Chartered Accountancy
Chartered Accountancy
Chartered Accountancy
HISTORY-
The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 was passed on 1st May. The term Chartered Accountant
came to be used in place of Indian Registered Accountants. So the term "Chartered" does not
relate to Royal Charter as in case in UK or Australia as there is no Royal Charter in Republic of
India.
A person shall be admitted as a member of the ICAI after completion of 3 and a half years of
article ship training (apprenticeship) and the passing of the CPT (Common Proficiency Test),
PCE and Final examinations along with Computer Training and IT Certification Course.
Statutory Audit under the Companies Act, 1956 and Tax Audit under the Income-Tax Act, 1961
can be carried out only by Chartered Accountants holding a Certificate of Practice.
The ICAI has also entered into Mutual Recognition Agreements with several overseas
accounting bodies. E.g. the CECA with Singapore. The institute is in process for opening up with
various other countries and governments.
Chartered Accountancy is a much sought after course in India and is considered to be quite
prestigious.
Chartered Accountancy course holds high social and professional repute in India and is usually
the First Choice for students from the commerce field and hence attracts the best of the talent in
the country.
The examinations are very rigorous with very low pass rates. The course involves a blend of
theoretical education and practical training which run concurrently for a period of three years and
equips a student with knowledge, ability, skills and other qualities required of a professional
accountant.
The three and a half years training is the longest in any professional course and it also gives the
student a choice of opting Industrial Training in the last year of the training.
The craze for CA Profession is also fuelled by the fact that a fresh Chartered Accountant in India
earns at least three times then an average MBA or Company Secretary.
The ICAI has recently started Campus Placement for CA's and the response from the industry
was overwhelming. The maximum salary bagged by a fresh CA was 32 Lakhs with average
salary at around 6.5 Lakhs.
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THE INSTITUTE -
The institute is governed by a council in accordance with provisions of the chartered accountants
act,1949 as amended by the chartered accountants {amendment} act, 2006 {no. 9 of 2006} and
the chartered accountants regulations, 1988. the council consists of 40 members of whom 32 are
elected from among the members of the institute and 8 nominated by the government of India.
The institute had its headquaters in newdelhi. In addition, it has 5 regional councils located in
Mumbai, Chennai, kolkata, kanpur and newdelhi and 114 branches spread all over the country.
The institute also has 18 chapters outside India located in abu dhabi, Bahrain, Botswana, doha,
dubai, Indonesia, Jeddah, Kuwait, London, Melbourne, Nairobi, Nigeria, port Moresby, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Toronto and zambia.
As part of its responsibility to regulate the profession of chartered accountancy, the institute
enrolls students for the chartered accountancy course to undergo practical training and monitor
their training. It also holds qualifying examinations for them and grant membership to successful
candidates and certificates of practice to those intending to practice the profession.
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The institute is playing a prominent role in the international accounting bodies by virtue of its
membership and active involvement in the activities of international federation of accountants
{IFAC}, international accounting standards board {IASB, confederation of asian and pacific
accountants {CAPA} and south asian federation of accountants {SAFA}.
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(i) Accountancy: The writing up of accounts and the preparation of Financial statements from
the simplest receipts and payment Accounts of a small club to the complex and detail accounts of
large public limited companies.
(ii) Auditing: The purpose of auditing is to satisfy the users of financial Statements that the
accounts presented to them are drawn up on Correct accounting principles and that they represent
a true and fair view of the state of affairs.
(iii) Taxation: The assessment of taxes is closely linked to financial Accounts. The Chartered
Accountant with his experience in accounts is in an advantageous position to prepare the returns
for tax purposes, represent assesses before the income tax authorities and render general advice
on taxes to his clients. The services of CA may be requisitioned by the tax department for
auditing taxation cases with large revenue potential.
(v) Special Company Work: The services or advice of Chartered Accountants are frequently
sought in connection with matters such as the formation, financial structure and liquidation of
limited companies.
(vi) Investigation: Chartered Accountants are often called upon to carry out investigation to
ascertain the financial position of business house for the purpose of issue of new shares, purchase
or sale or financing of business, finding out reasons for increase or decrease of profits,
reconstruction and amalgamations.
(vii) Executors and Trustees: A Chartered Accountant is also often appointed executor under a
will or trust in order to carry on the administration of the estate or settlement.
(viii) Directorship: Many members of the Institute who hold senior positions in industry and
commerce are also directors of their companies.
(xi) Share Valuation Work: A Chartered Accountant undertakes the valuation of shares of
public and private companies at the time of amalgamation or reorganization.
