Shortreads

What makes a Chartered Accountant stand out?

Out of the thousands who qualify every year, the prestigious & one of the toughest exams in India, there’s an elite club of more than 100 CA rank holders that form the crème de la crème. Traditionally, this talent would get lapped up immediately by top industries, banks, and accounting firms in conventional roles such as tax, audit, accounting, operations, financial planning, and control.

However, a new trend is changing this course.

As part of a recent study, Native analyzed data over the last five years of talent shifts within the CA rankholders’ community. An interesting trend of opt-outs has emerged amongst the top talent.

Below tables show insights on CA Rankholders opting out of traditional roles.

With the changing business landscape, a wide gamut of new-age careers has opened up for the community. Companies are becoming more and more receptive to absorbing CAs for newer roles such as investment banking, management consulting, private equity, and even mainstream roles in sales and business development. Figure 1 shows that a whopping 45% of the rank holders are opting for new skills as opposed to traditional roles.

So, where is the talent getting absorbed? Majorly in Financial Services followed by corporates and consulting. (see Figure 2).

The trend is strongest in metros. Mumbai remains as the most preferred destination for Rankholder CAs followed by Delhi and Bangalore. (see Figure 3).

The journey doesn’t stop here. Almost 43% of the Rankholder CAs prefer pursuing further qualifications such as CFA, LLB, or MBA. Figure 4 shows how many rank holders have taken that path.

CA: The destination or an enabler?

Chartered Accountancy continues to be one of the most challenging qualifications to acquire, comparable to those taught at the premier institutes in the country.

While there will always be a massive demand in traditional roles that mandate chartered accountants, the increased acceptance in the industry & the awareness among the rank holder chartered accountants, have led them to pursue unconventional opportunities.

Chartered Accountancy has become an enabler for many areas—from setting up businesses and ventures to exploring strategic consulting and education. In the coming years, it’d be interesting to see how newer roles and opportunities will evolve and continue to attract the top talent.