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Company Secretary: Managing the corporate world
The Company Secretary or CS is indispensable to the efficient management of any company or financial institution. His/her primary job is to ensure compliance with various statutory legislations. Pallavi Sharma examines what goes into making of a CS.
Report: Pallavi Sharma
The Company Secretary or CS is indispensable to the efficient management of any company or financial institution. His/her primary job is to ensure compliance with various statutory legislations. Pallavi Sharma examines what goes into making of a CS.
Job profile
The primary functions of a CS include
Ensuring compliance with various legislations according to the Companies Act 1956
Acting as a confidante to the Board of Directors
Acting as an internal legal advisor
Interacting and coordinating with other functional heads of the company
Formulating long and short-term corporate policies and programmes
Corporate planning
Planning expansion opportunities and overseeing collaborations, amalgamations, acquisitions, mergers etc
Assisting in tax planning and tax management Essential attributes
A CS is expected to possess the following essential attributes
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Excellent command over spoken and written English
Marketing skills
Keen business sense
Organizing and administrative ability
Openings:
The following organizations and government departments employ Company Secretaries
Accounts Branch of the Central Company Law Services (Grades I to IV)
Government of India panels
State Government financial institutions
Company law boards
Banks and financial institutions
Stock exchanges
Corporate sector
Company secretaryship firms
Universities and research centres
Private practice (A Certificate of Practice from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is essential for private practice)
Consultancy Remuneration
In India, a qualified fresher, who gains entry into a reputed company, can expect between Rs 7,000 - 10,000 per month.
Training :
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), constituted under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980, is the premier body that develops and regulates the profession of Company Secretaries in India. The Institute conducts examinations by registering students and imparting coaching through distance education as well as optional contact classes for the Company Secretaryship course. The Institute headquartered in New Delhi has four regional offices in Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai with 36 chapters and 9 satellite chapters located in various cities all over India. Membership to the Institute is required to practice as a CS in India.
The Company Secretaryship Course
Previously, admission to the Company Secretaryship course of the ICSI was open only to candidates possessing a minimum of a graduate-level degree. The Institute has since introduced the Foundation Course for Senior Secondary (10+2 or equivalent) students from any recognised board. Foundation course
The objective of the Foundation Course is to enable students, desiring to take up Company Secretaryship to enter early in the profession. Students who have passed Senior Secondary (10+2 or equivalent) in any stream can join the course. Students who have appeared or enrolled for appearing in the Senior Secondary examination are also eligible for provisional admission. However proof of passing the said examination is required to be furnished within six months of the provisional admission. Admission is open throughout the year and is valid for three years. The duration of the course is eight months.
Subjects tested at the end of the Foundation Course:
Business Communication
Business Laws and Management
Principles of Accountancy
Economics and Statistics
The Foundation examination is held twice a year, in June and December. The student should secure a minimum of 40% marks in individual papers and a minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate at one sitting in the entire exam or in each group (if the student is writing the exams group-wise). Candidates who pass the Foundation Course will be eligible to seek registration as students for the Company Secretaryship course offered by the ICSI.
Intermediate examination
The Intermediate Examination consists of two groups with eight papers.
Group I comprises four papers
General Laws and Procedures
Personnel Management and Industrial Laws
Tax Laws (Direct and Indirect Tax Laws)
Cost and Management Accounting
Group II comprises four papers
Company Law and Practice - I
Company Law and Practice - II
Economic and Other Legislations
Company Accounts - Theory and Practice
Final examination
The Final Examination consists of two groups with eight papers.
Group I comprises of four papers
Financial Management
Management Control and Information
Corporate Tax Management - Direct Taxes
Corporate Tax Management - Indirect Taxes
Group II comprises four papers
Corporate Laws and Practice -I
Corporate Laws and Practice - II
Corporate Laws and Practice - III
Secretarial and Management Audit On passing the Final Examination, the student has to undergo practical training for 18 months in order to become eligible as an Associate Member of the ICSI. The training can be of the following nature
Apprenticeship with a practicing CS
Gazetted post with the State/Central government
Managerial position
Legal experience
Teaching experience
In the final year, all students must undergo a month-long training in the following departments of a firm: Finance, Secretarial and Administrative. A 15-day training in a bank or financial organization is also mandatory. While in training, students can enroll as licentiates of the ICSI. On completion of the training, they may register as Associate Members of the Institute. A Certificate of Practice from the Institute is essential to practice as a Company Secretary in India.
The Company Secretary or CS is indispensable to the efficient management of any company or financial institution. His/her primary job is to ensure compliance with various statutory legislations. Pallavi Sharma examines what goes into making of a CS.
