CA PROFESSION: GROWING OPPORTUNITIES

The Chartered Accountants’ Profession is witnessing unprecedented growth in opportunities. The economy is growing at more than 8% per annum, foreign direct investment is coming in unabated, multinational companies are setting up businesses in India, Indian companies are growing at a pace greater than ever before, businesses are becoming larger and bigger. The capital market index, Sen sex has even touched 20000-mark, growing Indian capital market capitalization by about 4 times in a period of little more than a year. The growth in real estate sector is consolidating for another leap forward. In the above backdrop, the demand for Chartered Accountants and their services have grown multi fold in last two years. In employment Freshly qualified chartered accountants are getting an average salary of more than Rs.6 lakhs, CAs with 5 years and more experience are being offered from Rs.12 lakhs to Rs. 18 lakhs per annum. CAs with more than 10 years experience are being offered from Rs. 18 lakhs to Rs. 30 lakh per annum. Some pragmatic CA are being offered packages in the range of Rs.100 Lakh to Rs.500 Lakhs per annum including ESOP, SWEAT Equity and ownership participation. This trend has attracted practicing chartered accountants also and about 20% chartered accountants, who were earlier in practice, have shifted from practice to employment About 90% of chartered accountants qualified in last two years have joined employment.

Opportunities for CAs in practice:

The opportunities for chartered accountants in practice are also growing at a larger pace, of late. The number of chartered accountants in practice have reduced significantly in last 3 years, whereas the demand has gone up by 3-4 times. The demand for various kinds of services in auditing and assurance, corporate laws, compliance, corporate finance, business advisory, mergers and acquisitions, ERP implementation, system design and development and large number of other areas is increasing leaps and bounds. A large number of multinational companies have started appointing Indian chartered accountant firms for fairly complex professional assignments. A large number of schartered accountants are getting involved themselves into outsourcing activities taking up accounting jobs for overseas clients. The profession is shaping up and re-adjusting itself to the changing business realities and still a number of small and proprietorship firms are yet to fully take advantage of increased demand. Most of the large practicing chartered accountant firms have revised their fee scales upward by about 2 times to 3 times. The Middle sized CA fi rms have taken a policy decision to increase their fee scales by about 25% to 50% per annum. Even smaller CA firms have already started refusing work for smaller clients or those who are not ready to increase fee scales corresponding to increase in cost and increase in demand. This benefit of enhanced opportunities has not reached to those who have not been able to strengthen their technical and negotiating skills or to those who are apprehending that they may loose the clients. The professionals will need counseling.It is not only the increased demand, which deserve increase in fee. The costs of delivering services have gone up sharply. It may be noted that the cost of delivering services has already increased by more than 100% in last two years arising out of increased cost of professional staff, rent, electricity and other inputs. Middle and small practicing firms are not getting fresh qualified chartered accountants for employment in their firms resulting in devoting more time and energy by the senior partners.
It is also important for all practicing chartered accountants to re position themselves to address changed business environment. It is recommended:

• To undertake an ABC analysis of the professional assignments currently being undertaken by their firms
• To prepare a business plan and a realistic estimate of growth in next 3 to 5 years.
• To calculate the cost of delivering services including cost of professional time being spent on various professional services. * To carefully fi x the pricing of various services after calculating the professional input and cost, including opportunity cost
• To give priority of time allocation of at least 50% of the professional time to high value added professional services where margins are adequate
• To allocate at least 20% of the professional time for professional upgrade, networking, seminars and conferences in India and even outside India and similar activities.
• To allocate only 10-15% of the professional time to low value added services including services to NGO, banks and other low paying clients.
• The approach of the profession towards professional services has to undergo a major shift and it is necessary that professional fees are increased by about 2 times to 3 times, in all those cases where old fee levels are continuing.
• The earlier approach to work at below cost or compromising on quality or to some how or the other meet to cost or to make small margins have to be replaced by a professional approach of delivering value and charging adequately. No professional service or advise is to be rendered free except in case of charitable organizations, social causes, nation building and while rendering services to the poor and needy for their up liftment and empowering them. 
• The most important is to keep fully a brest with latest development in accounting profession all around the world by aggressively taking CPEs and Developing an effective team of nonCA staff by giving them proper training, education and on-site experience. Let us realize, it is time to awake and act.