(xii) Other Activities: Other duties undertaken by a Chartered Accountant includes those of an
Arbitrator for settling disputes specially those connected with insolvency work such as the
preparation of statements of affairs and the duties of a trustee in bankruptcy or under a deed of
arrangement.
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It is an entry level test for chartered accountancy course. It is a test for for subjects i.e.,
Accounting, mercantile laws, general economics and quantitative aptitude with an objective to
test basic knowledge in these subject areas. This test is of 200 marks. This test is divided into
two sessions of two hours each with a break in between. CPT is an objective type test with
negative marking. Subjects to be studied in CPT are as follows:
SYLLABUS-
Objective:
To develop conceptual understanding of the fundamentals of financial accounting system.
Contents-
1. Theoretical Framework
(i) Meaning and Scope of accounting
(ii) Accounting Concepts, Principles and Conventions
(iii) Accounting Standards – concepts, objectives, benefits
(iv) Accounting Policies
(v) Accounting as a measurement discipline – valuation principles, accounting estimates
2. Accounting Process
Books of Accounts leading to the preparation of Trial Balance, Capital and revenue
expenditures,
Capital and revenue receipts, Contingent assets and contingent liabilities, Fundamental errors
including rectifications thereof.
4. Inventories
Basis of inventory valuation and record keeping.
5. Depreciation accounting
Methods, computation and accounting treatment of depreciation, Change in depreciation
methods.
8. Partnership Accounts
Final accounts of partnership firms – Basic concepts of admission, retirement and death of a
partner
including treatment of goodwill.
Objective:
To test the general comprehension of elements of mercantile law
Contents
1. The Indian Contract Act , 1872: An overview of Sections 1 to 75 covering the general nature
of
contract , consideration , other essential elements of a valid contract , performance of contract
and
breach of contract.
2. The Sale of Goods Act, 1930: Formation of the contract of sale – Conditions and Warranties
–
Transfer of ownership and delivery of goods – Unpaid seller and his rights.
3. The India Partnership Act, 1932: General Nature of Partnership – Rights and duties of
partners –
Registration and dissolution of a firm.
Objective:
To ensure basic understanding of economic systems, economic behaviour of individuals and
organizations.
Contents
Objective:
To test the grasp of elementary concepts in Mathematics and Statistics and application of the
same as useful quantitative tools.
Contents
2. Equations
Linear – simultaneous linear equations up to three variables, quadratic and cubic equations in
one
variable, equations of a straight line, intersection of straight lines, graphical solution to linear
equations.
3. Inequalities
Graphs of inequalities in two variables ─ common region.
ELIGIBILITY-
A student who has passed the Class 10 examination conducted by an examining body constituted
by law in India or (an examination recognized by the Central Government as equivalent thereto )
may register for Common Proficiency Test.
A registered student may appear in Common Proficiency Test after he has appeared in the Senior
Secondary Examination (10+2 examination) conducted by an examining body constituted by law
in India or an examination recognised by the Central Government as equivalent thereto and has
complied with such requirements as may be specified by the Council from time to time.
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The unique feature of the entire theoretical education of the Chartered Accountancy curriculum
is the supportive and complementary practical training. A student would undergo theoretical
education and 3 years of practical training after passing Group-I of IPCC/Accounting Technician
(Level-1).
Only on passing group I of IPCC, a student shall be eligible to get registered for articles which
shall now be for a period of 3 years as against existing requirement of 3 ½ years. Further, under
the new scheme a student shall be eligible to sit in Final exam in last six months of his articleship
as against the existing condition to sit in Final examination only after completion of articles. All
such students getting registered for IPCC on or before 31st January, 2009 shall be eligible to sit
in new IPCC examination scheduled for November 2009 as they shall complete 9 months of
study course, 100 hours of Information Technology Training and Orientation Course by that
time.
Instituting a uniform entry level test – the Common Proficiency Test compulsory for all the
students joining IPCC/ATC.
After passing 10th standard examination a student can register for IPCC/ATC with the Board of
Studies and prepare for entry level test while pursuing 10+2 level study;
Introduction of orientation programme and 100 Hours ITT during 9 months of study course &
before appearing in the IPCE/ATE.
Introducing Service Tax and VAT as special module with the purpose of strengthening
knowledge of indirect tax;
Upgraded modules of Audit and Assurance, Cost Accounting and Financial Management;
Imparting basic knowledge of e-filing under the company law leading to development of
advanced knowledge of e-governance at the final stage.
IPCC : Eligibility-
A candidate who has passed CPT and HSC may join the IPCC Course or ATC Course.
Simultaneously, student will also registered for practical training depending upon whether he is
opting for ATC or IPCC.
