ICAI

The minimum eligibility criteria for pursuing CA course is class 12 pass or equivalent from a recognised institute or university. Candidates who have completed graduation can directly take admission at CA Intermediate level. Check below:

CA Foundation Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates who have passed Class 12 or equivalent examination from a recognised board are eligible.

 Candidates who have:

• Registered with Board of Studies on or before 30 June of the examination year
• Changed to CA Foundation Course with Board of Studies of ICAI on or before September 7 of the examination year.

CA Intermediate Eligibility Criteria 

• Candidates who have passed CA Foundation examination or equivalent examination are eligible
• Candidates who have registered for previous CA Intermediate exam as per syllabus under paragraph 2 or 2A of Schedule B or Professional Education (Course-II), Professional Competence Course and converted into Intermediate (IPC) Course/ Accounting Technician Course (ATC) are eligible
• Candidates who have completed graduation or post-graduation in any stream from a recognised institute of India are also eligible

CA Final Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates who have passed the CA Intermediate examination or Professional Education Examination – II/PCC/IPCC, are eligible to apply for the CA Final exam
• They must also have completed 3 years or 3½ years or must be due to complete, as the case may be, of article training as on the date of filling the form
• For PE-II stream student and PE-II stream students converted to IPCC – Also, they must be serving the last twelve months of articled training including excess leave, if any, and due to complete 3 years on or before October 31 of the examination year.
• For PCC stream students - The candidate must be serving the last six months of articled training including excess leave if any, and due to complete 3½ years on or before 30th April of the examination year
• For Intermediate IPCC students – The candidate must be serving the last six months of training including excess leave if any, and due to complete 3 years on or before April 30 of the examination year.
• For students converted from PE-II to PCC as well as for students converted from PE-II to PCC and then to IPCC - The candidate must be serving the last twelve months of training including excess leave if any, and due to complete 3½ years articles on or before October 31 of the examination year.
• Candidates who have taken termination are advised to re-register for the balance period of training

The difficulty level of CA Final exams is the highest among all the as the course is vast and extensive. The CA Final exam includes papers such as Corporate & Economic Laws Part I: Corporate Law, Economic Laws, Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation, Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation, Goods and Services Tax, Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation, etc. which are tough to crack. The pass percentage of CA Final exams is low as low as 25 per cent in a particular session and students need multiple attempts to clear this level. Even after completing the CA Foundation and CA Intermediate levels, candidates find it tough to clear the CA Final level.

Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) and Deloitte are the top private companies that hire CAs. They are known as The Big Four. CA professionals can seek employment in these companies as well as other enterprises if they don't want to practice independently.

The ICAI has its own placement cell to, through which it provides placements to candidates who complete the Chartered Accountancy course. Some of the top companies that participate in the campus placements are Infosys, Pankaj Somaiya Associates LLP, Prism Johnson Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Bandhan AMC Ltd, Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited, Hindalco Industries, Ford Motor Private Limited, LIC Housing Finance Ltd, Axis Bank among others.