As the Indian market continues to change, the popularity of professional education is rising day by day. More professional and focused courses are being introduced to match the requirements of the economic changes in the country.

In the field of commerce, there are generic courses like B.com and BBA and professional courses like CA, CS and CMA. Let us have a quick look at these courses – 

• Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) is an undergraduate degree course of 3 years. It is one of the oldest courses and continues to be extremely popular among students. Even today, approximately 80% of students of commerce background opt for this course. This course is inclined towards covering the concepts of accountancy and related fields.

• Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is also one of the most popular commerce courses spanning 3 years. Those who find business or management fields fascinating opt for this course. It is a professional course and considered a foundation for  those students wanting to get into business or management.

Courses like B.Com or BBA are considered generalised courses. In the era of specialization, professional qualification has become the need of the hour. To make a successful career in this emerging business environment, it is important for the students to pursue professional qualification like CA, CS or CMA along with studying for generalised courses like B. Com and BBA.  

So, let us find out the benefits of professional courses like CA, CS, CMA, and why these are considered one of the best commerce courses to pursue along with degree education.

What are the advantages of doing CA, CS, CMA?

• Guaranteed Employment:- As per various estimates and due to India’s growth prospects, there is a demand for almost 30-35 lakhs Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Cost & Management Accountants in India. Against this, we currently have only around 3.5 lakh Chartered Accountants, 85,000 Cost & Management Accountants, and around 50000 Company Secretaries in India. As a result, these courses have a huge demand in the job market.

• Handsome Salary:- The students completing these professional courses start their careers with excellent salaries. On an average, a fresh CA can get a starting salary of INR 60,000 a month (and this can go up to as high as INR 2 lakhs per month). The average salary of fresh Company Secretary and Cost & Management Accountant is around INR 45,000-50,000 a month which is considered a good figure for beginners.

• Highest and Global Qualification:- CA, CS, and CMA are some of the highest qualifications for Commerce not only in India but across the world. These courses give you an edge by presenting lucrative opportunities and global recognition.

• Flexibility to work or start your own practice:- Any students pursuing these professional courses of CA, CS or CMA has 2 options:
  • Option 1:- As an Employee – Work in a Company (MNC, Indian Private Sector or Public Sector or Government) at various responsible positions as an employee for a salary 
  • Option 2:- Own Practice – Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Cost & Management Accountants have a wide-ranging audit, consulting advisory, and signing powers. As a result, all these professionals have an opportunity to start their own set up which is referred to as PRACTICE.

• Reasonable Cost:- It is relatively cheap to pursue these professional courses of CA, CS, and CMA. The average cost one spends is in the range of INR 1 lakh to 1.5 lakhs to register and appear for these courses at all levels (including Registration Fees, Coaching Fees, and Exam Fees) over a period of 3-5 years. 

Some of the commonly asked questions.

Question no. 1) Is doing CA with B.Com a burden?

The answer is a big NO. 

Out of 28 core papers across 6 semesters of B.Com, 25 papers are covered in CA course across CA Foundation and CA Intermediate. 

Let me prove it to you by giving an insight into how the syllabus of B.Com overlaps with the subjects covered in CA.

B.Com – Semester 1	Covered in
Financial Accounting	CA FOUNDATION
Indian Financial System	CA FOUNDATION
Marketing and Services Management
Corporate Administration	CA FOUNDATION

B.Com – Semester 2	Covered in
Advanced Financial Accounting	CA FOUNDATION
Retail Management
Banking Law and Operations	CA FOUNDATION
Quantitative Analysis for Business Decisions	CA FOUNDATION
B.Com – Semester 3	Covered in
Corporate Accounting	CA INTERMEDIATE
Financial Management	CA INTERMEDIATE
Business Ethics	CA FOUNDATION
Quantitative Analysis for Business Decisions	CA FOUNDATION
Public Relations and Corporate Communication	CA FOUNDATION
B.Com – Semester 4	Covered in
Advanced Corporate Accounting	CA INTERMEDIATE
Cost Accounting	CA INTERMEDIATE
Stock and Commodity Markets	CA FOUNDATION
E-business and Accounting	CA INTERMEDIATE
Principles of Event Management
B.Com – Semester 5	Covered in
Entrepreneurship Development

International Finance Reporting Standard	CA INTERMEDIATE
Income Tax-1	CA INTERMEDIATE
Costing Methods	CA INTERMEDIATE
Elective-1 – Advanced Accounting	CA INTERMEDIATE
Elective-2 – Goods and Services Tax	CA INTERMEDIATE
B.Com – Semester 6	Covered in
Business Regulation	CA FOUNDATION
Principle and Practice of Auditing	CA INTERMEDIATE
Income Tax – 2	CA INTERMEDIATE
Management Accounting	CA INTERMEDIATE
Elective-1 – Business Taxation	CA INTERMEDIATE
Cost Management	CA INTERMEDIATE

(Please note that for this comparison, we have referred to B.com syllabus as recommended by Bangalore University. The subject recommended in this syllabus is similar to the subjects taught for other universities as well)

After seeing the similarity in the syllabus across degree and a professional course, do you still feel it is a burden? 

Both the courses are complementary to each other, not a burden.

Question no. – 2) Is doing CS with BBA a burden?

Again the answer is a big NO. 

BBA with CS is one of the best combinations available because of the following reasons.

• Similarity of syllabus 
• BBA is inclined towards theory and CS is more of practical application, and theory with practical application is the best.
• CS syllabus gives you more and deeper coverage of the subjects which will help you to ace your BBA Examination.

Let us see the similarity of syllabus between CS and BBA (For this comparison, we have referred to the BBA syllabus as recommended by Bangalore University. The subject recommended in this syllabus is similar to the subjects taught for other universities as well.)

BBA – Semester 1	Covered in
Fundamentals of Accounting
Business Organization and Environment	CSEET
Quantitative Methods for Business-1
Management Process	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
BBA – Semester 2	Covered in
Financial Accounting
Quantitative Methods for Business – 2
Organisational Behavior	CSEET
Production and Operation Management
BBA – Semester 3	Covered in
Soft  Skills for Business	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Corporate Accounting	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Human Resource Management
Business Regulations	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Corporate Environment	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Business Ethics	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
BBA – Semester 4	Covered in
Business Research Methods
Marketing Management

Financial Management	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Services Management	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
Banking Regulations and Management	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
Cost Accounting	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
BBA – Semester 5	Covered in
Entrepreneurial Management	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Computer Applications in Business	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
Investment Management	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Management Accounting	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Elective paper- 1 & 2Advanced Financial Management	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Financial Markets and Services	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
Consumer Behaviour
Advertising and Media Management
Employee Welfare and Social Security	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
Strategic HRM
BBA – Semester 6	Covered in
International Business
E-business
Income Tax	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME
Strategic Management	CS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME

Elective paper – 3 & 4International Finance
Stock and Commodity Market	CS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
Brand Management
Retail Management
Organisational Change and Development
Compensation Management

As you can see above, there are lots of similarities in the syllabus covered across CS and BBA, hence making CS and BBA the most suitable combination to study without any extra burden.

The similarity of syllabus and specialization in the field with two different degrees is a win-win situation for a student and definitely open the gates of lucrative opportunities in your career!