This post summarises my experience of working in a small‑sized firm as an article student, and my views on articleship in a corporate or a large firm.
There has been a myth in the minds of students pursuing the Chartered Accountancy course that only corporate firms in larger cities hold a wider scope of exposure for candidates who want to join for their articleship.
Yes — in larger cities we get different companies, where there is always scope for upgradation in knowledge, procedures, statutory laws, different policies and the ease of doing work with the use of technology. And yes, corporate firms also pay more than small and mid‑size firms.
But it doesn't mean that getting a post in a corporate firm will provide you access to all the knowledge, experience, exposure and personality building you are after. In a corporate firm they follow a culture where, if a person is appointed to a certain task, they continue doing the same until the completion of their term, or unless they are shifted under another manager.
Where the learning actually happens
In a small or mid‑size firm there is always a huge scope for learning new things without sticking to a particular task. Mainly, in these firms, a person can build a strong foundation of knowledge, experience and technical skills — which helps in building a career and exploring the outside world, rather than sitting and doing the same routine work like a machine.
When it comes to the matter of pay scale, it is not only the level of income that is considered. The standard of living, stress levels, health, and above all the ability to be exposed to new things, are all at stake.
These sentences are not just thoughts or some secondary data — this has been my experience in understanding the work culture. It has been almost two years that I have worked as an article assistant in a mid‑size firm, where I got exposure and knowledge in different fields of professional work such as bank audit, tax audit, GST filing, income tax filing and RERA. Mainly, I got to know the basics of accounting, auditing and communication with different groups of people, which helps in understanding and completing professional work.
Now I am working as an article in another newly formed small‑size firm — A A Chopra & Associates LLP — where the intention and the stakes are higher, but worth giving a try. Here we want to bring in the corporate culture with all kinds of exposure, with the implementation of technology for every need and every want, with minimum paper, moving towards digitisation, and more importantly building a happy workplace where everyone prospers together.
A note on the other side
Last but not least, in my opinion a small or mid‑sized firm can upgrade its system of workflow to meet corporate requirements — but a larger firm can't adapt itself or change its flow of work as easily.
Note: it doesn't mean that a corporate firm is not suitable for work. It depends on the perspective, or the aspect of the individual goal to be achieved. If a person wants to achieve specialisation and gain in‑depth knowledge in one aspect or field, then corporate culture is preferable — and vice versa.
It is always a human tendency to want to know the thing we don't know. So while taking up any decision, just look at what you want to achieve and what the possible ways are. Don't take a decision blindly and regret it for life.
Thank you.
