Chartered Accountancy, a highly prestigious and globally acclaimed career option could be your option too
With merely a decade-long history in Nepal, Chartered Accountancy (CA) has become one of the most preferred subjects for students these days. Instead of a university, the CA programme is entirely regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of a country. Thus the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN), established in 1997, has been regulating the programme here since its introduction in 2000. At present there are roughly less than 1,000 Chartered Accountants (CAs) registered at ICAN both from Nepal and India. Going by the statistics, this can be considered as tremendous growth as compared to a decade ago. However, this growth too is not sufficient to meet the demand in Nepal and the world at large.
“The unique and enormous career prospects that CA enjoys has created a buzz among people and the figure will certainly rise,” states Naba Raj Burlakoti, Founder and Chairperson of Prime Chartered Academy who considers business transactions stretching worldwide is increasing the demand for more CAs. He also points out to how people are attracted to the CA profession because of the phenomenal career options it has in trade, industry and commerce. “The prospects laid down by this career path does not limit itself to trade and business,” he states, trying to clarify the flexibility that it offers to work in varied sectors from manufacturing companies, government offices, public services to banking and financial institutions besides starting CAs their own private practice.
According to Burlakoti, the four years and three months long CA course demands a lot of dedication and hard work from students. CA is that one course that also comes with low education cost. “Nevertheless it is considered a prestigious and rewarding profession,” he says. “Students who complete their course in India and willing to practice in Nepal must go through a year’s training at a Nepali Institute and should pass the exams on Law and Tax conducted by ICAN,” informs Burlakoti.
“The CA course is in high demand and various CA institutes have been established resulting in a considerable slowdown in the number of students going to study in India,” says Deepesh K Thapaliya MD of CCMA College. According to him, CA course is the combination of theoretical, practical, technical and more learning of accountancy, taxation, auditing and overall management of business transactions. The course is divided into three levels; CAP-I, CAP-II and CAP-III. The duration for the first two levels is six and nine months respectively, whereas the final level is three years long which includes practical training too. “Talking about the most appealing aspect of CAs besides their job, is the ability they have towards making decisions and the tact they display in enhancing profits for the company,” he shares.
The CA course does not put any barrier to entry of students in terms of their performance at the plus two or the faculty they come from. This, according to Burlakoti, should not discourage anyone from the management background because every subject included in this course is taught from the foundation level.
• Course duration: 4 years 3 months (almost five years)
• Fee structure: Rs 200,000 to Rs 300,000 (depending on institute)
• Scholarships: Most of the institutes in Nepal provide certain amount of scholarship depending on the students’ performance in plus two and during the course
• Eligibility criteria: Plus two and A-Level or equivalent from recognised educational institution
• Examination session: June and December
source: the himalayan times,22 september 2014
