Articleship training under a Chartered Accountant is a compulsory requirement for all CA Students. It is designed keeping in mind the fact that a student should get practical exposure in the various fields of the practice areas and also have hands on experience on the computer skills along with getting acquainted with the current trends in the practice. As a CA Examination paper is practical oriented and requires that the student demonstrates application of various skills in Accountancy, Taxation, audit etc. subject in practical and real life situations, the articleship training is immensely useful for students to get prepared for the exam confidently with adequate knowledge.
It is a general tendency observed nowadays that the students tend to give more weightage to reading the subjects theoretically from the books and gain knowledge by attending the coaching classes and pay little attention to the articleship training. It is no doubt important to to be very much well versed with the subject from the theory perspective, however it is equally essential that we take articleship training seriously so that we are able to do justice with the exam papers which are generally practical oriented and requires working knowledge or expert knowledge of the subject. Suppose, for example: a student has attempted a 15 marks question, if he has merely read the topic from the books or coaching classes, he gets 8 or 9 marks, on the contrary, if he has attempted that question after getting practical exposure in office, he will be able to score better marks may be 13, 14 or even 15 marks. Having a practical knowledge means that if we have read the topic from books and also worked in real life case in office, as a result we remember the provisions, intricacies and nitty gritties of the subject better and that helps to have an extra edge over others.
If we consider about the long term benefits of giving articleship training due importance, it is seen that a students develops various good qualities such as discipline, work culture, ethics, Computer Skills, how to deal with the clients, a professional approach, meeting deadlines by coping with work pressure, enthusiasm, self-starter, communication skills with specifically government departments and clients, there are numerous benefits of articleship because of which the student sharpens his skills and prepares himself to face the real world situation as soon as he qualifies the Final Exam. The other way of looking at it is that as we have to devote out future (rest of the life) time, attention and energy to practice or jobs in industry, its better to start getting used to it from articleship days instead of starting late after qualifying.
Its better for a student to get the exposure in various departments in 3 year articleship period. For example: A student, during 1st year articleship gets knowledge of Accounts writing, basics of auditing and computer and IT related skills. During second year he gets practical knowledge in Tax computation, ROC, Accounts finalization, and Audits of small entities. During third year. he gets practical knowledge in the subjects such as Return filing, Professional Ethics, Documentation of Working Papers, Assessment procedure, Audit of large entities and due dates compliance under various Acts etc. If the articleship training is correct blend of all the important subjects, it creates immense value addition to the students, as he is prepared well for the examination as well as for the practice or job after qualifying and he can handle clients of Income Tax subject, ROC matters, Audit, Statutory compliances etc., Whether the articleship is of 2 year or 3 year, it will be truly helpful and lay a firm foundation for the career because as such, the subjects studied in isolation from the books seems to be monotonous and dry subject for many, practical exposure helps to correlate the subjects studied from ICAI study material with the practical work done in office, and thus enhances our learning and prepares us well for the exams.
Apart from the above benefits mentioned above, one benefit of articleship training is that you are being trained by a Chartered Accountant. During the articleship, you are being supervised by your Principal (CA), and you can ask doubts, queries and problems you are facing to your principal and he will guide you so that you can complete the task you have undertaken. While you are in the job or practice, after clearing CA, there will be nobody to guide you and clear your doubts. So, one should derive maximum benefits from the articleship training which is a rare opportunity to learn as well as earn and be well prepared and equipped for the future assignments. Articleship training moulds you by imparting the technical skills and soft skills transforming you into a well groomed professional ready to enter into the financial market with utmost dedication, devotion and enthusiasm to make a remarkable contribution to the Profession, society and all stakeholders/clients. Articleship training should not be considered a burden but should be taken in positive way so that the student works sincerely with full awareness and presence of mind, gets conceptual understanding of the subjects and is future ready so that he can reap rich benefits in future.
Those who are intend to do practice, the articleship training is very helpful as one comes in contact with various people in the course of the training, and he can do networking, and as soon as he clears the exam, he is able to tap that opportunity of getting clients through networking. So, by the time he completes the training he already has a client base and is in a better position to start practice in this competitive world. For those who intend to do job in various industries, there is plethora of opportunities, which a student come to know from reading financial newspapers, which sector is doing better, which industries have long term growth prospects and where there are large opportunities for finance professionals, this awareness about the commercial world gained during the articleship is useful in applying for jobs which are highly desirable.
Conclusion: A CA student’s life is very hectic, attending college, attending coaching classes, articleship training, study time, exam preparation etc. cause lot of physical and mental exhaustion. It can be managed with proper planning, cool mindedness, patience and proper guidance and support of teachers and parents. During the process, it should be remembered to do articleship training with utmost sincerity thinking that it is a foundation of success, and those valuable years will never come, once gone, and only what we have learnt will be useful in life. It does not matter whether you are doing articleship in small, medium or big firm, what matters is your willingness to learn, be attentive to the instructions of the Principal, do the work in office, clear doubts then and there, corroborate it with reading from academic books, study material of ICAI, make notes of important point and develop all those hard and soft skills which will be helpful in future career. If articleship is done properly in all respects, it will be a great win-win situation for exam as well as job as its said that “well begun is half done”
Author Bio
