Synopsis – My Articleship Story
- Hi, I am Dhaval Paun, a qualified Chartered Accountant with a decade of experience post qualification in corporate jobs, Traditional CA Practice, and rendering Outsourcing Services. This is my Articleship Story.
- Coaching CAs since 2014 on How to Start Outsourcing Practice Successfully even if you are starting from scratch.
- Conducting regular CPE Lectures on various ICAI Branches since 2017 on topics “Outsourcing Services by CA,” “Use Cases of Advanced Excel with case study approach” and “Practice Management with Productivity Tools”.
- Do read my story to learn how you can transform your practice to acquire overseas clients from your current setup and location.
Table of Contents
Phase – Pre-College and Pre-CA
Phase – College + CA PE 1 and PE 2
Phase – Articleship + CA Final
Phase – Post Qualification Job
Phase – Move to Hometown – Hard Truth about Traditional Practice
Phase – Building Practice in Outsourcing Services from Scratch
Phase – Guiding CA Community in Outsourcing Services
Phase – Future Plans
In Conclusion
Giveaway
Phase – Pre-College and Pre-CA
I was an average student who chose Commerce after 10th and wanted to pursue an MBA or CA in the future.
In my 12th Standard, I aspired to go to Mumbai as one of my cousins enrolled in a hostel in Mumbai, and I heard stories about hostel life in Mumbai from him and got inspired to go to a hostel.
Also, I learned about CA in detail, and 90% of the students in the hostel are pursuing CA.
However, I lost my mother four months before the 12th Board Exam. I was still determined to sail to Mumbai for higher education, but my father offered me several incentives to stay back in my hometown, like a bike, a mobile, and admission to the best college. But I was firm, and my father agreed to let me go to Mumbai for higher studies seeing my enthusiasm.
I was firm to settling eventually in my hometown after studies and some work exposure at the very moment when I moved to Mumbai for studies.
Phase – College + CA PE 1 and PE 2
Coming to Hostel was the best decision of my life as I learned a lot from students with different backgrounds and seniors who are ahead of the curve.
There were main challenges regarding Hostel Food, but I am glad I survived the challenges and held back the initial homesickness phase.
It was thrilling to find a way out of Hostel Restrictions of many kinds, like late entry to the hostel after the gate closes by bribing the security guard, etc.
Living with young and creative minds made me very confident that I could conquer anything in my life.
I completed College along with PE 1 and PE 2 very quickly that too while enjoying sports activities like Volleyball and chess in the hostel.
Phase – Articleship + CA Final
Another good thing that happened to me was Articleship in a medium-sized CA Firm – Chandabhoy and Jassoobhoy in Mumbai, where due to various Banking and Finance Audits, I gained sound Excel Knowledge which laid a firm base for my future.
There were a lot of Outstations Audits, and I liked it being a Hostel Guy due to food arrangements in audits and solutions to laundry problems.
However, the outstation audits also had a flip side: I did not study well in CA Final and took four attempts to clear it. The support and motivation from hostel friends made this phase smooth as others with me also failed, and we all returned to study with a positive attitude together.
Phase – Post Qualification Job
Having multiple attempts landed me with No interview calls in ICAI placement.
I was Looking for a Taxation profile in a medium firm as I wanted to return to my hometown and start traditional practice. However, I was offered a very low or was denied a job in taxation profile due to my Audit background.
Eventually landed as a Hedge fund administrator due to practical knowledge in Banking and Finance during the Articleship period.
Many of my hostel seniors warned me not to go for Fund Accounting Profile as it’s a kind of KPO industry.
But here is an exciting story that will let you know how profiles can be upgraded within the organization if you have the skills and the right approach.
There are all sorts of tasks (daily, weekly, quarterly, and yearly) for various hedge funds. After a month or so, I was taking training for weekly tasks to be performed for every fund every Monday. It used to take 4-5 hours, and Monday is always a hectic day for all of us. I understand the whole process from the expert Excel guy (keyboard shortcut expert). I spend the next 2-3 days understanding what he does so fast with all the keyboard strokes without touching the mouse at all. Later I experimented with applying tools of excel and fully automated it very quickly. I showed it to my Manager. And we parallel tested this tool. Both methods gave the exact same results we were looking for. It is implemented in all the funds. Now Monday is no more a hectic day as the 4-5 hours task is reduced to 2-3-minute tasks of just pasting the reports in the tool. Bang!! My profile is now to study all the processes and automate them. I later did a lot of work automating the quarterly Client Financial Reporting for Hedge Funds.
The other good thing that happened was that I was included in conference calls up to directors’ calls, and I spent many hours Communicating with US counterparts on various aspects.
