My ambition is to be a chartered accountant

I am a student of class XI and have taken Commerce and Mathematics. I am looking forward to my ambition to become a C.A. How do I proceed after Class XII?
Vani Manchanda (13)
St Mary’s Convent Inter College, Lucknow

Chartered Accountancy is essentially a finance-related course that empowers you to certify all accounts including the balance sheet of an organization. It also gives you a better grasp of financial statements along with an extensive knowledge of tax laws, management accounting and corporate laws.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is the only institute to provide training in this field in India. To be recognised as a C.A., a person must pass all the exams laid down by ICAI, and should be a registered member with ICAI (www.icai.org). Eligibility is 10+2 in any stream, Mathematics in 10+2 is not a compulsory requirement.

Chartered Accountancy education and training has three stages — the Common Proficiency Test (CPT), the Intermediate Professional Competence Course (IPC) and the final C.A. course. Dedication and hard work is a must to complete the course. The institute provides postal coaching for all the courses.

For CPT, students can enrol with the institute after Std X and take the test after plus two. The test is held twice a year in June and December. The course content comprises Accounting, Mercantile Laws, General Economics and Quantitative Aptitude.  It is an objective-type test of 200 marks divided into two sessions of two hours each.

One is eligible for the IPC exam after nine months of study, after passing CPT. The IPC exam has two groups of seven subjects. On passing Group I, a student can register as an articled assistant for three years under a qualified C.A. The articled training is important for the C.A. course. They are paid a stipend during the training.

After clearing the IPC examination, register for the final C.A. course which consists of group I and II with eight papers. Students should compulsorily undergo two General Management and Communication Skills courses of 15 days each.