CA vs CS, WHAT SHOULD I CHOOSE?

30.07.19 04:18 PM By ArivuPro

Chartered Accountancy and Company Secretaryship are both prestigious courses which are taken up by numerous students. If you have mixed emotions regarding which course would suit you best, you have come to the right place. This article weighs and compares the different aspects of each course in order to give you a better insight of what would be the best choice for you.


  • The most basic difference between the two courses is the basic focus of subjects. CS is more inclined towards the domain of law and corporate governance. CA, though it covers a vast syllabus towards the end of the course, mainly focuses on making the accountancy base strong.
  • A CA by profession would be engaged in a variety of fields like accounting, audit, tax, finance, business management and more. A CS focuses on corporate governance, general administration, management, legal advisory and more.
  • Company Secretaries organize and prepare agendas to oversee policies, maintain statutory books, deal with correspondence, collate information, write reports, advise members on the legal, governance, accounting and tax implications of proposed policies. On the other hand, chartered calculate taxes, prepare tax returns, assess financial operations and make best-practices recommendations to management, suggest ways to reduce costs, enhance revenues, and improve profits.
  • A CA needs to have more of quantitative ability than qualitative ability. A CA should have good analytical skills and must be great with numbers. A CS requires expertise in qualitative abilities as most of the work is about interpretation and subjective analysis of law. A CS must be good in management, advisory and paperwork.
  • CAs have job opportunities in audit and consultancy firms as opposed to a CS who are mainly hired by public enterprises and government organisations.
  • The minimum number of years required to complete the Company Secretaryship course is less compared to Chartered Accountancy.


While there are overlapping of some duties, the two professions are quite different. If you can complete your CA, you will have much respect and recognition in the society and along with that you can choose many careers as each subject in the final module of the course is an industry. As CS you can take care of the corporate governance and the various company laws in the organization. After completion of CS you will be treated as an expert in Company Laws and Practice.At the end of the day, the final call should be based on your interests and introspection.

 

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