Reduction of CA Articleship Period to 2 Years | Pros and Cons

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Proposed Changes in CA Training Life Cycle
3. Proposed Reforms in Practical Training: Pros
4. Proposed Reforms in Practical Training: Cons
5. Conclusion

1. Introduction

A New Scheme of Education and Training has been proposed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in June 2022 via a notification to enhance the education and training procedures for aspiring Chartered Accountants (CAs). The new scheme has been so planned to help reduce the burden of students, also to make the course more effective, efficient and relevant to the industry standards, in order to prepare the students for a successful career as professionals.

As a part of the changes made in the new scheme, ICAI has proposed to revise the rules and regulations of the training procedure in the interest of the students. The proposed reforms in the training procedure, their benefits and drawbacks have been discussed here.

2. Proposed Changes in CA Training Life Cycle

3. Proposed Reforms in Practical Training: Pros

• Examination Free Training: Articleship shall commence only after passing both groups of Intermediate and also, eligibility criteria to appear in CA Final Exams is after the completion of 6 months of articleship. Thus, it shall enable the students to undergo exam-free and seamless effective learning, focusing exclusively on the practical training.
• Savior from Unnecessary Exploitation of Principal: Owing to the prolonged period of 3 years of articleship, many a times Principal simply delegates clerical work on a repetitive basis to the article during his/her initial phase of articleship. The reduced span of 2 years training shall encourage enhanced learning experience by Articled Assistants.
• Focused Academic Performance: The restriction on commencement of articleship only after clearing both groups of Intermediate and eligibility criteria of appearing in CA Final exams only after completing 6 months of articleship shall enable a student to focus on the academic part without bearing any pressure from the Principal regarding study leaves or distracted attention in balancing the work-study lifestyle at both the levels viz, Intermediate and Final.
• Sufficient Time for Exam Preparation: As the proposed scheme mandates one to attempt for CA Final Exams only after completion of a period of 6 months of articleship, the student shall get sufficient and a fixed time span for preparation of CA Final examination. The student can well plan his/ her study schedule owing to a fixed study leave of 6 months.

4. Proposed Reforms in Practical Training: Cons

• Restriction on Number of Leaves: There shall be no exams during the two years period of articleship, thus, the number of leaves a student can avail during a year has been restricted to 12 days.
• Lack of Exposure due to Time Constraint: Chartered Accountancy as a career offers many areas of practice including direct/indirect tax, audit viz, statutory/tax/forensic/stock/information systems audit etc., project financing and many other avenues of work. Articleship helps gain exposure of such areas which ultimately helps one to understand his/her specific area of interest/specialization. Due to limited time, one may not be able to gain learning experience in a variety of fields and decide the one that seems more appealing to pursue as a career.
• Delayed Commencement of Articleship: The restriction of commencement of articleship only after clearing both the groups of Intermediate shall lead to delay in the initiation of articleship in case of repetitive attempts at the Intermediate level; thereby extending the time for attempting the CA Final examination, and thus delaying overall completion of the course.
• Reduced Time to Learn Office Ethics: Articleship not only exposes one to various technical areas of work, but also teaches one to deal with clients, managing office environment, working in a team, etc. It prepares one to face the challenges and grab the opportunities of the real world. Reduced time span of articleship shall limit the time one is exposed to all such practical aspects of office.

5. Conclusion

Thus, the proposed new scheme of education and training has its own set of benefits as well as drawbacks, specifically the reduced period of articleship from 3 years to 2 years. If the said scheme is implemented, it shall bring with it numerous opportunities for the prospective Chartered Accountants with a few setbacks which shall have to be adapted by the young aspirants keeping a futuristic outlook towards a successful career.