SUPRASANNA ARYAL
 “The number of students pursuing Chartered Accountancy (CA) courses has increased a lot over the years. This is mainly because the job market has an increasing demand of the expertise that CA courses ensure,” shares Umesh Raj Pandeya, a Chartered Accountant, who also teaches Taxation at Kathmandu Model Center of Professional Education in Hattisar. CA students are preferred in the market compared to other management students, he adds.

He elaborates, “CA courses provide students with knowledge on a variety of topics like auditing, accounting, taxation, corporate finance as well as management.” He further informs that these skills are highly regarded in almost all fields including manufacturing, insurance, investments and policy making.

As informed by Pandeya, students can also study on their own and take the examinations after compiling study materials as per the syllabus prescribed by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). However, most students prefer going to coaching classes provided by various institutions so that they can have a general idea of how examinations are taken, he observes.

Mandeep Bashistha, 22, is preparing to complete the final level of his CA course of Nepali Board. There are three levels in the course. “I completed two levels attending CCMA College in Putalisadak. I’m planning to complete the third level on my own,” he says. “The last two levels were pretty tough. Seeking help from the institution was helpful,” he recalls.

Unlike the previous levels, an internship is compulsory for the final level. He has started working with an audit firm where he’s been practicing whatever he studied in the previous years, related with auditing, accounting and taxation. “We also give consultations on various financial matters to different organizations when required,” he shares.

Since this is his first ever professional experience, he’s pretty much satisfied with all the people he gets to meet and everything he gets to learn about. “I’ve been getting the opportunity to meet professionals from different walks of life and learning a lot from them,” he says, adding, “Also, since it’s a paid internship, it feels very good to be financially independent finally.”

Likewise, Shankar Pokharel, 25, is also preparing to complete the final level of his CA course. He completed the previous levels from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and will be taking the remaining examinations from Nepal.

However, despite the enrollment of a large number of students in the CA course, comparatively only very few students complete the course. Regarding this, Pokharel observes, “Many people feel that CA is a tough course and they quit without completing all the levels. But it isn’t really that difficult if one has the patience and perseverance to do well.” Another reason why many students quit is because they’re already offered high-paying jobs after completing the first levels, he adds.

He says that he has no regret over deciding to pursue CA as the course will ensure financial security in future because there are a wide range of options to choose from when it comes to career.

As shared by Pandeya, in Nepal, ICAN issues Certificate of Practice to the students after they complete the CA course and then they can start practicing. However, those who complete their CA as per India’s or the UK’s education system, they have to study more and appear additional examinations to get the certificate in Nepal, he adds.

Talking about the challenges of studying CA in Nepal, Bashishta observes, “We have faced some problems while finding the relevant study materials. But many new Nepali writers have been coming up with their findings, so the new CA students may not have to face the same difficulties.”

The course requires a lot of hard work and concentration, and students shouldn’t give up so easily, he concludes.

source: SUPRASANNA ARYAL, "Chartered Accountancy: Much more than auditing and accounting", republica,19 sept 2014