparation, professional ethics, office etiquette, strategic thinking, project management, emotional intelligence, and presentation skills. The course helps the professionals to understand the technological world and ways to communicate clearly to the team members. The classes are for six hours per day and go for five days. The course fee is 7000 per head.
ICAI certificates other than CA:
Apart from the fundamental certificate, the specialised certificates offered by ICAI are given below: ADR (Arbitration, mediation and conciliation), anti-money laundering laws, business responsibility and sustainability reporting, concurrent audit of banks, cooperatives or NPO, corporate social responsibility reporting and impact assessment, derivatives, enterprise risk management, financial markets and securities laws, forensic accounting and fraud detection, forex and treasury management, fundamental and technical analysis of stocks including equity research, GST, Indian accounting standards, intellectual property rights laws, internal audit, public finance and government accounting, UAE corporate tax, wealth management and financial planning, insurance and risk management, information systems audit, management and business finance, and international taxation.
Level of difficulty in CA final examination:
The final level has six papers. The subjects are financial reporting, advanced financial management, advanced auditing and professional ethics, direct tax laws international taxation, and indirect tax laws. Paper six is an elective paper. Paper six is about integrated business solutions. The areas of selection for a multi-disciplinary case study are as follows: risk management, international taxation, financial services and capital markets, economic laws, and global financial reporting standards. The final level examination has both objective and subjective types of questions. There is a negative marking of 25 per cent for the subjects in the CA final examination.
The difficulty level in the CA final examination and the ways to handle the challenges are listed below:
- Objective-type questions and negative markings make the student bother. The students find the subjects as new. As there is negative marking, learning a complete syllabus only helps the students.
- Subjective type of questions are easy to answer with practical knowledge during the practical training. The advanced-level topics require intensive preparation. Many students take online classes six months after the article ship training. Focusing on a difficult subject with a crash course brings the desired results. Self-analysis of strength and weakness improve the performance of the students.
- A multi-disciplinary case study is an open-book problem-solving paper. In the case of case studies, the corporate story and the notification from ICAI are important fundamentals. In this paper, students need extra preparation. The different laws covered in this subject are corporate law, securities law, FEMA, insolvency law, business strategy and management, competition law, interpretation law, and governance issues. Group study, group discussion, taking notes and increasing writing ability help the students.
Final Words:
A business accounting associate certificate is the identification for the CA students to use their professional skills. CA final is a difficult examination. Students make multiple attempts to clear the examination. The professional certificate from ICAI for members creates more job opportunities. CA intermediate is accepted as a B.com graduate. The business accounting associate certificate in the bio-data highlights the candidate’s profile from other profiles. Accounts departments have junior and senior-level positions depending upon the capacity and experience of the candidate. BAA certificate boosts the confidence and opportunities of the students.