Commerce education has increased gradually over time and it comes as no surprise when we see the facts that stated over 20 lakh enrollments in commerce courses at present with a substantial share of 49% of total students in this sector. Commerce education has a crucial role in the current dynamic business environment. Today, the students have a wide range of alternatives available when it comes to selecting a career option. In commerce CA, CS, CMA these courses are professional and considered as a milestone for commerce aspirants as they have a wide variety of scope in India. There are lots of similarities among the three like these courses are very technical, need rigorous hard work, consistency, crystal clear conceptual and practical knowledge, and one required to be up to date about the current scenarios. But when it comes to the syllabus, they are still far apart from one another as the main focus of CA is finance, auditing, and tax whereas CMA focuses on Cost and Management Accounting, and CS deals with a detailed study of Company Law and Company Secretaryship. Let’s have a detailed insight into these courses and their advantages as well:-

CA- Chartered Accountant.

One of the most prestigious, famous, demanding, and landmark course for commerce students. This course requires full concentration, determination, passion, and rigorous hard work on the part of learners. CA is an internationally recognized professional certification course conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Students can enter the course after passing the entrance examination i.e. Foundation Course Examination after 12th which has 4 papers. After clarifying the foundation course students need to clear the Intermediate course which consists of 8 papers. Also, graduate students can directly enroll themselves for Intermediate course. After passing the CA intermediate, there will be an internship training and at the last final examination has 8 papers, and these papers are again divided into subparts. If we talk about the advantages of the course, we cannot pinpoint any one or two as the course has numerous advantages and some of them are mentioned below:-

A flourishing career

 CA courses open the door for varieties of career options and due to the dynamic and multifaceted business environment the demand for CA’s keeps on increasing day by day. After completion of required training, they can work as a consultant, SAP specialist, and can set up their practice firm, etc, the chances in this particular field are infinite when it comes to career options. 

Desirable 

Due to rigorous training, hard work, and experience their problem-solving ability increases which makes them desirable for any company or firm. 

Cost-effective

The course of CA is not so costly and, they get a lucrative salary as compared to other courses like engineers, doctors, MBA, etc, which are very costly and the payback period of these courses is generally long comparatively.

Continuous growth and Challenging.

The accounting and business field is growing day by day due to many factors like globalization, privatization, FDI. The role of CA’s is becoming more challenging, one needs to be consistently updated with the current facts and figures that certainly add to their growth whether it’s in terms of knowledge, experience, etc. 

Apart from all these mentioned advantages still there are numerous advantages which certainly depend from person to person and how one is going to encash it.

CS – Company Secretary

Company Secretary is the pillar of the internal affairs of the company. People in this field are highly competent qualified professionals. Earlier, the role was limited to just providing support to the directors, however, company secretaries now have to take care of corporate governance and even legal matters also. The position and role of CS are in great demand in the market. In India, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is the only recognized professional body to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries. To be able to be a professional practitioner of Company Secretaryship, an individual has to complete three levels of training and examination, set by the ICSI. On completion of the course, candidates are issued certificates. The programs impacted by ICSI at three levels are as follows:

Foundation Programme

Executive Programme

Professional Programme

This course is a corporate professional course. The foundation course involves the business environment, entrepreneurship, management, communication, ethics, economics, and accounting. The CS executive program comprises company law, commercial law, tax law, general law, securities law, accounts & audit practice. In the final level, candidates are taught regarding secretarial practices, financial & treasury management. In the final module of the program, candidates can choose one specialization – Banking Law and Practice, Capital, Commodity and Money Market, Insurance Law and Practice, Intellectual Property Rights – Law and Practice, International Business-Laws and Practices. CS professionals have a vibrant future. There are numerous advantages to this course. Some of the basic advantages are:-

Broad-spectrum of career opportunities.

 It is one of the powered and prestigious job profiles. Candidates after completing the course can get a chance to work in the stock exchange, company affairs department, law board, and various government departments. A trained and certified Company Secretary can work as an independent advisor to a firm for procedures of loans, taxes, partnerships, government licenses, registrations, etc., or join a company secretary firm to render services to its clients.

No age limit, affordable.

Age is just a number and definitely, this quote perfectly fits for the CS course as if you are highly passionate and have a great interest in legal aspects or want to be a CS can go for this course irrespective of your age. This course doesn’t have any age limit and the course is affordable too if we compare it to other courses. Also, it is problematic to find such a combination in any other courses.

Decent remuneration.

CS is a reputed professional course which offers decent remuneration. After The Companies Act 2013, the demand and scope of CS has increased to a great extent, and remuneration has also increased

The above-mentioned advantages are very few and common in nature. Every CS has his/her journey the benefits will keep on adding on the way. Due to the multidimensional corporate environment, the role of CS has expanded, so the benefits and challenges too.

CMA – Cost Management Accounting.

Another emerging course of study is Cost and Management Accountancy. ICWA has been renamed CMA. CMA is focused more on the manufacturing industry and cost parts. So, if you want to get into finances or production and costing parts, this should be the course you should do. CMA deal with cost management, cost reduction, and cost audit of a company or other organizations. If you wish to pursue CMA, you will have to clear the CMA Foundation, CMA Intermediate, and CMA Final examinations. These examinations are designed by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of India (ICMAI). 6 months of practical training is required to appear in the CMA Final examinations. This practical training or articles is an essential part of CMA. Certainly, there are many advantages associated with the course. Some of the benefits are mentioned below:- 

Career versatility

Obtaining CMA certification helps you to obtain possible career choices that will lift your position/status in society. The specific fields have numerous openings for CMA professionals without any doubt. A CMA can become a financial analyst or a finance director or a certified management accountant and later on climb the ladder of success to become a director or chief executive officer of a company.

Enhanced skills

CMA holds a high designation just like CA, CS in the field of business and accounting. It enhances your financial management and critical accounting skills while giving you an edge in the business environment.

Flexible

It is more flexible, as no group or any such system is required to write all the papers in a particular group if you do not clear one paper.

Increasing demand for CMA

With the increase in rules and their strictness in terms of applicability and obey regarding maintenance of Cost Records, demand for Qualified CMA has seen an increase both as an employee and as a professional. They play an important role in various management decisions, like Pricing Policy that is a key factor for most brands in price-sensitive markets like India, Cost Cutting that is another survival factor for brands moreover in low margin industry, etc.

Growth-oriented salary.

No matter where you are in the world if you are a certified CMA you need not have to worry about anything because you’ll be earning the most competitive and growth-oriented salary.

So, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that becoming a professional or choosing CA, CS, CMA as a career in India can become extremely rewarding for you both professionally and personally. On the professional level, these courses allow gaining vast and in-depth knowledge related to multiple areas like audit, taxation, investment, finance, cost management, legal, secretarial and corporate governance. On a personal level, these courses sharpened individual organization, time management, judgment, and communication skills. In short, choosing CA, CS, CMA as a career is highly rewarding as it improves the overall personality and behaviors of individuals.