Chartered Accountant (CA) and Company Secretary (CS) are two lucrative career options for 12th grade business students. While both careers work with accounting and statistical logic, there are differences. Differences in their roles and responsibilities within a company.
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CA vs CS: What’s the difference?
A chartered accountant focuses on accounting and auditing concepts, management accounting, taxation and consulting, while a corporate secretary focuses on corporate law, advisory and secretarial roles at the corporate level. CEO, as well as management and strategic planning.
Today, the role of an accountant is evolving purely from an accounting and auditing perspective into a business advisor role, where they advise the company’s top management on how to improve profitability. Company through ethical practices while protecting and caring for the environment and society. While the company secretary advises senior management of the company on corporate law to ensure regulatory compliance. He is an in-house legal advisor.
How similar are the two courses?
Regarding the similarities between the courses, the CS degree curriculum includes some sections on accounting and record keeping, while the CA also studies some parts of corporate law. In fact, the combination of a CA and CS degree is incredibly symbiotic and takes a professional’s career to dizzying heights.
There are also people who start their career as a company secretary and then also get a CA. The Chartered Accountant profession is run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), while the company secretary is run by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).
How to choose between CA and CS
While both courses are well suited for business students, pursuing a course largely depends on the student’s interests. If you are interested in auditing, accounting and taxation, CA should be your career choice. If you are interested in law and its interpretation in a corporate setting, CS should be your career choice.
The 5-year term makes CA more complex than CS, which can be completed in 3 years. In comparison, CS is easier to crack, but career opportunities are limited. CS is an important link between a company and its board of directors, shareholders, government and regulators. As a result, they take on a variety of roles within a company’s management, tax, finance, and international trade departments.
The role of a chartered accountant is also diversifying. Accounting is evolving with technology that integrates well with concepts like artificial intelligence, machine learning, bots, blockchain, and more. As a result, CA training has become increasingly technology-focused. Greater technology integration will be seen in areas such as auditing, taxation, compliance, and even litigation of the CA profession. There is a wide scope for CAs in areas such as data analytics and cybersecurity.
Likewise, with advancements in the technology industry, CS takes care of software copyright and licensing, compliance with cybersecurity laws, and more.
Postgraduate studies and career prospects
The academic outlook is never-ending for both programs. One can always choose to get an LLB or a Ph. Expertise in tax courses, international commercial law, valuation, bankruptcy and bankruptcy codes, and more. Can be continued.
Due to the variety of applications for CA roles, job prospects are much higher. On average, an accountant is paid more than a company secretary. CAs have more powers and can sometimes argue cases for their clients, such as attorneys, which CS cannot.
However, there are many jobs for a company secretary. Every company with contributed share capital of Rs 2 crore or more must appoint a company secretary for the company to function properly. Therefore, the scope of application is wide.
The starting salary of a CA Fresher averages from 7-8 thousand per year with any company, while the starting salary of a company secretary is from 3-4 thousand per year.