Job profile
The primary functions of a CS include
Ensuring compliance with various legislations according to the Companies Act 1956
Acting as a confidante to the Board of Directors
Acting as an internal legal advisor
Interacting and coordinating with other functional heads of the company
Formulating long and short-term corporate policies and programmes
Corporate planning
Planning expansion opportunities and overseeing collaborations, amalgamations, acquisitions, mergers etc
Assisting in tax planning and tax management Essential attributes
A CS is expected to possess the following essential attributes
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Excellent command over spoken and written English
Marketing skills
Keen business sense
Organizing and administrative ability
Openings:
The following organizations and government departments employ Company Secretaries
Accounts Branch of the Central Company Law Services (Grades I to IV)
Government of India panels
State Government financial institutions
Company law boards
Banks and financial institutions
Stock exchanges
Corporate sector
Company secretaryship firms
Universities and research centres
Private practice (A Certificate of Practice from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is essential for private practice)
Consultancy Remuneration
In India, a qualified fresher, who gains entry into a reputed company, can expect between Rs 7,000 - 10,000 per month.
Training :
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), constituted under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980, is the premier body that develops and regulates the profession of Company Secretaries in India. The Institute conducts examinations by registering students and imparting coaching through distance education as well as optional contact classes for the Company Secretaryship course. The Institute headquartered in New Delhi has four regional offices in Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai with 36 chapters and 9 satellite chapters located in various cities all over India. Membership to the Institute is required to practice as a CS in India.
The Company Secretaryship Course
Previously, admission to the Company Secretaryship course of the ICSI was open only to candidates possessing a minimum of a graduate-level degree. The Institute has since introduced the Foundation Course for Senior Secondary (10+2 or equivalent) students from any recognised board. Foundation course
The objective of the Foundation Course is to enable students, desiring to take up Company Secretaryship to enter early in the profession. Students who have passed Senior Secondary (10+2 or equivalent) in any stream can join the course. Students who have appeared or enrolled for appearing in the Senior Secondary examination are also eligible for provisional admission. However proof of passing the said examination is required to be furnished within six months of the provisional admission. Admission is open throughout the year and is valid for three years. The duration of the course is eight months.
Subjects tested at the end of the Foundation Course:
Business Communication
Business Laws and Management
Principles of Accountancy
Economics and Statistics
The Foundation examination is held twice a year, in June and December. The student should secure a minimum of 40% marks in individual papers and a minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate at one sitting in the entire exam or in each group (if the student is writing the exams group-wise). Candidates who pass the Foundation Course will be eligible to seek registration as students for the Company Secretaryship course offered by the ICSI.
Intermediate examination
The Intermediate Examination consists of two groups with eight papers.
Group I comprises four papers
General Laws and Procedures
Personnel Management and Industrial Laws
Tax Laws (Direct and Indirect Tax Laws)
Cost and Management Accounting
Group II comprises four papers
Company Law and Practice - I
Company Law and Practice - II
Economic and Other Legislations
Company Accounts - Theory and Practice
Final examination
The Final Examination consists of two groups with eight papers.
Group I comprises of four papers
Financial Management
Management Control and Information
Corporate Tax Management - Direct Taxes
Corporate Tax Management - Indirect Taxes
Group II comprises four papers
Corporate Laws and Practice -I
Corporate Laws and Practice - II
Corporate Laws and Practice - III
Secretarial and Management Audit On passing the Final Examination, the student has to undergo practical training for 18 months in order to become eligible as an Associate Member of the ICSI. The training can be of the following nature
Apprenticeship with a practicing CS
Gazetted post with the State/Central government
Managerial position
Legal experience
Teaching experience
In the final year, all students must undergo a month-long training in the following departments of a firm: Finance, Secretarial and Administrative. A 15-day training in a bank or financial organization is also mandatory. While in training, students can enroll as licentiates of the ICSI. On completion of the training, they may register as Associate Members of the Institute. A Certificate of Practice from the Institute is essential to practice as a Company Secretary in India.
Contact information
Headquarters:
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India,
ICSI House,
22 Institutional Area,
Lodi Road,
New Delhi 110 003
Regional Councils of the Institute
Eastern India Regional Council
18-A Everest House (18th Floor),
46-C, Chowringhee Road,
Calcutta 700 071
Northern India Regional Council / Foundation Cell,
ICSI-NIRC Building,
Plot No. 4,
Prasad Nagar,
Institutional Area,
New Delhi 110005
Southern India Regional Council,
4, Wheat Crofts Road,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai- 600034
Western India Regional Council,
13, Jolly Maker Chambers II,
(1st Floor),
Nariman Point,
Mumbai 400 021
Related career options
Company secretaries can diversify into the following areas of work
Financial management
Personnel management
Tax management
Administrative jobs
Company law