Chartered Accountant CA Salary in India 2026 | CA Monthly Annual salary in 2026 | City Wise

The Landscape of Chartered Accountants salaries changes significantly after the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in the business operations of the clients, as well as the way tasks are performed by a chartered accountant. Operations have become much quicker than before, earlier when the scope of checking was limited due to the time constraint, has extended now as AI facilitates the chartered accountants to perform auditing procedures on a wide range of operations, considering the time constraints. Everything depends on how proficient a chartered accountant is in AI operations or knowledge of various tools. 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.

Chartered Accountants who are exploring a career in Finance also have to deploy AI to manage various operations in their daily work. The Indian Chartered Accountancy course is proven to be the most rewarding career in India without any second thought due to the economic expansion and the kind of skill development this course provides to the aspirants in various fields of finance, taxation, law, etc. 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.

The higher supply of Chartered accountants in the country in recent years has impacted the job market and demand for chartered accountants. It majorly impacts the entry-level jobs for a chartered accountant; however, due to the economic expansion and rising demand, these hardly impact the experienced level. Continuous upgrading of new skills will help to manage everything and remain competitive in the job market. Many professional chartered accountants are continuously upgrading their skills using short courses of 5 to 40 hours. 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 offered to Rank Holders of ICAI

Top-ranked holders definitely get an edge in salary packages as compared to other students. The difference in the salary structure can be clearly seen below.

An average per-month salary of a chartered accountant in India lies around ₹60,000 to ₹3,50,000 Per Month, depending upon the skills, Location, Type of corporation, experience, etc. Abroad, the per-month salary ranges from ₹1,50,000 to ₹6,00,000 (converted to Indian Rupee).

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.

Comparative Salary Table: CA vs Other Courses

Lets compare the most interesting topic which you may be searching for, that is, which career option will give you immense benefits in terms of monetary benefits in your career.

Understand the Combinations

Now, lets evaluate your priorities and then check which career plans will be more suited based on different aspects. A thorough study is required, keeping in mind the life goals.

You should evaluate your life goals and accordingly select the best option that aligns with your long-term goals and skills perfectly.

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.

ICAI Campus Placement – Salary Packages offered

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India conducts campus placement for their students for each attempt, where various companies from startups to listed participate and hire the candidates on different pay scales depending on the job roles and location.

Newly qualified Chartered accountants, who have completed their articleship or will complete their articleship by a specified date, can apply for the ICAI campus placement online through the portal https://cmibplacements.icai.org. Candidates who missed the last campus placement can also participate in the placement drive, which acts as a central placement to connect chartered accountants directly with the corporates. This facilitates members to understand the corporate demand and make the structural changes in the course as per the industrys required skills.

Students need to log in to the ICAI Portal (SSP Portal) with their Roll Number and fill the form along with training certificates and pay the nominal charges, then choose the location of the ICAI campus placement they are interested in. Campus placement process includes shortlisting, then interview, and other rounds depending on the company, which may include Group discussion, Psychometric tests, or written test, etc.

In the recent campus placement, more than 245 companies participated in the drive from different sectors like banking, accounting, startups, PSUs, manufacturing, etc. Average packages offered around ₹ 12.53 lakh per annum, and the highest package reaches to ₹ 28.15 lakh per annum, offered by Kotak Mahindra Bank, a domestic player. Skills on which the corporates are highly focused during the placement were blockchain, AI, Data Analytics, and Forensic accounting, etc.

Majorly, Mumbai and Delhi offered good job placement offers to the students and better job roles compared to the rest of the placement centers. Yes, students who scored Rank or those who cleared all the levels in their very First attempt got better placement offers.

One piece of advice is to focus on preparing a go that properly highlights your skills, extracurricular activities, experience, and different fields explored during articleship.

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.

Salary packages of a Chartered Accountant based on the Company Profiles

Salary packages depend on the type of corporation, as each one offers different kinds of job security, opportunities, and financial benefits to the candidates. For a candidate, it is very important to understand which type of corporate he/she should pursue to meet their long-term objectives.

Which Company Type to Choose for Long-Term Career Growth

Things to consider before joining any corporate career, mostly the decision is based on multiple factors, based on an individual, as some are driven by work-life balance, or exploring new areas, or job stability, or some may have different career goals. So various things are considered while choosing the right corporation for the job. Based various factors, the authors recommendation suggests that one should start his/her career with CA Firms or Big 4 for the first 2-4 years to build a good knowledge base and credibility, then move towards MNCs or Listed companies to get good scale based on the expertise, as CA Firms offer a variety of things to learn and observe during the work.

Sector-wise Salary structure of the Chartered accountants

Industry or sector also influences the salary of a chartered accountant, as each sector offers a different kind of challenging working environment. The Fin Tech industry, which is the shining star of the Indian economy, offers attractive packages ranging from ₹ 10 to 45 lakh per annum or even in Crores for big roles. The packages depend on the knowledge of blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, or any experience in the digital sector.

The real estate sector, which is again the shining star of the Indian economy, offers various roles to chartered accountants, from project management to legal expert, to comply with RERA or other government regulations. Candidates can earn from ₹ 800,000 to ₹ 90,00,000 with good bonuses and good career opportunities in the coming years.

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.