CA Articleship: Duration, Eligibility, Rules and Stipend

These rules have applied since the new scheme began on 1 July 2023. Students registered as articled assistants on or before 30 June 2023 serve three years under the old scheme (ICAI Training Guide, February 2025). Older guides, including an earlier version of this page, still describe the three-year articleship. To see how training fits into the whole course, read how long it takes to become a CA.

What CA articleship is

ICAI calls it "practical training" or "articled training". While training you are an articled assistant, and the chartered accountant who trains you is your principal. ICAI's prospectus describes it as "full-time rigorous training" that gives you hands-on experience of the profession. You work in your principal's office and at clients' offices.

The Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 also allow training as an audit assistant for 48 months (Regulation 71). ICAI's Training Guide focuses on articled assistants, and so does this page.

The word "articleship" is also used for the practical training in the CMA course, which follows ICMAI's own rules: see our CMA articleship guide. For the full list of steps to qualify as a CA, see how to become a CA.

What articleship is meant to teach

ICAI's prospectus says practical training:

• builds a disciplined attitude to hard work;
• develops the skill of applying theoretical knowledge to practical situations;
• gives exposure to the social and economic environment in which organisations operate;
• develops ethical values.

The prospectus groups the work experience into accounting, auditing (including internal audit), taxation (direct, international and indirect), information technology, and management services such as financial management and corporate affairs. Your principal keeps a record of the training given to you. You can also record the work you do in ICAI's web-based e-diary.

How long articleship lasts

If you take more leave than you are allowed, your training is extended. ICAI's Training Guide lists Form 107, a Deed of Supplementary Articles, "to complete excess leave".

When you can start: eligibility

You can start practical training once you have done both of the following (FAQ Q 5.1):

1. passed both groups of the Intermediate exam; and
2. completed the four-week Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (ICITSS), which combines the Orientation Course and Information Technology Training (FAQ Q 6.1 and 6.2).

The prospectus applies the same rule to every route: students who came through Foundation, graduates and post-graduates who joined Intermediate directly, and students who passed the Intermediate exam of ICSI or ICMAI. Passing only one group is not enough.

Who can train you

Articleship is an agreement between you and your principal. It starts with a Deed of Articles (Form 102) that you both sign, so you choose and approach the CA or firm yourself. Under Regulation 43, only an associate or fellow member of ICAI in continuous practice (or deemed to be in practice) can engage articled assistants. Under Regulation 45, a member must check that they are entitled to train and that their practice is suitable before taking you on.

The number of articled assistants a member can train at a time depends on how long they have been in practice (Training Guide, Table I):

A CA in full-time salaried employment with a CA firm can train one articled assistant after three continuous years with that firm. The Training Guide's Table II sets the limit for salaried members based on how many of them a firm employs. In our experience, students choose between small practices and large firms based on the kind of work they want to see. ICAI's rules on training, leave and stipend are the same in both.

Secondment and training outside India

• Secondment (Regulation 54): with your consent, your principal can second you to another member who is entitled to train articled assistants, or to a member in industry, for up to one year in total. If you are seconded to more than one member, each secondment must last at least four months. Time spent in industry, including industrial training, cannot exceed 12 months. The member you are seconded to pays your stipend.
• Outside India: your principal can depute you for up to six months to an eligible member of an accountancy body abroad (Regulation 54A). You can also serve the whole training abroad under an eligible ICAI member (Training Guide, 1.8).

How to register your articleship

Registering your articles

1. Pass both Intermediate groups and complete ICITSS.
2. Agree terms with a principal who is entitled to train articled assistants.
3. Sign the Deed of Articles (Form 102) with your principal.
4. File Form 103 with the supporting documents on ICAI's Self Service Portal (eservices.icai.org) within 30 days of the date your articles start (Regulation 46).

The Self Service Portal handles the e-forms for every level of the course, including articleship. Forms are OTP-verified and fees are paid online. Approval, rejection or a discrepancy is sent to you by SMS and email (ICAI prospectus).

Articleship forms

These are the training forms listed in ICAI's Training Guide. All of them are on the Self Service Portal.

