Dear Nayan,

Choosing CA as your career is a great decision. However, you must know that the course is of minimum 5 years and thus requires quality investment of time, dedication and hard work.

For pursuing the course, there are four stages:

1. Common Proficiency Test (CPT)

2. Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC)

3. Three years of Articleship under a CA who is practicing the profession

4. CA final exam

After completing 12th (in commerce), a candidate is eligible to take the Common Proficiency Test. CPT covers accounts, law, economics and quantitative analysis. To proceed further, scoring 100 out of 200 in CPT is a must. The exam is held twice a year- june and december.

After clearing the CPT, you can register for IPCC. IPCC has 7 subjects and is of 700 marks out of which you are required to score 40 marks in each subject and an over all aggregate of 50 percent. IPCC has 2 groups of subjects. Group 1 has accounts, law, taxation and costing and FM. Group 2 has audit, advanced accountancy and IT&SM.

The next step is articleship. Passing IPCC group 1 is essential for articleship. Articleship requires 3 years of intership under a qualified CA.

Then comes the CA final examination. You can appear for the finals during the last 6 months of articleship. You can register for the exam after passing both the groups of IPCC.

The last and final step is enrolling as a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and getting designated as a Chartered Accountant.

Good Luck.