Published & Updated as on - 2010-05-13
AHMEDABAD:
Chartered accountants, the nuts-and-bolts professionals in the world of
finance, are scoring brownie points over suave MBA finance graduates as India
Inc gets increasingly risk-averse in a post-slowdown
environment.
Companies are focusing more on risk-compliance
than pursuing ambitious targets as they recover from an 18-month economic
downturn, paving the way for recruitment of more CA's, perceived to have core
competence in financial matters.
 Thus, CA's are currently
being accepted as business leaders who could take up roles beyond auditing and
financial management. While MBA's are being hired for purely sales, marketing
or international trade functions, CA's are increasingly being looked upon as
decision-makers.
“They are superior (to MBAs). CAs are
already groomed for three years during articleship (training with auditors) and
can start working from day one,” says a finance official at a top Indian
company who did not wish to be named.
Further, with
Corporate India getting cautious with salaries, CA's are gaining a natural
edge. “If a company is unable to afford an MBA from a top B-School, it would
rather hire a top CA than look for a management graduate from lower-rung
B-schools,” says a global headhunter. A chartered accountant’s average salary
is at Rs 6 lakh a month, while for MBA's, the figure is the minimum, says
Nagesh Pinge, chief internal auditor at Tata Motors, who sees a growing
preference for CA's when companies need better financial control. Loyalty also
tilts the balance in their favour. MBA's, due to peer pressure, appear to
constantly pursue higher salaries. CA's, on the other hand, are seen as less
aspirational and stick to the job longer.
Apart from the
stability factor, competence in financial matters, changing taxation regime and
risk-aversion are playing in favour of CA's. “These days, we are recruiting
more CA's and fewer MBA's. For higher positions like senior managers, we prefer
a CA,” says Abhishek Tiwari, senior manager (HR) at KPMG. The global consulting
firm is looking at recruiting 100-150 CA's during the current year in India.
Tiwari, however, adds: “We cannot say MBAs are losing their charm, but
increasingly, they aren’t preferred for a financial
job.”
Compared to a two-year MBA curriculum, CA's go through
a rigorous three-year curriculum. Since they understand balance-sheets the
best, CA's are being hired for work other than the traditional audit, he points
out. Says Vardhan Dharker, CFO of KEC International, a Rs 3,000-crore capital
goods company: “I think CA's are as good as anybody else in taking decisions.
There has been a change in the thinking over the past five
years.”
Source: ET 12/4/10
|