Industrial training

Industrial training lets you spend the last part of your articleship in a company, bank, regulator or government office instead of a CA practice. The rules (ICAI prospectus and Training Guide, 1.9):

• Length: 9 to 12 months, during the last year of practical training.
• Eligibility: you must be registered for the Final course and have completed at least 12 months of practical training.
• Notice: tell your principal at least three months before the industrial training starts.
• Trainer: an ICAI member working in the organisation. An associate who has been a member for at least three continuous years can train one industrial trainee at a time, and a fellow can train two.
• Organisation: a financial, commercial or industrial undertaking with fixed assets of at least ₹1 crore, total turnover of at least ₹10 crore or paid-up capital of at least ₹50 lakh. Central or State Government offices, statutory and judicial authorities, regulators and banking companies also qualify.
• Forms: register the training agreement in Form 104. On completion, the trainer issues a service certificate in Form 105.
• Stipend: at least ₹15,000 a month, effective 1 July 2023 (FAQ Q 5.6).
• Abroad: 6 to 12 months in another country is allowed, under a member of an accountancy body recognised by the International Federation of Accountants.

Articleship stipend

Your principal must pay you at least the minimum monthly stipend set by Regulation 48. It is paid every month by account-payee cheque or into a bank account in your name. The rate depends on the population of the city or town where you normally work.

Rates in force now

ICAI's prospectus (June 2025 edition) and Training Guide (February 2025) list these as the current minimum monthly rates. ICAI's FAQ describes them as the rates for students "already undergoing three years of Articleship".

Proposed rates for the 2-year articleship

ICAI has proposed new minimum rates for students on 2-year training, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs gave its in-principle approval. The draft Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 were published in the Gazette of India on 25 June 2026. Comments were open until 5 August 2026 (ICAI announcement, 6 July 2026).

The draft says these rates come into force only when the final regulations are published in the Official Gazette. ICAI's FAQ also says the revised rates apply "from the date of change in regulation only". Under the draft, students registered for three-year training keep the earlier rates. Check ICAI's announcements for the final notification.

Leave, working hours and other courses

Leave

• You can take 12 days of leave in each year of practical training, including industrial training (Regulation 59).
• Days on which you sit an ICAI exam, including holidays in between, count as days served.
• Some events count as training if your principal agrees: conferences and seminars run by ICAI, its regional councils, branches or students' associations (Training Guide, 1.11).

Working hours

ICAI's Training Guide (1.12) sets these rules under Regulation 60:

• At least 35 hours a week, not counting the lunch break.
• Office hours for articled assistants should generally not start before 9 a.m. or end after 7 p.m. Normal hours should not start after 11 a.m. or end before 5 p.m.
• Longer hours are allowed only in exceptional cases and never more than 45 hours a week. You get compensatory leave for each completed hour above 35 in a week.

Other courses or a job during articleship

Under Regulation 65, you cannot take any other course of study or training, or engage in any business or occupation, during articleship without ICAI's prior permission. ICAI can permit one additional course at a time, such as a graduation degree. Apply in Form 112, certified by your principal and countersigned by the college, within one month of joining the course. You may not attend classes during your articleship working hours. According to the prospectus, if you break these rules, your articleship period will not be recognised.

Changing your principal

You can transfer or end your articles without restriction during the first year. After the first year, ICAI allows a transfer or termination only on the grounds listed in its Training Guide (1.15, under Regulation 56(1)). These include:

• medical grounds needing a break of at least three months, with a certificate from a Government hospital;
• your parent or parents being transferred to another city;
• misconduct involving moral turpitude;
• the principal's death, ceasing to practise, or removal from the register of members;
• moving to another city at least 50 km away after marriage;
• irregular payment or non-payment of stipend;
• serving the rest of your training outside India;
• your principal moving to a city more than 50 km away.

Industrial training and secondment are also accepted grounds. Transfers and terminations use Form 109. ICAI's guide adds that disputes between a principal and an articled assistant should be settled between them, and ICAI will not interfere.

When you finish, your principal issues a service certificate in Form 108 (or Form 109 if the articles end early) and sends a copy to ICAI. If your principal does not issue it, you can request it in Form 119 or 120 within 15 days. The principal must then issue it within three months (Training Guide, 1.18).

Practical training assessment

ICAI lists a Practical Training Assessment among the resources on its BoS Knowledge Portal (boslive.icai.org). For how the test works and how to register for it, see our guide to the ICAI articleship exam.

After articleship: Advanced ICITSS, CA Final and the BAA certificate

• Advanced ICITSS: a four-week course that combines Management and Communication Skills with Advanced IT Training. You complete it after practical training and before the Final exam (FAQ Q 6.1 and 6.3).
• CA Final exam: you can sit it if you are registered for the Final course, finished practical training six months before the first day of the exam month, completed Advanced ICITSS and qualified all four Self-paced Online Modules (FAQ Q 4.5).
• Business Accounting Associate (BAA) certificate: you can apply for it if you have passed both Intermediate groups, completed practical training and Advanced ICITSS, and qualified the Self-paced Online Modules as applicable (FAQ Q 8.1).