1144 CAs land plum jobs in two months

In just two months this year, 102 companies have recruited 1,144 chartered accountants (CAs) through campus interviews, while business outsourcing firms have recruited a maximum of 334 of them.

Not lagging behind, information technology (IT) firms have absorbed 125 CAs, while chartered accountancy firms have taken 116.

The other sectors, which have engaged the services of CAs include, insurance (61), banks (53), oil and gas refineries (29), telecommunications (29) and engineering procurement and construction (25).

Giving the figures, T N Manoharan, president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), told Business Standard that the demand for CAs had been on the increase in recent years.

Of the 7,455 newly-qualified chartered accountants last year, 83 per cent opted for lucrative jobs while only 17 per cent took up practice. Indian CAs are most sought-after because of their knowledge, competence and result-oriented performance.

Migration of CAs to foreign countries has declined as employers paid up to Rs 12 lakh per annum to young accountants.

According to Manoharan, the ICAI membership has touched 1.30 lakh. Every year, 7000-8000 students qualify as CAs. In view of growing demand, ICAI has opened a chapter in Kuwait to cater to the needs of members and CA students in the Gulf region. The chapter has 267 members and is expected to rope in 150 more.

Manoharan said ICAI had acquired 2.82 acres in Hyderabad and 2,981.18 square metres in Mumbai to establish centres of excellence. Efforts are on to set up such centres in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai too.

He said ICAI would allow the income tax department to help open centres at all its five regional centres and 106 branches in the country for the benefit of small tax payers. Under the Centre's Certified Filing Centres (CFC) scheme, CAs are now entitled to e-file documents under the Company Law.

ICAI's new CA course is an improvement over the old one. Under the new course, a plus two student can become a chartered accountant in four years. The training in information technology has been reduced from 250 hours of Compulsory Computer Training (CCT) to 100 hours.

The institute would conduct periodical Common Proficiency Tests (CPT), including online ones, to attract the cream of students, he said.