New Delhi: It's boom time for aspiring Chartered Accountants. Entry level salaries have risen 60 per cent to an average of Rs 25,000 a month from Rs 15,000- Rs 18,000 about two years ago.
The reason is simple; there are just too few CAs. Although the industry needs about 15,000 CAs a year, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, ICAI, which regulates the profession, churns out less than half that number each year.
And the IT industry attracts most of them with the highest packages. In fact, three of the top six recruiters that went to ICAI's campus this year are IT companies.
According to Jayant Gokhale, Central Council Member, ICAI, "They offer attractive packages, good profile and are more flexible."
The shortage of CAs has led to poaching among big accounting firms. In the past six months, more than a dozen partners have shifted within the big six accounting and tax firms, leading to a phenomenal increase in partner-level salaries.
While an entry level partner earns between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 60 lakh a year, a senior partner with about five years' experience nets between Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 3 crore.
Big four executives blame the acute shortage of talented CAs on this overheated market. Ian Gomes, CEO, KPMG India agrees, "There is a shortage of good and the right talent."
There is also a big shift in job preferences. ICAI data shows that more than 70 per cent of fresh CAs prefer an industry job to setting up their own practice. That's a sea change from a few years ago when more than 1.2 lakh CAs were in practice.
Unless the ICAI throws up more CAs, those that are in the profession will continue to be at a premium.
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