Can You Do CA, CS and CMA Together? Articleship and Exemption Rules

What ICAI, ICSI and ICMAI allow

Each institute has its own rule for students who are enrolled somewhere else as well. The rules matter most once your practical training starts.

ICAI (CA)

• CA articleship lasts 2 years. It starts only after you pass both groups of CA Intermediate and complete the four-week ICITSS (ICAI FAQs on the New Scheme, Q5.1 and Q5.2).
• Under Regulation 65 of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, an articled assistant may not "take any other course of study or training, whether academic or professional, or engage in any business or occupation" without the prior permission of ICAI's Council.
• ICAI grants permission for one additional course of study at a time. Apply in Form 112 within one month of joining the course. Classes must not clash with articleship working hours (at least 35 hours a week). If you break these rules, ICAI does not recognise your articleship period (ICAI Prospectus, June 2025).

For leave, working hours and the other articleship rules, see our guide to CA articleship.

ICSI (CS)

• ICSI's Student Training Guidelines 2024 (para 5.20) name courses run by ICAI and ICMAI among those "useful for the Company Secretaryship course". ICSI may permit a CS trainee to pursue one if the trainer agrees. You must study it by distance or part-time, after training hours.
• The same paragraph says: "no other practical training is allowed simultaneously with the CS practical training."
• Study and exam leave during CS training is for CS exams only, "not for any other course" (para 5.11).

ICMAI (CMA)

• CMA students complete 15 months of practical training. It can start as soon as you register for CMA Intermediate (CMA Prospectus 2025, Annexure VII).
• "CA/CS articleship will not be set off for CMA practical training." Training in a CA or CS firm counts only if you work exclusively in the firm's separate management consultancy division, or you are the firm's contractual or permanent employee. Under the new training scheme the firm's turnover must also be more than ₹25 lakh.

Can you do CA and CMA articleship together?

Not as one training period. Your CA articleship does not count towards CMA training. Regulation 65 also covers "training" and "any business or occupation", so you cannot take up a second training placement during CA articleship without ICAI's permission. You can do CMA training in a CA firm only on ICMAI's terms above: in a separate management consultancy division, or as an employee rather than an articled assistant.

The CMA rules leave room to schedule the training outside your CA articleship:

• CMA training can start once you register for CMA Intermediate. You must complete the 15 months before the result of your CMA Final (both groups or the remaining group) is declared.
• To sit CMA Final, you need at least 10 months of training certified in Form T-5 by 31 August for the December exam, or by 28/29 February for the June exam.
• If you already work, or have worked, in an organisation and area that ICMAI recognises, you can apply for exemption from the training in Form T-3 (fee ₹4,500). Applications found eligible by 31 May count for the June exam, and by 30 November for the December exam.

Can you do CA and CS articleship together?

No. ICSI does not allow any other practical training alongside CS training, and ICAI's Regulation 65 applies on the CA side. CS long-term training lasts 21 months and starts after you pass CS Executive and complete a 30-day Executive Development Programme (EDP). Our CS course guide explains the full CS training structure.

CA articleship is not one of the grounds ICSI lists for exemption from CS training. ICSI considers exemption only after you pass CS Professional, against experience criteria. One of them is five years of continuous whole-time practice after qualifying as a chartered accountant or cost accountant, carrying out statutory, cost or internal audit or consultancy for at least two client companies of a minimum size (Exemption Guidelines, ICSI Student Training Guidelines 2024). Other claims of equivalent training are decided by ICSI's Council case by case (clause 2.3(i)).

Entry routes and paper exemptions between the three courses

These are the formal shortcuts between the three courses. Paper exemptions are not automatic: you apply and pay a fee for each paper.

If you pass CA Intermediate or CA Final

• CMA: passing CA Intermediate lets you skip CMA Foundation and register directly for CMA Intermediate (CMA Prospectus 2025, Annexure VIII). Registration closes on 31 January for the June exam and 31 July for the December exam.
• CS: ICSI's restructured CSEET announcement (10 April 2026) and its Student Services FAQs exempt CA Intermediate passed students from the CSEET, so you can register directly for CS Executive. ICSI's separate CSEET FAQ, on the same restructured-CSEET page, lists "the Final Stage of CA" instead, so confirm on ICSI's registration page before you apply.
• Paper exemptions: none. Neither ICMAI's prospectus nor ICSI's exemption notice lists a paper exemption for the CA qualification.

If you pass CMA Intermediate or CMA Final

• CA: ICAI lets candidates who have passed ICMAI's Intermediate exam register directly for CA Intermediate, without the Foundation (ICAI Prospectus).
• CS: passing CMA Final (not Intermediate) exempts you from the CSEET.
• CS paper exemptions for CMA Final passed students (ICSI notice on the Council's decision of 14 February 2023): Executive Paper 4, Corporate Accounting and Financial Management, and Paper 7, Tax Laws and Practice; Professional Paper 5, Strategic Management and Corporate Finance, Elective 4.2, Internal and Forensic Audit, and one of Elective 7.2, GST and Corporate Tax Planning, or Elective 7.4, Banking and Insurance – Laws and Practice.
• The fee is ₹1,000 per paper. Apply on ICSI's Smash portal by 9 April for the June session or 10 October for the December session. Professional-stage exemptions are not granted automatically, even if you already have Executive exemptions: apply again for those papers.

If you pass CS Executive or qualify as a Company Secretary

• CA: ICAI gives direct entry to CA Intermediate to candidates who have passed ICSI's Intermediate-level exam (CS Executive).
• CMA: passing ICSI's final exam (CS Professional) qualifies you for direct registration to CMA Intermediate (Annexure VIII). CS Executive is not on that list.
• CMA paper exemptions for the Company Secretary qualification (CMA Prospectus 2025): Intermediate Paper 7, Direct and Indirect Taxation, and Paper 10, Corporate Accounting and Auditing; Final Paper 13, Corporate and Economic Laws, Paper 19, Indirect Tax Laws and Practice, and Paper 20B, Risk Management in Banking and Insurance. Paper 20B is an elective, which you choose when you enrol for CMA Final.
• The fee is ₹1,000 per paper. Apply online at least 60 days before the exam.

If you are a graduate

You can skip the entry level of all three courses. ICAI allows direct entry to CA Intermediate for commerce graduates with at least 55% and other graduates with at least 60%. ICMAI accepts a degree in any subject other than music, dancing, photography, painting, sculpture and the like for CMA Intermediate. ICSI lets graduates register for CS Executive without the CSEET.

Where the CA, CS and CMA syllabi overlap

The three courses test several of the same areas, which is the main reason students combine them. Each institute sets its own syllabus and exams, so similar paper titles do not mean identical content. You still sit each paper unless one of the exemptions above applies.

Advantages and disadvantages of doing them together

Advantages

• Shared subjects. Accounting, law, tax, audit and financial management appear in all three courses, so preparing for one can help with the others.
• Formal shortcuts. CA Intermediate opens direct entry to CMA Intermediate, and ICSI's April 2026 announcement lets it replace the CSEET. CMA Final and the CS qualification each earn paper exemptions in the other course.
• A second specialism. CMA goes further into cost management, with Final papers on strategic cost management and cost and management audit. CS goes further into company law, securities law and compliance.

Disadvantages

• Training cannot be combined. Taking all three means 2 years of CA articleship, 15 months of CMA training and 21 months of CS long-term training, plus each institute's shorter programmes, unless you qualify for an exemption.
• One extra course at a time during CA articleship. ICAI's permission covers one additional course at a time, and you cannot attend its classes during working hours. A degree and a second professional course cannot both be approved for the same period.
• More exam sessions. CMA and CS Executive and Professional exams are held in June and December, while CA Foundation and Intermediate exams are held in January, May and September. Check both institutes' time tables before you apply for exams.
• Separate fees. Each institute charges its own registration, exam and training fees.

The decision is yours to weigh. If you are choosing between CMA and CS rather than combining them, see our CMA vs CS comparison.

How to plan CA, CS and CMA together

There is no official combined route. This order uses the entry routes above and keeps the training periods apart; drop the steps for any course you do not plan to take.

1. Pass CA Foundation and both groups of CA Intermediate. Graduates can start at CA Intermediate by direct entry.
2. Register directly for CMA Intermediate, and for CS Executive without the CSEET once ICSI confirms the exemption.
3. Complete ICITSS and start your 2-year CA articleship. To keep studying CMA or CS during it, apply for ICAI's permission in Form 112 within one month of joining that course.
4. Fit the 15 months of CMA practical training outside your CA articleship.
5. After passing CS Executive, complete the 30-day EDP and the 21 months of CS long-term training, again separate from any other practical training.
6. Before each Final exam, check that institute's conditions. Before CA Final, ICAI requires practical training completed at least six months before the exam month, Advanced ICITSS and all four Self-paced Online Modules. Before you apply for CMA Final, ICMAI requires the Industry Oriented Training Programme and the certified practical training described above.