C.A-Charted Accountancy
Chartered Accountancy (CA) is the title used by members of certain professional accountancy associations in the British Common wealth countries and Ireland. The term chartered comes from the Royal Charter granted to the world’s first professional body of accountants upon their establishment in 1854.

Never call an accountant a credit to his profession; a good accountant is a debit to his profession.

Charles Lyell

The accountancy profession in this subcontinent originated with the concepts of limited liability and statutory audit which were introduced in the subcontinent with the promulgation of the Companies Acts in 1850 and 1857. However, the accountancy Board to advise the government on the conduct and development of this profession. The Auditors Certificate Rules were published in 1932 where by government authorities sought to regulate the accountancy profession.

There are four things that hold back human progress. Ignorance, stupidity, committees and accountants. (Quote by – Charles J. C. Lyall)
When Pakistan came in existence in 1947, the 1932 Auditors Certificate Rules were adopted temporarily. In 1950 a new set of auditor’s Certificate Rules mainly based on the old rules, was published for regulating the profession in Pakistan. A person who satisfied the conditions laid down regarding practical training and theoretical knowledge could have placed on the register maintained by the ministry of Commerce and entitled to use the destination Registered Accountant to act as the auditors of a public company.
To become a chartered Accountant you need to be motivated, possess analytical skills, numerical ability, and keen sense of what is going on in the world of business and finance.
In 1952 the Registered Accountants formed a body known as the Pakistan Institute of Accountants to look after their interest and to take up with the Ministry of Commerce matters affecting the profession. The Government began to realize that the accountancy profession was growing in importance and in June 1959 the Department of Accountancy was set up in the Ministry of commerce with a Controller of Accountancy to deal with the profession instead of a section officer. In 1961 the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan was formed as a statutory autonomous body.

Accountants are dynamic, interesting, highly intelligent, hard-working individuals. (Quote by – Alexa Loo)
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) was established on July 1, 1959 to regulate the profession of accountancy in the country. It is a statutory autonomous body established under the Chartered Accountants Ordinance 1961. With the significant growth in the profession, the CA Ordinance and Bye-Laws were revised in 1983. The ICAP is a member of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), Confederation of an Asian & Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA). Membership of ICAP reached the 4,000-marks in 2006.
The head office of the Institute is housed on its own premises in Karachi at Teen Talwar, Clifton with regional office in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

Albert Einstein

The course of Chartered Accountancy involves a blend of theoretical education and practical training which run concurrently for a period of three years and equips a student with knowledge, ability, skills and other qualities required of a professional accountant.
Chartered Accountants work in all fields of business and finance. Some are engaged in public practice work, others work in the private sector and some are employed by government bodies. Chartered Accountants work for big and small firms that offer fee earning advisory and management services to a variety of clients and business in the industrial, commercial and nonprofit sectors. They audit the accounts of these clients and businesses and can also be involved in specialist areas of financial advice such as tax. Chartered Accountant is also employed in commercial organization, banks and private and public sectors.

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

Bruce Lee

To become a Chartered Accountant you need to be motivated, possess analytical skills, numerical ability, a keen sense of what is going on in the world of business and discretion. You will be required to study business and corporate finance, economics, auditing, taxation, management and information systems. Chartered Accountancy is a rewarding career and there are excellent prospects for employment in audit firms as well as in local companies, multi-nationals, and local and foreign banks. The profession has stood the test of time, and career opportunities for Chartered Accountants are unfolding as corporations increasingly realize the importance of professional values, ethics and good governance.
Leading audit firms of Pakistan include, A.F.Ferguson & Co. (member firm of price Water house Coopers), Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder & Co. (member firm of Ernst & young), Taseer Hadi Khalid & Co. (member firm of KPMG), M.Yousuf Adil Saleem & Co.(member firm of Deloitte), Anjum Asim Shahid Rahman &Co. (member firm of Grant Thornton), and Ebrahim & Co. (member firm of BDO).
The ICAP has prescribed the minimum education requirement for being eligible to apply for PPT (exemptions apply) which is as follows:
• HSSC with at least 45% marks;
• A-Level with minimum two passes; or
• Graduation with 2nd Division.
For further details of how to become a Chartered Accountant, ICAP’s website can be referred to, at

http://www.icap.org.pk.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela