- 25th September, 2024
- CA Exam Test Series
Which is better, CS or CMA?
Are you one of those students who is confused which course is best for your career? Well, choosing between a CS or CMA course is tough because both the courses have their own importance, and it totally depends on various factors like your interests, skills, career goals, and so on. To make the right decision, it is important to have knowledge about both professions.
CS course primarily focus on corporate and legal matters, while CMA course focus on accounting and cost management. One common similarity in both the courses is level of difficulty.
In this blog, Bhagya Achievers will provide you all the information about both the professions so that it will help students to make the right decision about their future.
Company Secretary
A company secretary is a senior position in corporate governance of an organisation who handles all the legal aspects of the company. He is also known as a corporate secretary. Below are the points to consider.
Role and Responsibility of CS: The Company secretary is responsible for maintaining and auditing tax returns, giving advice to the company related to financial health, and making sure that the company complies with the legal and statutory regulations.
Core work: For the CS Role it is necessary to have legal knowledge, as they are responsible to ensure that the organisation complies with various laws and regulations.
Various duties: The Company Secretary has various duties in any organisation, like annual compliance, incorporation, board meeting coordination, maintenance of records and many more.
Focus on legal aspects: This course is related to the Companies Act, labor laws, and related legal aspects.
Stages of examination: This course has three stages, including CSEET, Executive, and Professional. To become a company secretary, students need to pass all the three exams conducted by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).
Cost and Management Accountant (CMA)
CMA controls all the financial decisions and budgeting in a business or other corporation. They also create budget sheets, and handle the overall cost of the firm. Below are the key points about the CMA Course.
Role and Responsibilities: The responsibilities of CMA are how to allocate, manage, and regulate the funds in any business entity. For improvement in business, they analyse the data from various sources.
Core work: They work as cost accountants, with the help of cost calculations they estimate the product prices. They also prepare budgets like cash, purchase, and sales budgets.
Contribution: They collaborate with managers and review the financial budgets. This involvement helps them to make strategic decisions and enhance cost control within the company.
Audit and cost management: They are involved in cost management, cost reduction, and cost audits for companies as well as other entities.
Examination stages: To become CMA, students need to pass all the three stages including CMA Foundation, CMA Inter, and CMA Final which are conducted by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI).
Practical training: 15 months of training are necessary to complete before taking the CMA Final exam. Also, this is important for the CMA journey because this training provides you hands-on experience and skills for the role.
Difference between CS and CMA courses
Particulars |
CS Course |
CMA Course |
Conducted Body |
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) |
The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) |
Number of levels |
CS Course has three levels: CSEET CS Executive CS Professional (21 months of Practical training) |
CMA Course has three levels: CMA Foundation CMA Intermediate CMA Final (15 months of practical training) |
Duration of course |
3 years |
3 years |
Job profile |
CS have following job role:
|
CMA have the following job role:
|
Average salary |
CS Average salary in India is 5-6 Lakhs per annum |
CMA average salary in India is 5-7 Lakhs per annum |
Legal requirement |
There are no legal requirement for CMA in business it’s totally optional |
It is mandatory to have a Company Secretary if a company has a paid up share capital of 10 crores or more |
Organisations |
Government organizations, public sector, banks, universities, CMA Firms, NGOs etc. |
Can work in any organisations |
Which is a better option CS or CMA?
CS (Company Secretary)
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CS is a better option for you if you have an interest in corporate governance and legal matters.
- If you want to play a key role in board decisions, then CS is a good option.
- This course focuses mainly on corporate laws and governance.
CMA (Cost and Management Accountant)
- If you have interest in cost accounting, budgeting and cost management
- If you choose CMA course then you will get expertise in Financial and cost management
- CMA course is suitable for you if you want to contribute to company’s cost effective decision making
Conclusion:
Although both professions not only have a successful future and also have many opportunities. While making any decision, it is essential to understand your strengths and interests with the aforementioned skills and responsibilities associated with each course so that you can choose the right course easily.
How do Bhagya Achievers help?
Bhagya Achievers is one of the most affordable test series and provides students with different study plans so that they can choose them according to their preparation.
By attempting the Bhagya Achievers test series, you can analyse your performance, and with the help of remarks and feedback, you will get to know about your weak areas in which you have to need improvement.
Bhagya Achievers have Personal mentorship plan. With the help of this, they can talk with their mentors and freely ask study related doubts to their mentor and solutions to their problems.
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