Education, Careers & Professional News
Going for a face-lift
Source
Deccan Herald
Date
2005-01-27
Information
Just close your eyes and think of an accountant. Invariably you will see a meek fellow bent with the immense responsibilities on his shoulders. Round the clock his work was to play around with innumerable books of digits with a pre-historic calculator where most of the digits were disappeared with due regards to excessive use.
But with the rapid advent of computers those accountants are now near extinct species. The right application of technology by the right person is making the job faster, interesting and challenging. An accountant today is no longer a docile fellow sidelined in the office. Today he or she is as respected as people working in other departments.
A career as an accountant today is as glamorous as software engineers or MBA graduates. Provided if the aspiring accountants prepare themselves professionally.
With the sudden change in Indian economy, the once bogged down industries are starting afresh and taking people whose blood runs thick. As India was always a great market for the western world, they are taking the advantage of the time and coming up with gigantic industries. And the Indian economy is reaping its benefits. When there is industry, there has to be accountants too.
Hence, the demand of accountants is also proliferating. Nevertheless, there is a tremendous gap between the need and supply of accountants in the market.
Added to this is the deficiency in right knowledge of computers, which is also hindering their way to success. Now the point is, what the prospective accountants should do to elude these problems and get a great job?
Firstly, updating themselves keeping in tune with the winds of change. They need to detect what they know and what they dont but should know to plug in to a respectable job. Secondly, they should understand the importance of knowing accounts related software packages.
Reports say there is a firm belief among the prospective accountants that Tally is the one and only financial package they should have expertise in. But in reality, Tally is one of the several packages that the prospective employers expect from an accountant they are employing. Tally is just a part of the six modules that an aspiring accountant study and understand very clearly before he or she plunges in to the job market, says N K Shyamsukha, Chairman, Indian Institute of Computer Accountants.
The Institute of Computer Accountants is the only institute that guarantees job in the real sense of the term after successful completion of the course. Or else, money back! says Ms Puranjit Seal, A CA presently working in Indian Institute of Computer Accountants.
And how about the pay structure? After successful completion a Computer Accountant starts with a salary around Rs 36,000 per annum which can go up to Rs 1,20,000 within a period of three years depending on his or her performance, says Mr C P Ashok another CA working for The Institute of Computer Accountants.
There is a common belief among the industries that the present economic upswing is here to stay. It clearly states that the future of Indian accountants is dazzling. Accountants are one of the key factors that help any company afloat and a position whose significance is ever increasing.
This is the right time to plug in. Remember, time and tide wait for no one.