How Much Does a CA Earn in India? Check Real Salaries & Growth Path

CA Salary in India: CA is a person who is responsible for offering various services from financial advice, financial reports, and confirming compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In order to become a CA, a student must have passed 12th standard with Commerce stream, especially having Maths as the subject. Every year, more and more students are appearing for the CA exams. This is due to the fact that the profession of CA offers a great salary, which increases based on experience, location, company,etc. One of the key questions aspirants have: how much does a CA earn in India? In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into salary numbers (starting salary, monthly figures, experienced professionals), discuss the growth path and examine factors that influence earnings.

What is the Average CA Salary in India?

Most students who are aspiring for CA have the first question in mind is the salary of a CA. They are eager to search for the salary a CA will earn. This salary is mostly based on the employers and the companies a CA works with. The salary of a CA relies mainly on factors like the exact job profile of CA, years of experience, the designation, location, and the company size.

Chartered Accountant Annual Salary Overview

According to Glassdoor data, the average base pay for a CA in India is around ₹10 lakh per annum.

CA Salary Per Month

If you are a fresher and have just started working as a CA or have just passed out, the first question will come to your mind is: How much salary am I going to earn and what should I ask the employer to pay?

• The freshers often get ₹50,000-₹80,000 per month in many companies.

• Some exceptions are there, like if you get an outstanding placement in a big company or organisation then you can earn up to ₹1-2 lakh/month early on. 

• As a person gains experience and moves forward to roles like Audit Manager, Finance Manager or Specialist, the monthly salary will also go up as well as the annual income.

• When a person reaches the senior level positions, they can expect a monthly salary of around ₹2-3 lakh/month, which can go about 30-50 lakh annually.

How CA Salary Progresses

After passing CA Final & completing articleship (or direct entry route via ICAI), a fresher CA typically joins audit firms, consulting, corporate finance or taxation roles. Check the career-wise salary progression and the roles associated below:

Factors Affecting CA Salary in India

The salary of a CA is based on factors like years of experience, skills, organisation, employer, organisation size, location of the company, and some other factors.

• Experience: It is observed in most professions that if you have more experience, then you can expect and demand a better salary.

• Skills & Specialisation: There are some areas of Chartered Accountancy that can offer better salary packages like expertise in taxation, international accounting standards, forensic audit, advisory.

• Organisation & Industry: Some of the organisations and industries can offer better salaries as compared to others. The reason could be their large size, their revenue generation, their global presence, etc. Some of them can be the Big 4 firms, large MNCs, and the BFSI sector. These could pay you well as compared to small firms.

• Location: The location of the company or an organisation also plays a crucial role while determining the salary of a CA. The metro cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru) typically offer higher salaries due to higher cost of living and demand.

• Practice vs Employment: The profession of a CA can also be continued by a person individually, which means a person who is a qualified CA can practice on his own. This is directly related to his earnings. An individual can earn better in practice with a strong client base as per his demand as compared to a person who is working in a firm.