MBAs are exposed to all aspects of the business -- their role is to take a bird's eye view of the organisation. On the other hand, CAs are trained to look at the eye of the fish. And they do a damn good job of it.
But should a CA decide to throw down his accounting and auditing arrow and don a different hat, it is not easy. The mobility into general management and consulting that comes with an MBA from a premier institute is missing for CAs. Even though the CA has battled equally hard; a rank holder in particular would be one among several thousand aspirants.
The bottomline is that certain jobs are purely in the CA domain: Statutory & Regulatory compliance, Consolidations, Taxation, International Accounting (GAAP), Internal Audit, Systems Audit, Transaction Advisory -- to name a few.
Other profiles are available to both CA s and MBAs: MIS, Budgeting forecasting, Business Planning, Equity Research, Treasury, Investment Banking, Mergers and Acquisitions, Portfolio management, Fund management, Sector Analysis.
However, these are diversified roles. Many employers prefer to hire MBAs from premier institutes for these roles, as it is felt they are more equipped to provide insight and analysis.
Does a CA + MBA combination provide an extra edge? Well, it never hurts to have a double degree but there's no sure fire formula to become a finance whizkid. An engineer + MBA or a B Com with a degree from a top 10 institute stands an equal chance!
So, how do you decide?
Reasons to do a CA include:
1. Dad owns a CA firm, it makes sense to join the business
2. Professional qualification chahiye. CA is a good one -- nothing stops you from doing an MBA later.
3. You genuinely like accounting. It's what you've always dreamt of doing in life.
As few 17 or 18 year olds know what they want in life, Reason 3 is rare. But Reasons 1 and 2 are perfectly valid.
If lucky, you may find that you enjoy the subjects and become an excellent CA. If not so lucky but smart, you may not like what you study but still become a competent CA. If neither smart nor lucky, you will probably remain a frustrated 'trying to clear my CA' student.
But should a CA decide to throw down his accounting and auditing arrow and don a different hat, it is not easy. The mobility into general management and consulting that comes with an MBA from a premier institute is missing for CAs. Even though the CA has battled equally hard; a rank holder in particular would be one among several thousand aspirants.
The bottomline is that certain jobs are purely in the CA domain: Statutory & Regulatory compliance, Consolidations, Taxation, International Accounting (GAAP), Internal Audit, Systems Audit, Transaction Advisory -- to name a few.
Other profiles are available to both CA s and MBAs: MIS, Budgeting forecasting, Business Planning, Equity Research, Treasury, Investment Banking, Mergers and Acquisitions, Portfolio management, Fund management, Sector Analysis.
However, these are diversified roles. Many employers prefer to hire MBAs from premier institutes for these roles, as it is felt they are more equipped to provide insight and analysis.
Does a CA + MBA combination provide an extra edge? Well, it never hurts to have a double degree but there's no sure fire formula to become a finance whizkid. An engineer + MBA or a B Com with a degree from a top 10 institute stands an equal chance!
So, how do you decide?
Reasons to do a CA include:
1. Dad owns a CA firm, it makes sense to join the business
2. Professional qualification chahiye. CA is a good one -- nothing stops you from doing an MBA later.
3. You genuinely like accounting. It's what you've always dreamt of doing in life.
As few 17 or 18 year olds know what they want in life, Reason 3 is rare. But Reasons 1 and 2 are perfectly valid.
If lucky, you may find that you enjoy the subjects and become an excellent CA. If not so lucky but smart, you may not like what you study but still become a competent CA. If neither smart nor lucky, you will probably remain a frustrated 'trying to clear my CA' student.
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