The scramble for CAs is becoming a mad rush

livemint.com:

₹20-25 lakh for just a few years of audit experience and are hiring from multiple channels," said Manu Saigal, director, general staffing at Adecco India, which is a recruitment firm. Also contributing to the attrition is a big gap between demand and supply. According to The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), there are about 400,000 members who are registered with ICAI.

This registration is given to students who clear the final exams and then take the membership of the statutory body that works under the ministry of corporate affairs. The pace of supply is difficult to increase simply because aspirants often work over years and appear for the exams multiple times to get through. About 22,000 students clear the CA finals every year, as per ICAI.

That supply appears way too short to meet future growth in demand. Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, president, ICAI, said in a conference on Wednesday that for every $1 trillion growth in GDP, 100,000 additional CAs are needed. The current vision is for India to become a developed country by 2047 with a GDP of $30-35 trillion.

"So, when this country has a $30 trillion economy, India has to have 30 lakh (3 million) chartered accountants," he said. Despite the supply crunch, companies are not yet keen to recruit chartered financial analysts (CFAs) with the same gusto. CFAs secure their degree from the CFA Institute after a study programme and after completing work experience requirements.