In addition, a student has to register and undergo orientation progrmme & 100 hours ITT before
appearing in IPCC/ATC.
A candidate who has already passed Entrance Examination or Foundation Examination or PE-1
shall be eligible for enrolment to IPCC subject to complying with relevant conditions.
A candidate who was already registered for erstwhile Intermediate Examination or of PE-II or
Professional Competence Examination cum articleship shall be eligible for enrolment/conversion
to IPCC subject to complying with relevant conditions.
IPCC : Articleship-
The student will be eligible for registration for articleship after passing Group I of IPCC and the
period of Articleship will be three years for fresh students registered under IPCC effective from
3rd December, 2008 while the period of Articleship will continue to be 3 ½years for students
converted from PCC to IPCC. The period so served as an articled assistant under PCC scheme
ofeducation, examination and training, will be reckoned for the purpose of completing 3 ½ years
of Articleship under IPCC.
IPCC : Nine Months Study and ITT Course-
Irrespective of the period served as articled assistant under PCC scheme of education, a student
will have to undergo a study course for a period not less than nine months and complete ITT
course and study course within the nine months period in order to be eligible to appear in either
group or both groups of IPCC.It is stated that nine months period will be counted w.e.f. date
ofconversion / registration to IPCC. It is clarified that any period servedunder PCC will not be
counted for the purpose of nine months study course of IPCC.
The following table will clarify the difference between the existing Professional Competence
Course and the newly launched Integrated Professional Competence Course.
PCC IPCC
Exam Due November 2010 November 2009
Result of PCC/IPCC Exam January 2011 January 2010
Registration of Articleship
NA January 2010
under IPCC
Completion of Articleship
June 2012 January 2013
under PCC/IPCC
It will be advisable to get registered immediately after the result of CPT and before 31st January,
2009 so that you would be eligible to sit in November, 2009 examination.
Conversion From PCC to IPCC-
A student of PCC can apply for conversion to IPCC in the prescribed form can be downloaded
from www.icai.org along with prescribed fee [both groups Rs. 6000/- and group I Rs. 5000/-].
Students can obtain the prospectus of IPCC for Rs. 100/- from any nearest Branch office of the
Institute. For example, a student of PCC for being eligible to appear in IPCC in November, 2009,
the conversion application form needs to be submitted / received in the office of the Institute on
or before 31stJanuary, 2009.Similarly for the May, 2010 examination, the conversion form
should be received in the Institute on or before 31stJuly, 2009.
A student should submit filled in registration Forms for IPCC / ATC course supplied along with
Prospectus available at sales counter of decentralised offices, the cost of Prospectus is Rs. 100/-.
These forms can also be downloaded from Institute's website www.icai.org.
On receipt of filled in form and requisite fee, the appropriate decentralized office will issue study
materials for Group I and/or Group II or IPCC/ATC. The decentralized office will also issue
registration letter. While taking admission to 100 hours ITT with regional/branch office, a
student is required to produce a copy of the registration letter.
IPCC : Syllabus-
Advanced Accounting
Objectives:
(a)To lay a theoretical foundation for the preparation and presentation of financial statements
(b)To gain working knowledge of the professional standards, principles and procedures of
accounting andtheir application to different practical situations,
(c)To gain the ability to solve simple problems and cases relating to company accounts including
specialtype of corporate entities, partnership accounts and
(d)To familiarize students with the fundamentals of computerized system of accounting
Contents:
3. Company Accounts
(a) Preparation of financial statements - Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
Statement;
(b) Profit (Loss) prior to incorporation;
(c) Alteration of share capital, Conversion of fully paid sharesinto stock and stock into shares,
Accounting for bonus issue, Accounting for employee stock optionplan, Buy back of securities,
Equity shares with differential rights, Underwriting of shares and debentures,Redemption of
debentures
(d) Accounting for business acquisition, Amalgamation and reconstruction(excluding problems
of amalgamation on inter-company holding);
(e) Accounting involved in liquidationof companies, Statement of Affairs (including
deficiency/surplus accounts) and liquidator's statement ofaccount of the winding up.
Final accounts of partnership firms - Admission, retirement and death of a partner including
treatment ofgoodwill;
Dissolution of partnership firms including piecemeal distribution of assets;
Amalgamation ofpartnership firms;
Conversion into a company and Sale to a company.
Objective:
To understand objective and concepts of auditing and gain working knowledge of generally
accepted auditingprocedures and of techniques and skills needed to apply them in audit and
attestation engagements and solving simple casestudies.
Contents:
1.Auditing Concepts - Nature and limitations of Auditing, Basic Principles governing an audit,
Ethicalprinciples and concept of Auditor's Independence, Relationship of auditing with other
disciplines.