Phase – Move to Hometown – Hard Truth about Traditional Practice
After working for more than one year in the Post Qualification Job in Mumbai, as preplanned, I moved to my hometown and started CA Practice.
Initially, I started Traditional Practice for a few months on assignments ranging from IT Returns, Tax Audits, PVT LTD registration, and other audit work on an assignment basis.
I then understood that one of the main reasons a CA with a corporate job does not start practice. It is not only job security but the work quality. Your skills as a CA are not fully utilized, and you are underpaid for your services. No need to mention that you must match your fees with other unqualified consultants in the market on various compliance services.
To give you one funny example, I have incorporated one Private Limited company in my initial months where a client took two months to decide just the company name and frequent visits to my office to check various name availability. I invested 20000 for a fee of 10000, which got realized after six months. On top of it, I was hoping that the client would turn long-term for various compliance services. But when I advised for Annual Filing and other Compliances for Private Limited Company, to my surprise, the client replied that we are from a political background and we don’t need any compliance to be done. We need our company registered as a Private Limited company for showing in our banners.
Soon I realized I did not want to pile up a client base that doesn’t value my services and is not willing to pay proper Professional Fees for my services.
Phase – Building Practice in Outsourcing Services from Scratch
I know one guy in 2012 in Rajkot who was doing Freelancing in IT Field and was doing good for more than five years. I learned from him that he is getting overseas clients from a website called Elance (now Upwork).
I wanted to see if there are jobs for a Chartered Accountant on that platform. So, I created an account on Elance on 6th August 2012. And started applying for jobs in the Finance and Management field. I got my first small breakthrough on 16th August 2012, which went very well.
Initially, my CA colleagues asked whether it could be a long-term thing. But I kept going in this field and luckily acquired many long-term clients who are still on this date continuing with me.
Also, initially, I was shot with queries about taxation aspects in social gatherings, but I replied that I don’t have much knowledge about the same as I don’t provide those services. Funnily, the immediate question was, “Are you a qualified Chartered Accountant?” or “How many Income Tax Files do you have?” etc. It was hard to face such a situation at an earlier stage. But later, it was evident that I was doing something different, and that too very successfully.
However, initially, there were some failures to grow due to a lack of knowledge about technology to enable upscale and manage the work/Team with tools like CRM/helpdesk, proper cloud storage/sharing of file system and emails management, etc.
Soon I learned the importance of technology in successfully managing work and team.
In the last few years, I implemented a Helpdesk Tool and Project Management Tool and built an excellent cloud-based file system. At present, I have made a good long-term client base without any direct reference or visiting the USA through platforms like Upwork.
Also, I got an opportunity to deliver CPE lectures on ICAI platforms on the below subjects over the last five years on topics like-
· Outsourcing Services by CA
· Advance Excel Use Cases
· Practice Management with Productivity Tools
Phase – Guiding CA Community in Outsourcing Services
Around 2014, many friends wanted advice on how to start Outsourcing services. After guiding a few of my close friends, I thought I could contribute to CA Community if I created an Online Class on my website, sharing my journey, experiences, and strategies. So, by the end of 2014, I started www.Smartcapractice.com with a small training on how to start Outsourcing Practice from scratch from your setup, even if you don’t have any direct connections overseas. The course grew manifold over time based on subscriber queries and feedback.
Phase – Future Plans
Right now, I am developing two Websites, namely WWW.SMARTCAFIRMS.COM and WWW.SMARTCAVENTURES.COM.
SMART CA FIRMS is a free online resource for Article Assistants, Semi Qualified and Chartered Accountants. The main goal of this site is to provide CA Firm Listing with Reviews, Resume Builder, Knowledge Base for Interview Preparation, Job Opportunities, Discussion Forum, and Blog Articles.
SMART CA VENTURES is a free online resource site for Startups and Entrepreneurs. The main goal of this site is to provide quality tutorials, tips, courses, tools, and other resources that allow anyone to grow their startup based on deep research and real case studies.
Also, an Idea Stage project to develop a Dedicated Freelancing Platform for CAs where foreign clients are invited to get their job done in Finance and Management Field.
In Conclusion
With the right approach and belief in yourself, you can succeed on a less traveled path like Outsourcing Practice and even on challenging platforms like Upwork.
Location and Infrastructure are no more a hurdle to taking your CA Practice globally.
The essential virtue is to be consistent, learn from research and mistakes, and keep improving your approach until you succeed in your area.
Giveaway
Submit your story through your CA Journey, including your Articleship Experience, and get an all-access pass to Courses on SMART CA FIRMS if your story is selected to be published.
Every week one story will be selected for Publishing on our website at https://www.smartcafirms.com/articleship-stories/.
Send your stories to [email protected] with your photograph.
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