CA Articleship Stipend

A CA student is required to complete 3 years of Articleship. Articleship is nothing but practical hands-on training that a student is required to take under the supervision of a practicing Chartered Accountant or a firm of chartered accountants who in return will pay him an articleship stipend for the job he does.

Only Qualified Chartered Accountants with 3, 4, and 10 years of experience can provide article ship practice to students.

Despite the fact that articleship training lasts for 3 years, Ca students are eligible to appear for CA Final exams in the last 6 months of their articleship. In other words, CA students are eligible to appear for CA final exam after completion of 2.5 years of articleship, the balance period of articleship can be served post completion of exams.

The ICAI in regulation 43 has set out the eligibility to engage articled assistants in full-time practice or salaried employment

Table- I (Applicable to members practicing the profession of chartered accountants in their individual name or as proprietor or as a partner) 

Figure II (Applicable to members who are in full-time salaried employment under a chartered accountant in practice or a firm of such chartered accountants)

Articleship Eligibility and Stipend

As per the current curriculum, a student who has cleared either single or both groups of intermediate is eligible to start the articles.

The stipend which is offered to CA students can depend on the type of firm to which the student opts to pursue his/her articles. Usually, big4s and top-tier firms pay a comparatively high amount of stipend compared to mid or small-size firms. However, the exposure that top-tier firms provide is limited to only one area that is students can specialize in one area and has to work in that area during the 3 years of the articleship period, however in mid or small-size firms exposure is quite diversified in the sense that students can get exposure to all the areas. Typically CA firms can be classified as-

• BIG 4s
• Mid-Size firms
• Small firms

Now lets discuss the minimum stipend amount as prescribed by the Institute Of Chartered Accountants Of India that must be paid to all articles by their employers.

Minimum Stipend

The above are monthly figures the employer must pay to the article assistants in the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd year of articleship.

The stipend should be provided by the Chartered Accountant to its Article either by – 

• A monthly crossed account payee cheque against a stamped receipt acquired from the Article. Or 
• By depositing the funds on a monthly basis into an account formed in the Articles name with a bank branch designated by the employer accountant.

There is no maximum for the article stipend, despite the fact that the ICAI has set a minimum amount. Therefore, the employer Chartered Accountant is free to pay his Article whatever stipend he chooses. The Big 4 accounting companies often give CA Articles the largest stipends.

Big 4 firms usually pay a considerably high stipend compared to any mid-size firms. The average amount of stipend paid by big 4s (EY, PWC, Deloitte, KPMG) in metro cities during the period of 3 years is-

Year 1 - INR 15000 (+) Traveling Expenses

Year 2 - INR 20000 (+) Travelling Expenses

Year 3 - INR 25000 (+) Travelling Expenses

This is an estimated figure of the average articleship allowance given by Big 4 firms, which may vary across states and cities. 

Articleship Stipend in case of training abroad

It is to be noted that CA articleship can be done in India or abroad. As per the sources, the stipend paid in foreign countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, U.K, Dubai, Nigeria, and Singapore is Rs.30,000; Rs.22,000; Rs.25,000; Rs.20,000;  Rs.20,000; Rs.15,000; and Rs.15,000 respectively, which can be more than ten times the stipend prescribed by the ICAI.

Apart from the big 4 firms here is the list of top 10 firms which pay much higher than the minimum limit

ICAIs Proposal to double the articleship stipend

 

ICAI has issued a draft CA 2nd Amendment Regulations 2022, whereby it is proposed to revise/ modify the CA Regulation 48(1) to double the stipend rates during Articleship for CA Students. it may be noted that so far ICAI has issued only a draft Notification proposing to double the stipend rates for CA Articles, however, the Final Notification and applicability date thereof are still pending.

ICAI Doubles Articleship Stipend for CA Students.

ICAI has issued draft, whereby it is proposed to revise/ modify the CA Regulation 48(1) to double the stipend during Articleship for CA Students. It may be noted that so far ICAI has issued only a draft Notification proposing to double the stipend rates for CA Articles, however, the Final Notification and applicability date thereof are still pending approval. Moreover, ICAI has invited CA students and members to give there valuable suggestions on the revision of stipend rates.

After final Notification of these proposed amendments in CA Regulation 48(1), the revised stipend rates for CA Articles shall be fixed as under:

Proposed Minimum Stipend Rates (based on Classification of Cities/ Towns) under CA Regulation 48(1)

To conclude, the decision as to which firm to choose should not be based on the convenience that would be available to the student at the time of articleship, but should be based on the quality of work that the student intends to learn during the 3 years.