What to purse after b.com(general) ca/cs/cwa

Register in C.A. immediately. This you can complete at young age. where as other courses can be completed even after some time. If you are working anywhere else andsalary is ok and with your job satisfy, then go to ICWA 

1. If you are good in accounts and income tax, go for CHARTERED ACCOUNTANCY

2. If you are good in costing, economics and maths, go for COST ACCOUNTANCY

3. If you are good in law and theory papers, go for COMPANY SECRETARYSHIP

As you are interested in accounts and tax, go for C.A

Is bcom needed to pursue ca qualification ? 

Also please can u give information on retirement age for CA ? I am 33 years old engineer who want  to pursue CA now, is it worth it or no ? I need career satisfaction and hence I am doing this, i joined engineering course to please my parents but now i wish to please myself before i die. Please give aa many inputs as possiblw. Thanks

Originally posted by : Peace
	Also please can u give information on retirement age for CA ? I am 33 years old engineer who want  to pursue CA now, is it worth it or no ? I need career satisfaction and hence I am doing this, i joined engineering course to please my parents but now i wish to please myself before i die. Please give aa many inputs as possiblw. Thanks

Retirement Age for a CA

Well CAs generally either set up their own practice or join industry. For a practicing CA, there is no specific retirement age. For CAs working in industry, the retirement age will be as per the policy of the company(just like other professionals). Also nowadays many CAs are setting up coaching classes for CA students(CA is basically a distant education course and since there are no formal colleges, students rely on coaching institutes). There is no retirement age for such CAs too. 

Is it Worth or Not? 

U will have to do practical training(articleship) under a practcing CA for 3 years, during which u will get a stipend which maybe as low as Rs 1000(though its better than that in cities). And if u join a big articliship firm, u may get around 10,000-15,000. So the point is u will have to resign ur job(articleship is a full time vocation and u cant carry on with ur job while doing articleship) and work for a mere stipend. I dont know whether it is practically possible for a 33 year old guy, who may be having a family to support. Maybe if ur spouse is employed with a good job(I assume u are married) or if u are financially well off enough to survive 3 years without a job, u can think of joining the course. Now coming to the question whether it is worth or not, I cant exactly say. Even if u finish ur course in first attempt, u will be around 37. I guess the experience u had in engineering isnt going to count since u are into a new domain. U shall be treated like the other fresher CAs. But of course the years of prior experience u had in industry will definitely give u an extra edge over the other guys. So what I am trying to say is that u may not be getting a salary or a position initially which other CAs of ur age or for that matter other engineers of ur age will be  getting(there can be of course exceptions..such as, if u clear CA with an all India rank...in that case u will catch up with those guys very soon). But having said that, if CA is something u really want to do, it may be worth all the trouble. To put it simply, whether it is worth or not is something which only u can really answer. 

My Suggestion

First of all, intospect why u want to change ur career at this juncture. Is it just because engineering is something which u never really wanted to do or is it because u are really interested in hardcore accounting, taxation,etc.? If it is more bcoz of ur dislike towards engineering than ur interest towards accounting, then why limit ur choice to CA.. If u are interested in management and things like that, why dont u take the more conventional route and do an mba from a good institute? It takes lesser time to complete and also ur work experience in engineering field will be valued there more. Since u have so many years of experience, u can also do exective mba from iims,xlri,isb,etc. But if u r really interested in accounting, u can still opt for cma(instead of CA) which u can pursue while working. Cma also requires practical training, but for that purpose, work experience in industry is also counted(but amnt sure whether work exp in engineering field will be recognised..anyways there are many engineers who hv later on pursued cma). I will suggest u CA only if u want to set-up ur own practice(even other professioanls like cma & cs can practise, but the scope of practice is better in respect to CA). In case thats ur intention, u will have to ensure that u have an alternative source of income at the time of ur articleship as well as during the initial years of practice(it takes some time b4 u start getting adequate revenue from practice,thats why). So choose ur career wisely. Its good that u hv finally decided to please urself. But ensure that whatever u plan to do now is going to really please u eventually.

Originally posted by : Peace
	Is bcom needed to pursue ca qualification ?

No it isnt necessary. In ur case, if u hv scored a minimum of 60% in ur graduation, u will be eligible for direct admission to IPCC(2nd level of the CA course). In case ur % is below that, u will have to take an objective-based test called CPT(1st level of the CA course). 

Thanks a lot for all the information Jithin, and especially for taking the time out to write such lengthy replies. Having worked in IT field for some time now, I know that an MBA is only worth it if you go to a good school and build a network, otherwise its just another excuse to build up student debts. I was also hoping the stipends would be a little better than a measly 1000 rupees, would the CAs earning lakhs themselves not spare a few thousands for the poor interns, its a standard practise across the IT industry to pay interns atleast the transportation charges and a little bit to push them along, plus there's always lunch coupons. I am also disheartened to learn that the pass rate hovers around 5% and there's loads of CAs willing to work for less than 20k a month! I am having a rethink over all this emotion of following your heart because ultimately if I have no money to even take care of myself then whats the point of doing anything. cheers

Originally posted by : Peace
	Thanks a lot for all the information Jithin, and especially for taking the time out to write such lengthy replies. Having worked in IT field for some time now, I know that an MBA is only worth it if you go to a good school and build a network, otherwise its just another excuse to build up student debts. I was also hoping the stipends would be a little better than a measly 1000 rupees, would the CAs earning lakhs themselves not spare a few thousands for the poor interns, its a standard practise across the IT industry to pay interns atleast the transportation charges and a little bit to push them along, plus there's always lunch coupons. I am also disheartened to learn that the pass rate hovers around 5% and there's loads of CAs willing to work for less than 20k a month! I am having a rethink over all this emotion of following your heart because ultimately if I have no money to even take care of myself then whats the point of doing anything. cheers

Hi first of all let me clarify a few things..

