NRI Wanting To Move Back to India...Help

Come on, please help someone! Google has not been helpful, so someone please help out!

Originally posted by : George Costanza
	Hi,   So basically, I'm an NRI and am studying finance at a US institution. Recently, however, I have decided that I want to move back to India for personal reasons and from what I understand, the CA, not the CPA, is the certification choice for accountants over there. Therefore, I am wondering what someone in my position should do/how NRIs can qualify to sit for the CA exam. I definitely want to finish my coursework here in the US, and that will take around another 1.5 years, but after I finish my undergrad (your equivalent would be Bcomm Honors), what would I need to do to sit for, and then pass the CA exam and work as an accountant over there? If you were in my situation, what would you do? Furthermore, I can guarantee that my accounting in the US will differ slightly from the Indian version of accounting, so are there study materials available to help me learn these differences and be ready for the CA exam?       Finally, I also want to know how much weight, if any, the CPA has over there? Could it also make sense for me to get my CPA and leverage that, or will it basically be worthless in India?         thanks and I'd really appreciate your guys' help!

Here are my thoughts.

1. Do/how NRIs can qualify to sit for the CA exam.  -  If you mean to ask can you sit for the CA exams in the US; I don’t think there are any exam centers so you need to wait until you come back to India (check ICAI's website for more details on the overseas exam centers)

2. Difference in accounting - yes there are differences but you can get used to it easily. This is not an area I would be too worried about; as the DNA of accounting is essentially the same.

Books for help - Not aware of anything too comprehensive but MP Vijay Kumar's book gives a boarder comparison of Indian AS with US GAAPs and there may be plenty others available.

3. CPA's weight in India - Holds a decent value though it’s not something which can replace the Indian CA as far as working in India is concerned but CA + CPA would be a good combination in India.

If I were in your place I would still do CPA in the States before coming back, as the major cost of doing CPA from India is actually traveling from India to US, so better do it while you are there.

Also there might be some exemptions for CPAs in the Indian CA course, though I am not sure about this, just check the ICAI website for it. So you can make good use of these exemptions to reduce the efforts on Indian CA.

Hope this helps.

Hi sir, thanks a lot your reply was very helpful. Few things:

1. I didn't mean if there are centers in the US and I know I'll have to come back to India for that, I was mostly wondering if there are certain requirements, aside from being prepared and paying the exam fee, that one needs in order to sit for the exam. For example, in the US we are required to have a Bach degree and 24 hrs of accounting, 24 hrs of business electives, 150 credit hours, among other requirements before we are allowed to even SIT for the CPA exam. Does the same hold true in India, or is anyone allowed to sit for the exam.

2. Even if there isn't a comprehensive guide, are there general study materials that people find helpful in studying for the exam? Furthermore, how much time will be needed to prepare for the exam and what's the best way to go about doing it?

3. Is a CA and CPA required to work in India or will just a CA suffice? Furthermore, in the US, it is common practice for CPAs to leave public accounting after 4-5 years and go on to work at large companies as financial managers, controllers, CFOs, etc. I was wondering if it is possible for CAs in India who no longer want to work at the Big 4 to also do these sorts of things, or do they usually just open up their own firm? How common is it for CAs to become CFOs or other executives within companies after getting some experience?

THanks a lot for the help though, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time for me and I promise this will be the last round of questions 

Originally posted by : Rohit
	Here are my thoughts. 1. Do/how NRIs can qualify to sit for the CA exam.  -  If you mean to ask can you sit for the CA exams in the US; I don’t think there are any exam centers so you need to wait until you come back to India (check ICAI's website for more details on the overseas exam centers) 2. Difference in accounting - yes there are differences but you can get used to it easily. This is not an area I would be too worried about; as the DNA of accounting is essentially the same. Books for help - Not aware of anything too comprehensive but MP Vijay Kumar's book gives a boarder comparison of Indian AS with US GAAPs and there may be plenty others available. 3. CPA's weight in India - Holds a decent value though it’s not something which can replace the Indian CA as far as working in India is concerned but CA + CPA would be a good combination in India. If I were in your place I would still do CPA in the States before coming back, as the major cost of doing CPA from India is actually traveling from India to US, so better do it while you are there. Also there might be some exemptions for CPAs in the Indian CA course, though I am not sure about this, just check the ICAI website for it. So you can make good use of these exemptions to reduce the efforts on Indian CA. Hope this helps.

Ques 1 - Check out ICAIs website www.icai.org There are three levels and it mentions all the requirements.

Ques 2 - ICAI provides study material for each stage of the exam, which is very good and apart from that you can use other reference books. Look around on this site itself, would give you the list of the latest ones. 

Ques 3 - CA is good enough in India but having an additional qualification is always better as Indian accountancy and finance profession is extremely competitive. Post your CA you can decide on what you like, its common in India for people to even start with industry just after CA and not join public accounting firms at all. CAs in India are very well placed and have been holding very good positions at large corporations including CFOs.

I would recommend a good look at ICAI’s website as it has a lot of information on what you might want to know.  .

Your questions are always welcome.