Chartered Accountancy course is undoubtedly, one of the most prestigious course in the country. As the respect it commands in the society and the people relying on the services provided by a CA is tremendous, it demands lot of hard work, soft and hard skills and business acumen from a CA student. A CA / CA Student should be able to provide solutions to various problems faced by a client, apart from that, he should have a out of the box thinking so that he is able to give value added services to unique problems of his clients with his innovative approach. Given the age of social media, scientific inventions like mobile phone, internet, we are living in a situation, where there is lot of distraction which was not prevalent two decades back. Now, the students have to cope up with the CA syllabus (including latest amendments in laws etc.) by studying long hours and also avoid the various distractions such as mobile, internet, social sites etc.) Below is a list of some skills/habits, which if followed will be helpful in clearing the exams and also a better career.
1. A CA Student has less time for preparation especially if he appears for two groups together. So it is important that one should understand and retain quickly what he studies. For that, he should enhance the power of concentration. Concentration is developed by meditation, studying in an environment where there is less sound distraction, taking sleep so as to feels fresh and energetic, avoiding use of mobile etc. Once concentration is developed, you can understand the key concepts and numerical examples quickly and you are better prepared for examinations.
2. A CA Student should develop soft skills like communication skills, networking skills, presenting your knowledge/observation to the Management or Board of Directors effectively. These skills should be developed by attending seminars/online courses which will benefit them by having a competitive edge over others.
3. A CA Student should make a habit of studying books for long hours because it is a professional course and it expects a lot of efforts from the students. A client approaches a CA with high expectation for his business problems, so CA should be well versed in the various subjects such as Accounting, Audit and Fraud Detection, Internal Control, Tax and Labour Law compliance, Goods and Service Tax, FEMA, Company law compliances etc.
4. It is very vital that the subject should be understood instead of cramming, which should be avoided. Because cramming may help in the short run, but it will not be effective in the job where your deeper knowledge of subject and expert advice is demanded.
5. While studying, making notes/summarizing is also important, because it ensures that you have understood the subject properly and the important points are noted or jotted down by you which can be referred the day before the exams.
6. One should always corelate the theory learnt from the book or classes with the work done in article ship training. This makes a emphasis on your mind and you are in a better position to write the examinations. For example: there are various forms under the Income Tax Act which you study from the books, if you see those forms in office pertaining to your client, that reinforces your knowledge. As CA is practical course, you know the implications of various provisions and forms/rules studied theoretically in a better manner when you are completing clients assignments in office.
7. For giving better services to clients, its essential that important due dates should be adhered to, clients requirements should be understood and proper advise should be given so that there is compliance also and other aspects such as Accounting, Errors and Fraud Detection, MIS, Internal Control, Cost Efficiency is achieved. Also decision making should be done considering all the important factors and Expert opinion, wherever required, is obtained.
8. For a candidate to be a successful CA, its very important that he should be interested in numbers, financial statements, commercial transactions, making projections and having inquisitive nature in the finance, taxation and audit field. He should be able to analyze Company Balance sheets and able to draw valuable inferences therefrom for an informed decision making.
9. One of the skill required for a CA is to work under pressure and meet dead deadlines. This skill is required more nowadays because of more compliance requirements and increase in business transactions, and it can be developed gradually, by working on the job and during article ship.
10. One of the most important point to be kept in mind is that CA is basically a Professional self study course, Teachers are there to guide and give direction to the students, but hard work is to be done by the student on their own. At the Professional level, Spoon feeding is not expected from the teachers and mentors, students have to go into details and manage the subject themselves, however overall guidance and support will be there from the teachers as and when required. Excessive dependence will make the students lazy and they may not give their 100% and if any tricky questions are asked in the examination, they may not score good marks.
11. Time management is important before the examination and during the study leave. During study leave, more time to be allotted to the subject in which the student is weak and less time for the easy subjects. Study should be done as per the weightage of marks to that chapter. Study material of ICAI should be studied to get conceptual clarity which is helpful to clear exams. Last 10 days before the exam should be devoted to only revision of the main/crucial aspects of each subject. One day before the examination, not much stress should be taken of studying complete syllabus, which is not possible in one day, however, the revision points and important key points and some important basic concepts should be studied. During the paper, time should be devoted to the questions according to the marks allotted to the question. Example: for 8 marks question, ample time should be given for writing the answer and working notes etc. However for 2 or 3 mark question, a student should not waste much time if he cant recollect the answer, instead give more time to scoring question which will enable him to secure good marks. Effective Planning and Time Management is thus an important tool in the hands of student to leverage his skills and score better marks.
Though the syllabus of CA course is vast, a well planned approach and study – right from day 1 of course joining and article ship will not only help you in learning a lot of practical skills in office but also make your study preparation well in advance and you will definitely clear the CA Examinations with better marks. All the Best.
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