Company Secretary

CS Course and Opportunity:
A Company Secretary is a professional and the major role played by him is to ensure whether the Company complies with all applicable laws and endeavors. The Company Secretary (CS) is a professional course which is conducted by The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). To become a Company Secretary, the candidates need to pass the Foundation Programme, Executive Programme, and Professional Programme. Candidates who have passed their 10+2 are eligible to apply for the Foundation Programme. Candidates who have cleared the Executive Programme can apply for the Professional Programme. A Company Secretary can get employed in government accounts or law departments OR he can become a Managing or Director Chairman of a Company and be a part of the honored Board of Directors of a Company.
ICWA Course and Opportunity:
The ICWAI course is divided into three parts. The first part is the foundation course, where the minimum qualification is 10+2. Candidates who have appeared for the 10+2 exam and are awaiting results can appear for the foundation course. On passing the foundation course the students are eligible for the intermediate course. Students who have completed their graduation need not appear for the foundation test. They can directly appear for the intermediate course. On clearing the intermediate course students can appear for the final course. Those interested in corporate life can hold positions like Internal Auditor, Accountant, Financial Controller, Finance Manager and Cost Controller etc after completing the course. They can also go for for Self entrepreneurship in areas like Mandatory Cost Audit, Consultancy assignments, Excise Audit etc.
ICWA specializes in handling the accounts, bookkeeping and audit of firms and corporate while the CSs handles the secretarial matters relating to a corporate. ICWA involves collection; assimilation and analysis of financial information from all areas of an organization while the primary job of a Company Secretary is that of an advisor for legal matters. They act as the mediators between the company and its Board of Directors, shareholders, the government and the regulatory authorities. Company Secretaries can find employment in government accounts or departments of law.

Company Secretary in the set-up of corporate sector plays the role of a mediator between the company, its board of directors, stakeholders, government and regulatory authorities.
There are three types of Company Secretary Course which you can take up:
1. Foundation Course.
2. Intermediate Course.
3. Executive Course.
The Eligibility Criteria for these courses are mentioned below:
Foundation Course:The candidate should have at least passed 10+2 examinations to get into the Foundation Course. This is a basic-level course, which is of eight-month duration ( 8 Months).
Intermediate Course:The candidate should have passed Foundation Course of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India or ICWAI, ICAI or got their graduation degree or a Masters degree to get enrolled into the Intermediate Course. The duration of the Intermediate Course is nine months (9 Months).
Executive course: The candidate becomes eligible to sit for the Executive course after he completes and clears the Intermediate course.
After the candidate passes the Executive course, he/she has to undergo a five-day Training Orientation Program, which precedes the actual training of 15 months. The 15-month training is followed by a practical training, which is of three-month duration. In practical training, the candidate has to work with a company or an independent company secretary practitioner as an intern to get hand-on knowledge and training about the roles and responsibilities of a company secretary. It is followed by 15-day training with the Registrar of Companies, financial or banking institutions or stock exchange to know their nitty-gritty. Then there is a 15-day Secretarial Modular Training Program. Some of those company secretary candidates who are exceptionally brilliant or have had good practical experience could be partially exempted from training or their training period could be reduced.
A Company Secretary could either get a government job in accounts or law departments or could get attached to a corporate sector and even rise to the post of Chairman or Managing Director or even be a member of the Board of Directors in the private sector. Though an average Company Secretary would get the starting salary of at least Rs 10,000, sky is the only limit for the brilliant and exceptional Company Secretaries.