Master these skills to become a successful CA and earn over ₹7 lakh per annum

• Chartered Accountant (CA) is one of the most sought after job role in India, thanks to its attractive salaries.
  
• There are some 2.82 lakh CAs in India — and only 1.25 lakh are actively on the job.
  
• As on September 2019, there have been as many as 1,09,980 chartered accountant jobs roles listed on job search platforms — Naukri, Indeed, Monster and LinkedIn.

Chartered Accountants (CA) are one of the most sought after professionals in India, thanks to its attractive salaries. A chartered accountant looks after the accounts, taxes, auditing and budgeting of a company. Accountancy firms, consultancies and institutions employ CAs.

As more startups and businesses are establishing across industries, the demand for CAs has been rising. There are 2.82 lakh CAs in India — and only 1.25 lakh (44%) of them actively pursue this profession, according to a TOI report.

As on September 2019, there have been as many as 1,09,980 chartered accountant jobs listed on job search platforms — Naukri, Indeed, Monster and LinkedIn. The jobs pan across auditing, tax management, cost and financial accounting.

According to job search platform Naukri.com, the average salary of a chartered accountant in India is over ₹7 lakh per annum. But experienced CAs tend to make as much as ₹25 lakh per annum.

Here are the skills that can help CAs land a high-paying job.

Financial Accounting

A CA’s job includes budgeting, preparing income statements and maintaining cash flows. For this, it is important to study how investments are recorded. Online courses in accounting incorporate case studies and tools that allow learners to prepare financial statements and factsheets. They also need to know how to gather information and maintain records, as a part of their fiduciary duties.

Microsoft Excel

Mastering Excel is extremely important for CA’s. Apart from the basic usage, CAs will also have to use it for analytics. Calculating taxes and formulas can be sorted with other Microsoft tools as well. Some institutions have also mandated training on Excel and Information Technology.

Analytics

Chartered Accountants are required to study analytics and investments for business. This includes quantitative analysis, statistics and data processing. Calculations and analysis of a wide array of data points is core to budgeting.

Strong Communication

Communication skills form the basis of any career. In case of chartered accountants, communication with clients and conducting board meetings requires soft skills. They need to present data in a way that is easily understandable and make a point clearly.

Given that, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has also been conducting training on communication and analytical skills including skills around general management.

Commercial Awareness

Understanding the business and keeping up with trends in the industry is a much required skill in this sector. Commercial awareness is important to measure business trends and map their budgeting and forecast financial markets as per changing environment.