No.1-There are no 'loads' of CAs working for below 20k. Whoever has told u this, it is an exaggeration of the actual situation. Of course finding job isnt a cakewalk for a ca fresher nowadays and there maybe some freshers working 4 such low salary. But 20k is in no way representative of the salary generally fetched by ca freshers. At least none of the ca freshers whom I know are working for 20k. And even those who are working for 20k will soon find better jobs. Its a matter of just a couple of years b4 they get the right kind of job. In ur specific case, no company would be that foolish to offer such a low salary to a person with so many years of work experience. Either they will offer u a good pay or not consider u at all. 

2.As I already mentioned, the amt of stipend depends upon many factors such as the size of the firm, location and the attitude of the practising CA 2wards the articles. It isnt going to be as low as 1000 if u do ur articleship frm a medium size firm. I vaguely recollect something my cousin sister had said about one engineer guy doing articleship in the firm where her friend was an article. If I remember correctly, she was saying that the guy was given a much better pay than the other articles. Maybe u can make some enquiries with the big 4 firms and other good and medium sized firms whether there can be a possible increase in ur stipend due to ur qualification and experience. Further u can opt 4 internship in a company instead of articleship during the last year of training(ICAI gives an option to serve the last 10 months of training in industry). Stipend as an intern in a company will be better than that in articleship(but it cant anywhere match the stipend an mba student frm a gud institute gets as an intern). So what I mean is that u can get enough pay during the training period to meet ur basic individual needs. But yeah it is nothing like a salary and u will hv to find an alternative source of income in case there are people depending upon u financially. 

3.Yeah its true that the pass % is very low compared to other professional courses. But if u hv a sound mind and gud analytical skills and is willing to put in loads of hardwork, then u most probably will clear the exams. Now I'm nt saying that all those who clear CA are intelligent guys or those who flunk are mediocre. Majority of the passouts in my opinion are just average or above average guys..& I hv seen some really brilliant guys failing in CA exams. But generally speaking, if u r an intelligent and hardworking guy, the odds of clearing the exam are much higher. But still there is no guarantee in CA exams, unlike other professional courses like engineering,mba,etc. or for that matter the equivalents of CA in other countries(for example, the pass % of CPA US hovers around 50% and the course duration is much shorter than CA). So there is definitely a risk element when u opt 4 CA. 

If CA is just a career alternative 4 u, its better 2 drop the whole idea, especially when there are many other good courses available which u can pursue without resigning ur job. But if CA is more of a dream for u, then u dont hv to right away drop the plan. I'm nt saying that u straight away get into dream chasing mode. But u can at least give it a try. If u first register 4 cpt instead of taking direct admission to ipcc on the basis of graduation, then u can pursue upto ipcc without resigning ur job(coz in this case u dont hv to start ur articleship until the completion of ipcc). By the time u finish ipcc, u will be having a better idea of the whole course. Now u view CA course as an outsider. As u enrol into the course, u will get an insider's view and can make a re-assessment of ur passion towards CA. Another benefit is that u can assess ur performance in the ipcc exams. If u do well in ur ipcc amidst ur hectic work schedule, that will immensely boost ur confidence in facing the CA final exams. While doing ipcc, be in touch with CAs with gud no of years of working experience in industry and take their opinion regd the job prospects after clearing CA at an age of 38-39 years.  Also take their inputs regd the possibility of getting a different profile than an ordinary CA fresher, considering ur prior education & experience. Further consider the job opportunities that u can get in ur present domain in case u make a comeback after a break of 4 years(coz nobody can assure u 100% success in CA exams). After weighing all the pros & cons, take a decision. Even if u decide to discontinue CA, its not going to be a loss to u. Ofcourse u will lose some money in the form of reg fees,etc. but u are also learning some new things. Also, CA is one career which u can start at any age. As I mentioned earlier, there is no retirement age for a practising CA and one can set up practise at any age. When u reach such a point in ur life where u decide to quit ur current career, u can think of resuming CA course. There are people who hv done it b4. CA S.D.Bala who is now a famous teacher joined CA course after retiring from bank. He is now having a very good career as a CA tutor. When my cousin sister was doing her GMCS(GMCS is a compulsory program 4 honing d communication skills of CA students), she met a 70-year old CA student there. He wasnt doing CA to just add one more professional degree to his name(he is already a practising company secretary) but wanted to set up his own practice as a CA. There are many such people who have dared to chase their dream. I know u r at such an age where u cant just jump into smething and shld be much more pragmatic abt ur choices. But at the same time, give due respect to ur dreams,whatever they are, and try to attain them within ur limitations.