CA Articleship Rules and Regulations for Students

Pursuing Chartered Accountancy is not as easy as B.com. Here, students beside clearing the CA Foundation/CPT, CA Intermediate/IPCC, and CA Final also need to undergo three years of articleship training which is a mandatory part of CA Curriculum and today, we are going to discuss the CA Articleship law rules and regulations which every CA student must know! 

This practical training starts after the declaration of CA IPCC and CA Intermediate result, this practical training needs to serve under a practicing Chartered Accountant according to the guidelines issued by the ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India). The basic aim of this articleship training is not to limit the CA Students gain bookish knowledge but also introduce them to real-world challenges and turn them into true professionals.

Must Read the importance of CA Articleship Training

Also Know how to become CA in India

Although, there are lots of questions running into your mind regarding ICAI Articleship rules for CA training. Hence, we have prepared a complete article that can guide you about the ICAI Articleship rules and regulations:

When to Commence Articleship Training? 

There are two categories of candidates entered into the Chartered Accountancy course one who entered into this course from the Normal Route while others entered through the Direct Entry Route.

Normal Route Students have to qualify entrance test i.e. CA Foundation/CA CPT to pursue the Chartered Accountancy Course. Such students can commence their Articleship Training after qualifying any group of CA Intermediate.

Direct Entry Route Students are those who have granted exemption from appearing into the entrance test and directly enroll for the CA Intermediate. Such students can commence their articleship training any time after registering themselves into CA Intermediate and mandatorily require to complete 9 months of practical training before appearing in the Intermediate Exams.

Students of both the categories also require to complete –

• 100 hours of ITT Training.
• 90 hours of Orientation Program.

The procedure of Registration for CA Articleship Training 

• ICAI has made it mandatory for every CA student to complete the first 2 years of Articleship Training under a practicing Chartered Accountant while last year (optional) to serve under a Chartered Accountant in service.
• In order to get register for articleship, CA student has to fill Form 102 “Deed of Articles” and Form 103 “Statement of Particulars of Articled Assistant” in the prescribed manner and submit such to the regional branch of the ICAI. Know the complete procedure of Form 102 and 103.
• The above forms can be downloaded from the ICAI website or it can be purchased from the ICAI regional office.
• Form 102 “Deed of Articles”  shall not be required to submit with the ICAI, although you need to get it to stamp from the regional office. While the Form 103 “Statement of Particulars of Article Assistant” shall be filled in triplicate copies out of which one will be retained by ICAI, another by Principal, and one with article assistant.
• Form 103 shall be submitted to ICAI along with an attested copy of IPCC Mark Sheet, attested copy of Secondary/Higher Secondary School Certificate, and ITT and OP completion certificate.
• All the above forms should be submitted with the ICAI within 30 days of commencement of Articleship Training.
• In any case, the article assistant would not be able to submit the form to the regional office within 30 days from the date of commencement of Articleship Training, the same shall be submitted along with the late fees.

Late fees shall be as follows –

Up to 30 Days: Rs 500/-

From 31 – 180 Days: Rs 1000/-

From 181 – 365 Days: Rs 2000/-

Beyond 365 Days: Rs 10000/-

Articleship Registration Fees 

• One can enroll for the Articleship Training by making the payment of Rs 2000/- as a Registration fee.
• The fee shall be paid by either Demand Draft or Bankers Cheque named with the “Secretary, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India” and payable to the Mumbai/Kolkata/Chennai/Kanpur/New Delhi as the case may be.

Rules Regarding Working Hours of Article Assistant –

After dealing with the countless issues regarding working hours of the articled assistant the council has decided to issue proper guidelines in respect of the same –

1. The article assistant is required to complete practical training under a practicing Chartered Accountant in accordance with Chartered Accountants regulations, 1988 as explained here –
   1. The article assistant is required to work for 35 hours in a week excluding the lunch break.
   2. The office hours of the Principal for providing the articleship training shall not start before 11 AM and close after 7 PM.
   3. Although, the normal working hours of an articled assistant shall not commence after 11 AM or end before 5 PM.
   4. The average working hours of an article assistant shall not exceed 35 hours in a week excluding the lunch break but if the principal required then he can make the article assistant work not exceeding 45 hours in a week.
   5. The work beyond 35 hours by the articled assistant shall be practiced in the exceptional circumstances only as well as the article assistant shall be granted leaves compensating for such exceeding hours.
   6. ICAI has withdrawn the facility of flexible office hours.
2. Amid the office hours, none of the articled assistants is permitted to join any classes or coaching for any course including graduation which means the college timings shall not clash with the normal working hours of the articled assistant.
3. ICAI has also made it mandatory to take prior permission to pursue any other course including graduation as per the Chartered Accountants Regulation by submitting Form No. 112, within one month from the date of joining the college or course to the ICAI.
4. Form 112 shall include your college timings, telephone number, and full address of the college, etc which is required to be countersigned by your college principal with a seal and stamp of the college.
5. Where the student has found violating the guidelines issued by ICAI, his/her articleship tenure will not be considered.

CA Articleship Law Transfer Rules

ICAI has issued some rules in respect of the transfer of Articleship Training. As per ICAI law guidelines, there is no restriction on the transfer of Articleship in the 1st year of Practical Training. Which means that a CA student can take the transfer in its first year without obtaining prior permission from ICAI.

In addition, there is also no limit on taking transfer in the first year. One needs to submit Form 109 to the ICAI for transfer of Articleship Training.

However, one has to follow a complete set of rules for taking the transfer in the second and third year of Articleship Training. Read the CA Articleship Termination Form- Rules and Procedure.

Registration of CA Final during Articleship Training 

One can register for Articleship Training when he clears either single or both groups of CA Intermediate but in order to get yourself register for CA Final, you have to qualify both groups of CA Intermediate.

Read this: ICAI Exemption Rules

Conclusion –

In the above article, we have discussed the rules regarding CA Articleship which is a mandatory part of CA curriculum. Here we have covered the time of commencement of articleship training, forms, and procedure of registration, registration fee, rules regarding working hours of article assistant, its transfer, and also registration of CA Final during articleship period as well.

Hope you found this content useful so stay in tune with us for more such useful information.

Frequently asked questions:-

How many days leave is allowed in ca articleship?

as per ICAI guidelines, an assistant can take 180 days of leave.

Can I take a break in articleship?

An assistant has to complete the duration of CA articleship, he can take a break of some time just to complete the training time of 3 years.

What is the ICAI articleship stipend?

ICAI has determined the stipend as per the population of the place where the assistant is serving, as per ICAI guidelines if the population of place is more than 4 lakh and less than 20 lakh the stipend will be 2500 rs. while the places with less than 4 lakh population are considered into 2000 rs.  stipend for an article.

What are the CA articleship rules of transfer and termination?

Click here to know about the ICAI rules and regulations regarding the termination/transfer of articleship