Chartered Accountant (CA) is an international accounting designation granted to accounting professionals in many countries around the world. CA is a bright career opportunity for students looking forward to building a career in the field of accounts. 

Since the implementation of the Goods and Services (GST) Act, the demand for CA has increased across the country. Qualified CA professionals can work across sectors ranging from private to government sector.  As per estimates, there is a demand for more than 10 lakh CAs in India alone. There is a large number of employment opportunities for CA. Nowadays, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) also provides for campus placement services in various cities.

CA certificate course is conducted by the ICAI. ICAI was established through an act of the Parliament passed in 1949. Students pursuing CA have to register themselves at the institute. 

CA is a course that enables you to earn more if a CA starts his/her firm rather than doing a job. While it is generally considered that to pursue CA as a career, an individual needs to pass 10 + 2 from commerce subject, however, students who have passed class XII from any stream can appear for CA.

CA Exam - Stages, Papers & Eligibility Criteria

CA course is divided into three phases -

i. Foundation Course

ii. Intermediate Course

iii. Final course

A candidate can register for CA Foundation Course after completing class 10th. After preparing for four months, a candidate is eligible to apply for CA Foundation course examination, however, one can only appear for the exam after passing class 12th.

CA Foundation course has 4 papers -

i. Principles and Practice of Accounting

ii. Business Laws and Business Correspondence and Reporting

iii. Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Statistics

iv. Business Economics, Business, and Commercial Knowledge

Candidates who have completed Bachelors's and masters with a minimum of 55 percent in commerce and with a minimum of 60 percent in other subjects can directly apply for the CA Intermediate Course. They need not appear for the CA Foundation course.

After clearing the Foundation course, a candidate needs to register for the Intermediate course. After registration, an applicant needs to complete the study course of 8 months and then clear the Intermediate Course.

CA Intermediate Course

Group I	Group II
Accounting	Advance Accounting
Corporate and Other Laws	Auditing and Assurance
Cost and Management Accounting	Enterprise Information System and Strategic
Taxation	Financial Management and Economics for Finance

Intermediate Course includes four weeks of information technology and soft skills training. 

After clearing either one or both groups of the CA Intermediate Course, an applicant needs to register for three years of articleship. Once done with clearing both groups, a candidate has to register for the Final Course. After which an Advanced Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills for four weeks need to be completed. This course and the articleship needs to be completed before the CA Final exam.

CA Final Exam

Group I	Group II
Financial Reporting	Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation
Strategic Financial Management	Elective Paper (Risk Management / Financial Services & Capital Markets / International Taxation / Economic Laws / Global Financial Reporting Standards / Multi-disciplinary Case Study)
Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics	Direct Tax and International Taxation
Corporate and Economic Laws	Indirect Tax Laws (GST, Customs and FTP)

After clearing the final exam, you can register at the ICAI and become eligible to work as CA.

Prepare for all three stages of CA exam

· Continuous practice is essential – Well-planned preparation and hard work are required to succeed in the CA exam. In this exam, students who prepare a good strategy and do regular practice can achieve success very easily.

·  Understand the exam pattern - Before appearing for the CA exam, understand the exam syllabus and on what basis questions are asked. For this, you can take help of previous years’ question papers.

· Prepare a good strategy - After knowing the pattern, make a strategy for it. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Based on that, give time to different subjects and get ready for exam preparation.

·  Time Management – Prepare a timetable and include every topic  

·  Make notes - When you prepare for the CA exam, make notes of each topic you study so that you will remember things well and it would be easy to revise. While making notes, keep writing topics pointwise.

·  Take help from Career Disha notes - For the preparation of CA exam, regularly study the Career Disha publication notes and monthly magazine ‘Pratiyogita Nirdeshika’.

Watch our YouTube  video ‘How to prepare for CA | All you need to know about CA Foundation, Intermediate and Final Courses’ to know more about the CA exam.

Good luck with your preparation!