Why did I choose CA?
Every Chartered Accountant have their own unique journey that they sit back and admire, trust me, it is a privilege to be a Chartered Accountant. I never wanted to pursue Chartered Accountancy but destiny wanted me to do it. It’s like “I didn’t choose CA, but CA chose me and this is what makes it special”. After choosing commerce in 11th Standard, it was my grandfather “Mr. Devanathan” together with my parents and my Commerce teacher “Ms. Padma”, who really motivated me to join CA, then I eventually ended up registering for CA. The trust people have on a CA makes it a reputed and glorious profession.
Why did I choose KS Academy?
Honestly, at the time of choosing CA as a career, I was not aware of any coaching institutions other than KS Academy. I still remember attending our beloved CA K. Saravanan sir’s career counselling meet, where I decided that CA is my profession and KS academy is the place to learn. I could say this whole-heartedly, had I not been to KS academy, I would have missed the fact that learning brings joy within.
“Happy minds think better” “CA doesn’t require hard work or smart work; it requires right work” – These were the key mantras for joining KS Academy. And now, I really feel that I had made the right decision which made my journey blissful and now I am a Chartered Accountant from the floors of KS Academy. One reason why you should join KS Academy is – Providing conceptual clarity with enormous confidence and understanding that Learning is actually a joyful experience is what sets KSA apart from other institutes.
CA – CPT
After my 12th Board exams, within a couple of days, classes for CA CPT begun. It was again a “WOW” moment meeting CA. K. Saravanan sir again and for the first time I experienced the joy of learning. For this profession, Accountancy is the base and our beloved sir, had provided us the strong foundation by making us to ask “Why?”. By making us to understand what we know and what we don’t know, he was not only sharing his knowledge but also developed the skills and attitude which a CA must possess. And by now I have to mention about a living legend, Prof. L S Sivakumar (LSS) sir, a person with immense knowledge and his passion towards teaching is beyond our imagination. He made us fall in love with numbers with his exceptional teaching skills. Dr. P V Raghavan sir and Prof. Krishna Priya mam made us actually love economics; a subject most state-board students hesitate to learn. And finally, Dr. V Seshadri sir, with his lively examples made law understandable without much pressure.
And on the result day, it was really a surreal moment of seeing those 4 Letters – “PASS” and stepping into this journey officially which wouldn’t be possible without the support extended by our academy. Regular tests and model exams really boosted our confidence to attend the main exams.
CA – Intermediate
Everyone of us must have heard this from our neighbors & relatives, that he/she cleared CPT with luck so ask him/her to write Intermediate groupwise, otherwise she couldn’t clear. Yeah, even I heard this. That’s when I decided to attempt both groups together. I didn’t have a second thought of joining some other academy because it was already a blissful experience here.
Learning new subjects was really tough initially but with the conceptual clarity the faculty members provide, you can gain control over the subject. Starting from Finance, the source of any business, was taught by a notorious faculty member, Prof. V. Shankar Raman sir, which made me fall in love with finance till date. I was initially not good at costing, but with the involvement of Prof. V. Shankar Raman sir, I started devoting more time to learn and develop the skills, and that results in scoring 84 in CA inter costing. The foundation of this achievement is when I got appreciated for scoring 40/40 on the first costing weekly test conducted by our academy. Law was learnt under the guidance of Dr. Seshadri sir which was again delightful experience.
The basics of taxes can be rooted into our bloods so deeply by teachers none other than CA C R V Prasad sir, and CA Seetharaman sir, who insists every-time that paying tax is our responsibility and following integrity is the best choice. Auditing the most theoretical subject which was made understandable without us having practical exposure by our CA Abbas sir, who himself is a CA from the floors of KS Academy. Prof. Krishna Priya mam, again made economics more interesting by correlating the prevailing economic news with the things we learn academically. EIS, the threat subject of any CA intermediate student, was made easier by Prof. Jignesh Chheda sir who with his self-designed cards, made us enjoy the subject.
And yes, CA K Saravanan sir was like icing on the cake, right from motivating us till keeping us under his direct supervision had really paved the way to success. I still remember March 15, 2019, the day, I was standing on the dais where I together with some of my classmates were assigned to answer the branch accounts, and from then the confidence and the trust which sir had placed on me had started to grow and eventually, I enjoyed learning so called tough AS with ease with sir’s guidance. The appreciation we receive for performing well in SAP and model exams which was conducted as per ICAI’s pattern boosted our confidence.
And yeah, all these efforts had finally resulted in scoring distinction again in CA Intermediate with a score of 583 even though I missed rank, I was quite satisfied and happy with my scores.
CA – Final
This is the last and the real challenge begins here. We would have heard about work-life balance, but only CA students really understand the meaning of work-study-life balance. Unlike my friends, I preferred joining a boutique rather than a brand and so, joined in a mid-size firm where I really wanted to know how a CA firm operates. After coming across quite number of firms, I then joined M/s. Bala & Co., where I got a really supportive partner, managers and team members.
And then begun our CA Final all-subjects batch which had been designed in such a manner that we stay in touch with our curriculum. Luckily, I have got a good connect with my seniors who were really supportive in this journey and I really want to express my sincere thanks to them. Unexpectedly, the COVID pandemic came and the way that our academy adapted to such situation switching to online classes in a short span of time is a remarkable achievement.
Connecting with our faculty members via online mode was initially tough, but they made the experience livelier. I was blessed to have guidance of Prof. V. Shankar Raman sir again for Strategic Financial Management, who clearly explained the nuances. Learning audit from CA Aarti Lahoti mam, was really helpful both academically and in our article-ship. Understanding law in a more sensible manner was assured by CA Koushik Mukesh sir and CA Arpita Tulsyan mam. There is nothing equal to the clarity they provide. I learnt the practical aspects of costing and management principles from Prof V. Shankar Raman sir and S S Rajagopal Sir. Preparing for open book exams was tougher than any other subjects. The motivation we get by attending CA Bhanwar Borona sir’s lecture and the clarity we get in the subject of Direct tax is really unexplainable and that’s why he is called God of DT.
The way CA Tharun Raj sir explains Indirect tax, every CA student would think at-least once that we should join GST department and enjoy the working experience there. And finally, it was again One man’s show of our CA K Saravanan sir, right from learning the basics of accounting till the most complicated standards in Ind AS – he never failed to give a WOW moment in the class. To be honest, I really want to express my sincere thanks to CA C Ajay, who had secured AIR – 36 in CA Final exams for helping us to recollect the Ind AS principles at the beginning of every class, and thanks to CA K Saravanan sir for this insightful initiative. SAP and Model exams was conducted both in online and offline mode and that gave us the proper direction towards our preparation.
I have written the exams well and was expecting a rank. There are always 2 sides for a coin. 15th July 2022, the result day, the day CA prefix was added to my name. I was very confident that I would clear with merit but unfortunately, I missed the rank. Then I checked my results – scored 536 marks with 81 in financial reporting which made me happy.
Overall experience
“Sab khar dhungi my” [I will do everything] was the tagline for my success. Coming from State-board background and clearing CA in first attempt is like a dream come true moment. CA is one of the courses which opens immense number of opportunities and sky is the only limit. This brings top notch opportunities and self-satisfaction together with financial freedom.
This is really a life changing experience. The support from the faculty members, the staff, the volunteers and our classmates really made this a memorable experience. I really want to thank all of them for contributing to my success. KS Academy is the real sculptor of Chartered Accountants instilling the knowledge, attitude and skills they require.