Ashish Kalra Sir, Founder and Director of an IGP Pvt Ltd is a post graduate in commerce (M. Com) and has also done MBA. Apart from this, he has also done various diplomas/ short courses related to leadership, business management, finance, and strategic cost management. CA/CS Ashish Kalra sir is known for his in-depth knowledge, extreme conceptual clarity & his innovative style of teaching using stories, animations, visualizations, and presentations which have made him a favourite among the students. Over more than past 2 decades, he has been teaching CMA, FM and EFF, SFM and SCMPE along with mentoring students to become successful professionals. In the last 21 years, more than a thousand aspirants have scored ranks in CA, CS, and CMA under his guidance and 10 of them have also scored AIR-1 too. Often people say that scoring good marks in CA course is difficult, however, under his guidance many students have scored 99/100 and even 100/100 in his subject.
Career selection is just like preparing a map for the construction of a building. In the present scenario, there are many career options before the student community. The students who are interested in Business Administration, Finance and its allied fields may choose an option from amongst professional courses such as CA, CS, CMA, BBA and then MBA.
The young minds aspiring for a better future have a lot of confusion and ambiguity in their minds in regard to the career path best suited to them. Often students pursuing Commerce Stream have a doubt in their minds in regard to which course/s to pursue, namely, Chartered Accountancy (CA), or Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) or Bachelors of Commerce (B. Com) and thereafter Masters of Business Administration (MBA).
The two courses, CA and MBA are amongst the most coveted and valuable qualifications aspired by students worldwide and mostly people pursue only one of them, but a few achieve the dual honour (CA + MBA). Both CA and MBA come with their own benefits, learnings, and opportunities and it is hard to compare the two, as both have their own galaxy of stars.
The following important points are to be considered by an aspirant while considering making a choice between CA and MBA Courses:
CA as a Career Option:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is responsible for conducting CA examinations throughout India. On an average, a student requires 4 – 4.5 years after his Class 12th to qualify as a CA. The total cost of pursuing the CA Course, including the private coaching fees and the fees payable to ICAI ranges from Rs. 2 – 3 Lakhs over this period of 4 – 4.5 years. During this period, a student can also earn a total stipend of over Rs. 7.2 Lakhs throughout the 3 years of articleship. Hence, the entire course fees (including private coaching classes) can be recovered completely within 1.5 years of commencement of articleship.
In today’s world, every business organisation is required to maintain its accounts as per various statutes, such as Companies Act, 2013, Banking Regulations Act, 1949, Insurance Act, 1938, Electricity Act, 2003, etc. and also periodically file its Income tax Returns as per the regulations of Income Tax Act, 1961 and GST Returns as per various GST Acts of 2017 (CGST Act, SGST Act, IGST Act, etc.). For these purposes, it needs the assistance of a qualified professional who is proficient in these areas, and this professional is a Chartered Accountant (CA). Apart from this, the owners/shareholders hire agents, called the Board of Directors (BOD) to conduct the business of their company. The shareholders as well as the creditors of the company wish to know that the accounts prepared by the company state the true and fair view of its true financial position, and hence every company is required to appoint a statutory auditor for the same. Only CAs are authorised to be appointed as statutory auditors.
Furthermore, CAs also act as consultants to various companies, business houses, etc. so as to advise the management in regard to matters such as cost reduction, cost control, making strategies and investments so as to maximize the wealth of the organisation or to minimise their costs. The CAs can act as a practicing Chartered Accountant or go in for an employment in the Finance and Accounts department of various Companies, Investment Banking Firms, Commercial Banks, Money Management Firms, Hedge Funds, Private Equity Firms, Real Estate Firms, Mutual Funds, Brokerage Firms, PSUs, etc.
The average starting pay package of CAs is Rs. 8 Lakhs to Rs. 10 Lakhs. However, the highest package in India ranges around Rs. 30 Lakhs. International companies offer about Rs. 75 Lakhs as the highest package. In case of own start-up, there is no limit on earning.
Hence, there are many solid reasons in favour of choosing CA as a career option, as CA professionals have an immense opportunity of reaching to the Everest of their careers in the time span of only a few years. After certain years of experience, CAs can even attain high positions in a business such as CFO, Vice President, CEO, etc. Some famous CAs at such high positions are CA Kumar Mangalam Birla, CA Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, CA Deepak Parekh, CA Piyush Goyal, etc.
MBA as a Career Option:
Masters of Business Administration (MBA) can be pursued after completing graduation, whether BBA or B. Com. or any other graduation degree. Hence, it takes 5 years to attain an MBA Degree after Class 12th (3 years of graduation and 2 years of MBA Course). The entrance exams for pursuing MBA from top colleges in India are CAT (Common Admission Test), MAT (Management Aptitude Test), etc. The top colleges for pursuing MBA are IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Indore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Ranchi, XLRI Jamshedpur, FMS (Delhi University), etc. MBA is one such specialization that enhances the knowledge about marketing skills, HR skills, financial skills, innovations, etc. MBA in Finance opens gateways into different industries like the corporate sector, banking, real estate business, investment services, agriculture, finance, insurance sector, etc.
It helps the students build foundations, both practically and theoretically, that helps them to understand the Investment Strategies, Local & Global Economies, Mergers and Acquisitions, Human Resource Management, Marketing Techniques, Insurance, Corporate Risk, etc.
The specialisations in MBA having a very good scope are MBA in Marketing, MBA in Finance, MBA in International Business and MBA in Banking and Financial Services. However, MBA can be done in other specialisations too, namely, MBA in Human Resource, MBA in Rural, MBA in Business Analytics, MBA in Healthcare Management, MBA in Family Business, MBA in Agri Business, etc.
If MBA is pursued from the top colleges, the students also undergo extensive business training by studying various case studies, analysing the decisions both good and bad taken by various business organisations. They are taught as to how a business organisation becomes successful or a failure. The cost of pursuing MBA from top colleges is around Rs. 20 – 30 Lakhs, but Rs. 4 – 5 Lakhs are recovered as stipend during the internship undertaken in second year. However, in case of other private colleges, their MBAs are not much recognised in the corporate sector for job purposes even though their cost is very high in comparison to CA Course. Also, there are no good internship opportunities. The average starting package of the students who have done MBA from IIMs is around Rs. 15 – 30 Lakhs, and the highest package in India is around Rs. 50 – 55 Lakhs and the international package can go above Rs. 1 Crore also. However, the students who have done MBA from other local private colleges, the starting package ranges around Rs. 3 – 5 Lakhs.
Concluding the article, I would like to say that both CA and MBA are meritorious qualifications at their own place. Due to the applicability of various laws such as Companies Act, Income Tax Act, GST Act, etc., the companies are required to hire professionals such as Chartered Accountants to fulfil their legal obligations as well as provide them consultancy in regard to various managerial level decisions. MBAs are preferred only if done from a top college, otherwise not. The most wonderful combination can be CA plus MBA. However, this will take approx. 6.5 years after Class 12th.