3.Auditing engagement - Audit planning, Audit programme, Control of quality of audit work -
Delegationand supervision of audit work.
4.Documentation - Audit working papers, Audit files: Permanent and current audit files,
Ownership andcustody of working papers.
5.Audit evidence - Audit procedures for obtaining evidence, Sources of evidence, Reliability of
auditevidence, Methods of obtaining audit evidence - Physical verification, Documentation,
Direct confirmation,Re-computation, Analytical review techniques, Representation by
management.
8.Audit Sampling - Types of sampling, Test checking, Techniques of test checks. Analytical
reviewprocedures.
9.Analytical review procedures.
10.Audit of payments - General considerations, Wages, Capital expenditure, Other payments and
expenses,Petty cash payments, Bank payments, Bank reconciliation.
11.Audit of receipts - General considerations, Cash sales, Receipts from debtors, Other Receipts.
12.Audit of Purchases - Vouching cash and credit purchases, Forward purchases, Purchase
returns,Allowance received from suppliers.
13.Audit of Sales - Vouching of cash and credit sales, Goods on consignment, Sale on approval
basis, Saleunder hirepurchase agreement, Returnable containers, Various types of allowances
given to customers,Sale returns.
14.Audit of suppliers' ledger and the debtors' ledger - Self-balancing and the sectional balancing
system,Total or control accounts, Confirmatory statements from credit customers and suppliers,
Provision forbad and doubtful debts, Writing off of bad debts.
15.Audit of impersonal ledger - Capital expenditure, deferred revenue expenditure and revenue
expenditure,Outstanding expenses and income, Repairs and renewals, Distinction between
reserves and provisions,Implications of change in the basis of accounting.
16.Audit of assets and liabilities.
20.Features and basic principles of government audit, Local bodies and not-for-profit
organizations,Comptroller and Auditor General and its constitutional role.
Objective:
To test working knowledge of business laws and company law and their practical application in
commercial situations.
Contents:
(a)Preliminary
(b)Board of Company Law Administration - National Company Law Tribunal; Appellate
Tribunal
(c)Incorporation of Company and Matters Incidental thereto
(d)Prospectus and Allotment, and other matters relating to use of Shares or Debentures
(e)Share Capital and Debentures
(f)Registration of Charges
(g)Management and Administration - General Provisions - Registered office and name,
Restrictions oncommencement of business, Registers of members and debentures holders,
Foreign registers of members
or debenture holders, Annual returns, General provisions regarding registers and returns,
Meetings andproceedings.
(h)Company Law in a computerized Environment - E-filing.
Objective:
Contents:
1.Introduction to Business Ethics: The nature, purpose of ethics and morals for organizational
interests;Ethics and Conflicts of Interests; Ethical and Sooial Implications of bnsiness policies
and decisions;Corporate Social Responsibility; Ethical issues in Corporate Governance.
Objective:
To nurture and develop the communication and behavioural skills relating to business
Contents:
1.Elements of Communication
(a) Forms of Communication: Formal and Informal, Interdepartmental, Verbal and non-verbal;
Activelistening and critical thinking;
(b) Presentation skills including conducting meeting, press conference;
(c) Planning and Composing Business messages;
(d) Communication channels;
(e) CommunicatingCorporate culture, change, innovative spirits;
(f) Communication breakdowns;
(g) Communication ethics;
(h) Groups dynamics; handling group conflicts, consensus building; influencing and persuasion
skills;Negotiating and bargaining;
(i) Emotional intelligence - Emotional Quotient;
(j) Soft skills - personalitytraits; Interpersonal skills; leadership.
Objectives:
(a)To understand the basic concepts and processes used to determine product costs,
(b)To be able to interpret cost accounting statements,
(c)To be able to analyse and evaluate information for cost ascertainment, planning, control and
decisionmaking, and
(d)To be able to solve simple cases.
Contents:
2.Cost Ascertainment
(c) Direct Expenses: Sub-contracting - Control on material movements, Identification with the
mainproduct or service.
(d) Overheads:
(i) Functional analysis - Factory, Administration, Selling, Distribution, Research
andDevelopment Behavioural analysis - Fixed, Variable, Semi variable and Step cost;
(ii) Factory Overheads- Primary distribution and secondary distribution, Criteria for choosing
suitable basis for allotment,Capacity cost adjustments, Fixed absorption rates for absorbing
overheads to products or services;
(iii)Administration overheads - Method of allocation to cost centres or products;
(iv) Selling and distributionoverheads - Analysis and absorption of the expenses in
products/customers, impact of marketing strategies,Cost effectiveness of various methods of
sales promotion.
