Chartered Accountants entry test set to become more difficult

New Delhi: To make their students more competitive globally, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India (ICAI) on Thursday announced changes in its syllabus and exam pattern which will be applicable from July 1.

"The issue with the CA course is it`s easy to enter, difficult to exit," Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey, President, ICAI, said at a press conference.

"We are going to make it only slightly difficult, not as difficult as medical and engineering exam. We just hope to improve the input/output ratio with this move," he said.

Conducted on three levels, the tests will now be held on both objective and subjective basis, with 200 marks accorded to each form.

A 100 marks accounts paper would be completely subjective at the entry level Foundation exam, which earlier used to be called Common Proficiency Test (CPT).

Another 100 marks paper, which will include 40 marks for English and 60 for Economics would also be subjective. Earlier, this paper was objective.

Madhukar Narayan Hiregange, a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA), said the step was intended to address the mismatch between the difficulty levels of entry exam and the two that follow.

"If you compare the standard of CPT with IPCC and Final, it`s a complete mismatch. The standard of IPCC and the final is much much tougher than the CPT. So because of this mismatch, the students were finding it very difficult getting through IPCC and final after entering into the course," Hiregange said.

IPCC or Integrated Professional Competence Course, has now been changed to Intermediate course.

The statutory body for CAs also announced new courses which would come into effect from July 1, on the body`s 68th Foundation Day.

The new courses, which would be introduced at all levels will include IT and communication skills, Business Correspondence Reporting and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"We are delighted to launch revised scheme of education and training for CA students keeping in mind the evolving role of CA in the current economic scenario. The revised course intends to promote innovation and bring about out of box thinking in the curriculum and education system of Chartered Accountancy course," Vikamsey added.