1. 40 careerlinks | OCTOBER 2014
TANUSREE CHAKRABORTY
M
any of us do not iden-
tify chartered ac-
countancy with
women.That is why it
will come as a surprise to many that
the country got its first woman
Chartered Accountant (CA) in 1933,
when 23-year-old R. Sivabhogam
fromVellore qualified for it. As part
of the freedom struggle Sivab-
hogam participated in the Non-Co-
operation Movement and was also
jailed for a year. It was during her
incarceration that she developed
an interest in accounts and wanted
to explore the field that had been
untouched by women at that time.
With support from her elder sister
she registered for the Government
Diploma in Accountancy and sub-
sequently created history by be-
coming the first Indian woman
accountant. She underwent article-
ship training under C. S. Sastri.
The situation has changed a lot
since then. Today, there are many
more women specialising in this
field in the country.
There are various reasons for
this. First of all, this was one area
where the proverbial glass ceiling
existed and women were keen to
break this barrier in this hitherto
male-dominated field. Then there
are also the‘traditional’ reasons for
women doing well as CAs – they are
more sincere and logical.“If we talk
about the last 10 years, CA toppers
have been females.The success rate
of females has been better than
males. In fact, now the trend has
changed. We have more
males who exit the mod-
ule midway,” informs P.S.
Rathore, Director,
Rathore Management
Institute.
Rathore, who also
conducts strategic man-
agement classes for CA
aspirants, adds,“CA is no
longer dominated by
males; I would rather say that it is
becoming female dominant. The
ratio is 50:50 now. You will mostly
find females as top rank holders in
Common Proficiency Test (CPT).”
Graph 1 makes the position clear.
It shows that female participation
in CPT over the last three years
ranges between 30 to 35 per cent.
While some may see this as the
field still being dominated by men,
this is a beginning and a positive
one at that for women CAs.
Providing a helping hand
In a recent development, to help
its nearly 49,000 women members,
the Chartered Accountants of
India (ICAI), the apex body of CAs
in the country, has launched an on-
line platform that provides them
with information on available job
opportunities. According to the
ICAI this portal will help women
members find suitable opportuni-
ties, including part time/flexi-hours
jobs or jobs with work-from-home
option.
Besides this, the institute is
also providing training pro-
grammes for women CAs to hone
their management skills against
the backdrop of the new Compa-
nies Law that requires most firms
Breaking another
glass ceilingWomen chartered accountants are no longer a rarity. In fact, many of them have broken
the glass ceiling and are doing as well as, if not better than, their male counterparts.
Where to study
l Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India (ICAI)
Minimum duration: 4-5 years
Exams: May, June, November
and December
Fees: ` 45,000- ` 50,000
l Periyar University, Tamil Nadu
l Loyola College, Chennai
l Stella Maris College, Chennai
100%
75%
50%
25
0
Jun-10 Dec-10 Jun-10 Dec-10 Jun-10 Dec-10 Jun-10
34.45%
35.64%
31.65%
36.65%
32.53%
37.94%
30.81%
I admire the
theoretical
knowledge
imparted in the CA
profession. CAs
have deep
understanding and knowledge
of their subjects and capacity
to interpret things logically. It is
one of the most respectable
and valued professions.
PREETI GUPTA
works with S.P. Gupta and
associates, Mumbai
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2. OCTOBER 2014 | careerlinks 41
to have at least one woman direc-
tor on their boards.
Of course, a woman CA has to
do the same work as her male
counterparts, which entails audit-
ing, taxation, accounting and fi-
nancial planning. After qualifying
as a CA, a person can choose to ei-
ther be employed with a firm as an
employee or start her own private
practice.
The CA course is conducted by
ICAI, which has its headquarters in
New Delhi and has five regional of-
fices – Kolkata, Kanpur, Chennai,
Mumbai and New Delhi – and 146
branches all across the country. It
has 23 overseas chapters and an of-
fice in Dubai as well.
First steps
If you want to be a CA you have to
undergo three stages: CPT, IPCC
and Final
1. Common Proficiency Test
(CPT): This is an entry level test
of four subjects – Accounting,
Mercantile Laws, General Eco-
nomics and Quantitative Apti-
tude.
2. Integrated Professional Com-
petence Course (IPCC): This is
first stage of the CA curriculum
wherein only working knowl-
edge of core and allied subjects
to the accountancy profession
is covered. The subjects of IPCC
are classified into two groups
which a student can study and
appear in the examination
group-wise or for both the
groups together. Students up-
date their knowledge of busi-
ness communication, business
strategies, taxes, information
technology and audit.
3. CA Final: This covers ad-
vanced application knowledge
of core subjects, like financial
reporting, strategic financial
management, advanced man-
agement accounting, ad-
vanced auditing and
professional ethics and infor-
mation systems control and
audit. In addition, principles
of e-governance, corporate
and allied laws, international
taxation and VAT are impor-
tant features of the updated
subject contents.
After passing Group I of IPCC
students register for Articleship for
a period of three years with experi-
enced CAs. An agreement of train-
ing needs to be executed before the
Articleship begins. During the
training, articles learn technical de-
tails of the work and as time passes,
they are given larger assignments
with less supervision. All articled
clerks are paid a stipend depending
on their city's population.
What would it cost me?
Registration for IPCC costs `9,000
while the fee for CPT is `6,700.
Career prospects
On completing the training, candi-
dates need to get the ICAI member-
ship before they can start practicing
as CAs. A member wishing to prac-
tice in India or abroad needs to ob-
tain a Certificate of Practice from
ICAI, the yearly fee of which is
`400. Once the membership is
taken care of, the practicing mem-
ber cannot work in any other busi-
ness or occupation without taking
permission from the council. Such
members are only permitted to
work in areas as specified in the CA
regulations.
Remuneration
ForCAFinal(FCA):Starting salaries
range between `12,000 to 30,000
per month depending on the type
of firm and nature of the economy.
A full-fledged CA can expect a
salary between `30,000 to 75,000
per month after a stint of more than
five years at a top firm.
Gender and the workplace across the globe
A
ccording to a report titled ‘Women in the Workplace: Keeping South
Africa's Female Chartered Accountants in Public-Practice’ only 29 per cent
of South African female graduates stay on at public practice audit, tax and
advisory firms and those who do are less likely to make partner than their male
counterparts. The report also suggests that it is not that women are not entering
the profession. Every year there are more female than male graduates, and their
university marks are just as good. But still female CAs do leave public practice.
The report further states that there is a clear distinction between female
trainee and qualified female CAs. Managers should understand that these CAs
have different challenges, responsibilities and needs as their personal and ca-
reer paths progress. A one-size-fits-all approach is probably not the answer to
retaining females and firms should look at finding long-term solutions.
According to a FTSC report from the Carnfield School of Management, there
is still an issue with women reaching the ‘glass ceiling’. In March 2012, just 15.6
per cent of directors in the FTSE 100 companies were women, and 11 of those
businesses did not have a single woman on the board.
Some experts say that female members take career breaks three times as
compared to their male counterparts. As a result there is disengagement in the
profession and certainly loss of talent from the sector.
I am from a
business family
and numbers
have always
fascinated me.
So I wanted to
pursue CA after my +2.
The atmosphere is healthy.
I believe that CA is not meant
for males only. Females are
changing the game. It is
such a dignified profession. I
always encourage my female
friends to pursue it.
NIBEDITA
Doing her articleship
with Ernst & Young
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