Company Secretary Different From a Chartered Accountant

A Chartered Accountant (CA) has nothing in common with a Company Secretary (CS) though for some inane reason there seems to be a prevalent general perception that the professions are related. Chartered Accountants work extensively in finance and business sectors whereas a company secretary is almost always the ‘connect’ that bridges the functional gap between the management, board of directors and employees.

The Company secretary course in India is conducted by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. The entire program is divided into three stages, Foundation, Executive and Professional programs. A qualified CS generally acts as a legal advisor to senior personnel in an organization. In public companies CS professionals look after legal issues related to corporate investments, loans and any other public issue. Chartered Accounts though are more powerful in the sense that they are authorized to conduct audits whereas a company secretary plays a more advisory role.

A company secretary basically is qualified to perform multiple roles including corporate governance, secretarial services, legal advisor, financial management and human resource management.

The minimum eligibility criteria for enrolling for both Company Secretary-ship and Chartered accountant course, i.e. the ‘Foundation Program’ are a 10 + 2 certificate. Graduates and post graduates in any field interested in enrolling for the company secretary courses are exempted from going through the foundation stage and are given direct entry into either the ‘Intermediate Program’ or the ‘Final Professional Program’.