Chartered Accountant or CA Salary in India | CA annual salary in 2024

A CA is much respected in India. There are practicing CAs or those employed in companies. Nevertheless, the Chartered Accountant salary in India is handsome.

If you have a basic knowledge of Commerce and an affinity to maths with sufficient understanding of subjects like Accountancy, Economics, Taxation, Law, Business Studies and the like you are in an excellent position to be a Chartered Accountant. However, some students are trained in some other stream, have shifted streams to be Chartered Accountants. The main reason is the demand for CAs in India and CA salary in India is in lakhs.

A person who has passed the CA-Finals and has acquired the necessary skill capabilities and experience is in an excellent position to earn a handsome CA salary in India per month.

Chartered Accountant Salary in India

Chartered accountant salary in India is dependent on his job profile and the company that hires him. If the public sector employs you, you benefit from fixed hours of work and less stress. But if you are CA working in an MNC, you can earn more. Even though Government companies do not pay high salaries, their benefits for a CA are great.

Salary Packages of Chartered Accountants in India

A CAs salary depends on his skill capabilities and experience. Salary packages of a CA are listed below.

Least Package

The minor salary per annum in India for a CA is estimated at INR 3lakhs. This is a good starting salary for freshers. However, the CA who has done exceptionally well in the CA-Final Examination or has built a brand for themselves could earn the highest starting salary for CA.

Highest Package

The highest salary packages for CA is an International posting. They earn up to INR 76 lakhs pa.

In-Between Package

The Chartered Accountant salary for an International Posting is between INR 9-18 lakhs pa, and the public sector could pay INR 10-20 lakhs p.a. Indian Business giants offer between 6-9 lakhs pa.

Lowest Package

In return for services, small companies offer a chartered accountant in India a salary package of INR3 lakhs pa.

 The Average Salary of Chartered Accountant in India

The ICAI, in its report on its placements, said that an average salary of ca in India is INR 7 -8 lakhs pa.

Table showing the salary of CA in different countries in their respective currencies.

Chartered Accountant Salary in the Big 4 Auditing Firms

Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Ernst & Young (EY), & Deloitte are the four well-known accounting organizations, also known as the Big 4. It is a dream come true for CAs to get a job in one of the Big 4, for there is a lot of experience and learning there.

The salary offered by the big 4 for freshers CA salary per annum is INR 6-8 lakhs, and for those with experience of 4-5 years, CA salary per annum is INR 23 lakhs.

Most of the CA stick around as the pay after five years could be huge and start their practice after that.

The table shows the salary pa. of a Chartered Accountant in the big 4

Other CA Firms-Salary of CA in India Per Annum

A Fresher Chartered Accountant in India joins CA Firms to gain experience after their practice. CA Firms in India employ just a few to safeguard their clients interests and pay the freshers a handsome Chartered Accountant salary in India of INR3 lakh to 8 lakh per annum.

A Practicing Chartered Accountant salary in India

Chartered Accountants who are practicing get a salary depending on the ability to draw clients. If he can get big companies as clients, he could earn up to INR 50 lakhs a year. The average salary in India for practicing chartered accountants is INR 21.3 lakhs. The minimum ca salary in India from his practice can be estimated as INR 10 lakhs. It has been noticed that the remuneration of chartered accountants for females is much higher than that of males.

Read, How to become Chartered Accountant?

CA Salary in India in Multinational Companies and FMCG

A new CA must rank among the first 50 to get a Multinational and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). They are HUL (Hindustan Unilever), P&G (Procter & Gamble), MARICO, and RB (Reckitt Benckiser) and are number Uno in the market. These companies need competent professionals to handle accounting and finance for them. Chartered accountants salary starts at 18-25 lakh per annum in these companies. The number of attempts to clear the exams should be few for them to get a job.

These companies also provide several perks such as free conveyance, leased accommodation, leased car, and financial benefits like health, property, and life insurance.

Chartered Accountant Salary in India in IT Companies

The Service of a CA for efficient risk management ensures that these companies progress in profits and cuts losses to help run the enterprise without a glitch.

