Is B.Com Necessary for CA?

CA Sapna Ghelani | Last updated: 18 August 2021

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While pursuing a Chartered Accountancy (CA) qualification, undertaking a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) degree is not mandatory. You can directly enrol for the CA Foundation exam after completing your 12th standard. However, completing a B.Com can offer advantages such as a recognised backup degree if CA exams prove challenging, and it can complement your CA qualification by adding another academic achievement. Many subjects in B.Com overlap with the CA syllabus, making it manageable to pursue both concurrently.

Students are many times confused about whether to do B.Com along with CA or not. So, the answer to this question is that it is not mandatory and it totally depends on an individual’s choice.

So in case you are confused, below are some points that you can consider before making a decision for the same -

B.Com with CA: Is it Necessary Your Guide

1. Doing B.com is not compulsory if you want to do CA

After clearing the 12th standard, you can directly appear for the CA Foundation Exam conducted by ICAI. There is no compulsion that you have to do B.com along with CA.

But in case you are a Graduate or unable to clear CA Foundation, then there is an option of Direct Entry Scheme by ICAI. It means that you can directly enter into the Intermediate level without passing CA Foundation if you are a Graduate.

2. B.com is very easy if you are doing it along with CA course

The fact is that many subjects in B.com are very similar to those we study in the CA Course. So, it is not at all difficult to clear the B.com exam if you are pursuing CA along with it.

According to me, no classes for B.com are required if you are a CA student. It will be easily manageable.

3. B.com will be an addition to CA aspirants

When B.com will be an easy to achieve degree then why not do it? It will increase the count of degrees that you will hold. Although becoming a Chartered Accountant is also sufficient in itself, there will be no harm also if you do B.com along with it.

Many students do Post Graduate also after graduating. So for them, it becomes a minimum of three holdings - CA, B.com and a Postgraduate Degree.

4. B.com is recognized by universities

B.com degree is a recognized degree by almost all the universities in India. It has a duration of 3 years. Also, it can be done in regular mode as well as in distance learning mode.

5. Backup Option

It may happen that some students won’t be able to get through with CA exams. So, if they would be pursuing B.com along with it, it would act as a backup degree. In case a student is unable to clear CA exams, he may complete his graduation and undergo some good post-graduation degree and get a good job in a company.

6. Some companies prefer to select a CA along with a graduation degree. Also, if further, you want to pursue MBA, as many students desire to do MBA after CA, you need to have a graduation degree.

So, in the end it all depends upon you, what do you want to choose. There is no compulsion to do graduation along with CA but there is no harm also in doing it.

I would always recommend pursuing a graduation degree along with CA. It won’t take much effort.

While deciding, you can keep the above points in mind and make an informed decision.