For a chartered accountant, one of the most important phases is that of the articleship. An articleship is what one would otherwise call an internship – where one gains practical knowledge by working on the field, on the job.
A CA aspirant goes on to do an articleship after clearing the IPCC exams. If one is to ask, Is Articleship a must for CA? then the only answer is Yes. These three years of full-time articleship are an absolute must for completing the CA course and qualification.
Take a look at some of the benefits of completing your articleship as a CA:
– Hands-On Experience and learning: An articleship teaches you how to actually work in a CA firm. You learn to deal with experts at various levels in the organization. This gives you a detailed understanding of that particular industry.
– Better Job prospects: A sound articleship means better job prospects for you, post your CA final. Once you have proof of having worked with an established CA firm, you will get better avenues of work.
– Independent Practice – For all the reasons above, and more, after qualifying the CA final if you want to start your own practice, your articleship experience is a great springboard to bounce off and launch yourself.
– The Little Big Things – Let’s assume that you have never worked in an office environment before. During your articleship, you learn office management, organizational ethics, accounting software like Oracle, SAP and Tally, filing, drafting letters – the works. This is all valuable learning that you must accumulate during your articleship.
So, your articleship during the course of CA is really the backbone of your career in chartered accountancy. A CA without a proper articleship is not only considered unqualified but also is incapable of managing practical situations in the future.
Do not fall for the illusion of a dummy articleship – which is a mere letter you get from a CA firm you may have some good relations with – which essentially means you haven’t garnered any formal experience. Join a good firm, based on your career goals. For good practical exposure, choose one where you get to work on all kinds of audits like internal audit, Statutory audit, tax audit, ROC filing, IFC, transfer pricing, due diligence, Bank audits, etc.
A lot of people find three years too long a time to invest in articleship, as it eats into study time required for the vast syllabus of CA final exams.
Your articleship must be taken both seriously and passionately. With a hunger to learn all that you can, you will build a wealth of experience and knowledge that lasts with you forever. Yes, articleship involves working hours of nine or ten hours per day. But you must look at it in an advantageous way so as to cash in on all the profits of learning coming your way.