Objectives:
(a)To develop ability to analyse and interpret various tools of financial analysis and planning,
(b )To gain knowledge of management and financing of working capital,
(c)To understand concepts relating to financing and investment decisions, and
(d)To be able to solve simple cases.
Contents:
4.Financing Decisions
(a) Cost of Capital - Weighted average cost of capital and Marginal cost of capital;
(b) Capital Structuredecisions - Capital structure patterns, Designing optimum capital structure,
Constraints, Various capitalstructure theories;
(c) Business Risk and Financial Risk - Operating and financial leverage, Trading onEquity.
5.Types of Financing
(a) Different sources of finance;
(b) Project financing - Intermediate and long term financing;
(c) Negotiating term loans with banks and financial institutions and appraisal thereof;
(d) Introduction tolease financing;
(e) Venture capital finance.
6.Investment Decisions
(a) Purpose, Objective, Process;
(b) Understanding different types of projects;
(c) Techniques of Decisionmaking: Non-discounted and Discounted Cash flow Approaches –
Payback Period method, AccountingRate of Return, Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return,
Modified Internal Rate of Return, DiscountedPayback Period and Profitability Index;
(d) Ranking of competing projects, Ranking of projects withunequal lives.
Taxation
Objectives:
(a)gain knowledge of the provisions of Income-tax law relating to the topics mentioned in the
contentsbelow and
(b)To gain ability to solve simple problems concerning assessees with the status of
'Individual'and 'HinduUndivided Family' covering the areas mentioned in the contents below.
Contents:
Objective:
To gain knowledge of the provisions of service tax as mentioned below and basic concepts of
Value added tax(VAT) in India.
Contents:
Objective:
To develop an understanding of Information Technology and its use by the business as facilitator
and driver.
Contents:
1.Introduction to Computers
(b)BUS, I/O CO Processors, Ports (serial, parallel, USB ports), Expansion slots, Add on cards,
Onboard chips, LAN cards, Multi media cards, Cache memory, Buffers, Controllers and drivers
(b)Data organization and Access: Storage Concepts: Records, Fields, Grouped fields, Special
fieldslike date, Integers, Real, Floating, Fixed, Double precision, Logical, Characters, Strings,
Variablecharacter fields (Memo); Key, Primary key, Foreign key, Secondary key, Referential
integrity,Index fields; Storage tecbniques: Sequential, Block Sequential, Random, Indexed,
Sequentialaccess, Direct access, Random access including Randomizing; Logical Structure and
Physicalstructure of files.
(c)DBMS Models and Classification: Need for database, Administration, Models, DMLand
DDL(Query and reporting); Data Dictionaries, Distributed data bases, Object oriented
databases,Client Server databases, Knowledge databases
(d)Backup and recovery - backup policy, backup schedules, offsite backups, recycling of
backups,frequent checking of recovery of backup
(e)Usage of system software like program library management systems and tape and
diskmanagement systems - features, functionalities, advantages
(a)Networking Concepts - Need and Scope, Benefits; Classification: LAN, MAN, WAN,
VPN;Peer-to-Peer, Client Server; Components- NIC, Router, Switch, Hub, Repeater, Bridge,
Gateway,Modem Network Topologies- Bus, Star, Ring, Mesh, Hybrid, Architecture :Token ring,
EthernetTransmission Technologies and Protocols - OSI, TCP/IP, ISDN etc.; Network Operating
System
(b)Local Area Networks- Components of a LAN, Advantages of LAN
(c)Client Server Technology: Limitation of Single user systems and need for Client
ServerTechnology; Servers - Database, Application, Print servers, Transaction servers, Internet
servers,Mail servers, Chat servers, IDS; Introduction to 3- tier and "n" tier architecture (COM,
COM+)
(d)Data centres: Features and functions, Primary delivery centre and disaster recovery site
(a)Internet and world-wide web, Intranets, Extranets, applications of Internet, Internet protocols
(b)E-Commerce - Nature, Types (B2B, B2C, C2C), Supply chain management, CRM,
Electronicdata interchange (EDI), Electronic fund transfers (EFT), Payment portal, E-Commerce
security;
(c)Mobile Commerce, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi5.Flowcharts, Decision Tables.
Objectives:
Contents:
2.Business Policy and Strategic Management: Meaning and nature; Strategic management
imperative;Vision, Mission and Objectives; Strategic levels in organisations
3.Strategic Analyses: Situational Analysis - SWOT Analysis, TOWS Matrix, Portfolio Analysis -
BCGMatrix.
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GROUP 1
GROUP 2
Section C: Customs.
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