Articleship:A Boon Or A Bane

Purpose of Articleship

According to the Institute it is meant to impart training to  the article to face the professional world and obtain practical experience from the principal in his firm.Does it really happen?Does it really make them good professionals?Has he spent the most active years of his life in the right way? These are the questions every the article asks Institute after spending 3years in a firm.

Reality

Articleship in a Small/Medium Firm

The Article is really excited on the first day of his work. He really expects to get trained on the knowledge he gained in his PCC/IPCC exams.Having done articles in a medium firm I have been exposed to lots of variety of work (i.e Audit, Income Tax).It is the article’s prerogative to chose the right Firm for his career.I would say it is for the article to decide whether he wants to do a  job or practice in future.

In reality the principal instead of becoming a teacher (which every article expects him to be) becomes a hard taskmaster.The principal been given the right to give the article his freedom after his articleship most of the times takes advantage of this right to the full extent.The article on the other end is on the receiving end .The enthusiasm and excitement diminishes gradually and then it just remains just a dull process throughout the articleship.The article is given routine work which the principal makes him do just to save  the cost of a fully paid employee.The article also bears the brunt of impending extention which he has to complete.Neither the daily overtime work does not lead to reduction of extention in a medium firm so it hurts more nor there is an increase in remuneration to boost morale either.Another downside is of lesser remuneration (6K/8K) given in the 3rd year of Articleship compared to top firms.

Let me discuss as for studies It is relatively easier to study while in  small or medium firms i.e relaxation in study leave unlike big Firms.It is more comfortable to study for Ca Final as the working hours are Comparatively less and more time to focus on studies after work.There is greater possibility for the article to clear CA Final exams in 1st attempt in a small firm.

Articleship in a Top Firm

If you are in a Big 4 or top 10 firms, an article is put in one field for the whole 3 years of his articleship He is doing the same thing the whole three years.Though there is a positive here, that you become expert in one field .So it is logical that the article continues doing there because he is offered a plush job with a good pay package often saving the training costs for the firms.But there is a loss on the side of the article who is left short sighted for his future.He is stuck in the firm with good pay packages  but not a Big Vision.

As for studies it is very difficult to concentrate on study as there is lots of stress and pressure as the stipend is much higher and the article is made to work to the whole of his waking hours(especially September).You have to be really focused and self disciplined to manage studies and clear 1^st attempt while in Big firms.On the upside the Articles are paid upto 16K/18K in the 3rd year.

Ideal Articleship :

As of Today a student can start CA after 12th std.A average 19 year old does'nt even know in what field  he/she is going to work in his life.So I would propose a article should have as many different experiences as possible in his articleship period.For this to happen the the article should make use of his articleship period in 3 or 4 installments.He should work for 1year in the field of Income Tax,1 year in Audit,1year in maybe Equity Research,maybe 6 months in Industry.Through this approach an article spends in every aspect of finance and then he will be able to decide in which field he wants to specialise in

For this option to happen as a reality  the Institute has to change the rules of transfer which is unlikely to happen .So as  to make use of his articleship the  article should opt for Dummy(though it is very difficult to get a Dummy articleship these days due to strict rules of the institute)Then too ,Somehow an Article should find a Dummy and should follow this process.Through this Process an article can optimise Articleship period and will also able to clear CA Final Exams with 1st Attempt.

(The above account of articleship is a subjective view of the writer it may defer from person to person.The opinion to opt for Dummy is a personal opinion of the writer to optimise the use of the articleship period.The writer is awaiting his CA Final Results)