The work in IT companies like TCS, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Wipro, in not much, but the chartered accountants salary is attractive. They pay INR 8-10 lakhs CA salary to freshers and INR 40-60 lakhs CA salary to the experienced and skilled one.

Their job is to bookkeeping and prepares financial statements and audit the same to ensure that proper accounting principles are maintained. Their primary aim is to build the goodwill of the company.

The scope for growth in such companies is minimum. Nevertheless, the remuneration is reasonable.

How much do Chartered Accountants in Public Sector Companies in India Earn?

Fresher CA has an excellent opportunity to clinch jobs with the recruitment drives of the ICAI provided that they have scored 50%-60% in CA- Final and the number of attempts to clear the exam is two. Government companies like National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd. (BHEL), Coal India Ltd (CIL), and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) employ CAs to maintain their finance department. The job is less stressful with fixed hours of work, and the chartered accountant salary is INR 8-20 lakhs on the basis of their skills and working knowledge. The only hitch is that they could be located far from home or transferred from one place to another.

Table showing the highest salary paying companies in India

This module is the analysis of a CA salary in India on the basis of the factors that decide the pay.

CA Salary in India for a Fresher

The ICAI offers placements to freshly qualified CAs two times a year immediately after posting the results of the CA-Final Examinations. Given the present circumstances, it was held virtual for the first time in August-September 2020. This recruitment saw a rise in the demand for a CA by 37% and a surge in the salaries of a CA, 2.923 jobs were on offer, and the annual package was INR 8.9 lakhs. 

It must be noted that placement is offered firstly for rank-holder, those who have passed the exam on the first attempt, followed by those who have not made multiple attempts to pass the exams.

Table showing the rise in demand and remuneration of Chartered Accountants in India in the year 2018-2020

With the help of the table rise in demand for CA in India and the rise in Ca salary is easy to understand. The table shows the salary in lakhs. A CA fresher will earn INR 6-7 lakhs per annum. The figures are only for the jobs secured by freshers through the placements offered by the ICAI.

Salary of CA in India on the Basis of the Experience

The hiring companies give a lot of importance to the years of experience of a CA. CA salary in India is INR 30 Lakhs per annum for one with a minimum of 10 years of experience. The number of years, with the kind of work he has done in those years and with the companies he has worked will decide the remuneration.

Table showing salary on the basis of experience in lakhs per annum.

The Members in Industry and Business (CMI&B) organize Career Assent twice every year to provide an opportunity to experienced CAs to advance their careers in leading organizations. A new CA can also participate in this forum.

A Chartered Accountant Salary on the Basis 0f a CAs Skills

The job of a CA is much-coveted because of the salary of chartered accountants. CAs compensation is on the basis of his skills. Financial accounting, budget management, excellent communication, audit, risk management, strategic management, analysis, and controlling are the skills that a CA must have to have a high job profile and an attractive salary.

Table showing the required skills of a CA and the related average salary for the skill per annum.

A chartered accountant should brush up on his skills and keep himself updated to earn INR 25 lakhs or even more.

How much does a Chartered Accountant in India earn based on Job Profile?

A CAs knowledge is not limited to accounting and tax. He has an in-depth understanding of many aspects that are essential in profitably running a business enterprise. A CA could be hired as a Finance Manager, Account Executive, Financial Controller or CFO. Depending on the profile for which he is appointed, there will be variations in his salary too.

                          Table showing the job profile and average salary.

What is the average salary of a Chartered Accountant?

The average salary is between INR6-7 lakhs per annum in India. A CAs Salary, on average, could rise to INR40-60 lakhs depending on his skills and experience. If he gets an International posting, he could earn INR 75 lakh pa. At the recent ICAI placement, INR 8.4lakhs is the average salary of CA.

At what salary a Chartered Accountant can start his career in India?

The starting salary of a Chartered Accountant in India is dependent on many factors, such as his experience, skills, job profile, the company he is recruited in, and the location to which he is recruited. Nevertheless, in the broad sense, it could be said that a CA could start with a salary of INR6-7 lakhs to 40-60 lakhs.