Scope of Company Secretary for science graduates
Eligibility in company secretary course and scope for science graduates, particularly those after passing Bachelor of Technology/Science is a query which most science graduates who aims to builds their career in corporate sector has in mind. In response to the queries received, this article is prepared to address the following
- Company Secretary and his role
- Eligibility requirement of Science graduates for cs course & minimum marks required
- Paper wise exemption available for B.Tech/Bsc graduates
- Difficulty level of CS course for science graduates
- Scope of science graduate after competing CS
Who is a Company Secretary
In simple terms a Company Secretary is a person who has membership with Institute of Company Secretaries of India. The way to get membership is to qualify the exams conducted by ICSI and to undergo various trainings prescribed by ICSI. A student after completing his exams and training can apply to ICSI to get ACS membership, which stands for ‘Associate Company Secretary’ and later he can apply for getting FCS membership, which stands for Fellow Company Secretary.
What is the role of a Company Secretary
As the name ‘Company Secretary’ implies, main role of a company secretary is to act as a secretary to the company. The main thing to be kept out of your mind is that a CS is not a secretary to any particular person, like personal secretary/ personal assistant to the CEO/MD etc. A CS is a secretary to a company. The job of CS of a company is almost similar to a personal secretary of a person, but a CS acts in a wider context in the area of legal compliance, financial management, conducting meetings, human resources management, appearances before various authorities etc. These roles vary from company to company.
Instead of working as a CS in a company, a member of ICSI can become a Practising Company Secretary, popularly called PCS in short. A PCS engages in most aspects of a company from its birth to death. A PCS may function in the form of a Sole-Proprietary Business or with Partnership with other members. In order to become a PCS, a member shall apply to ICSI for issuance of certificate of practice number. Besides corporate laws, a PCS can practice on Intellectual Property Rights, Foreign Exchange Management, Securities laws etc. A PCS has good opportunities in various sectors.
Eligibility & minimum marks required
When it comes to eligibility, Institute of Company Secretaries of India has only prescribed a degree to register for company secretary course. Further, ICSI hasn’t prescribed any minimum marks criteria etc.. Any student with a degree (except fine arts) can register with ICSI for pursuing company secretary course in executive level. Those from fine arts and those cleared their plus two will have to appear for foundation exams.
Paper wise exemption available for science graduates
Paper wise exemption is allowed only for members of Institute of Cost accountants of India and Students having LLB Degree. Hence, no exemption is available for science graduates.
Difficulty level of CS for science graduates
Syllabus of Company Secretary course is not a complete accounting or legal package. Syllabus covers wide arrays of various laws (with main focus on Company Law), accounting papers, general theoretical concepts etc.. i.e. all those that required to make a person competent to manage the affairs of a company.
However, when compared with commerce graduates, some subjects may be entirely new to science graduates. For example; Cost and Management Accounting, Company accounts and Auditing Practices, Tax Laws and Practice in executive level and Financial Treasury and Forex Management, Advanced Tax Laws and Practice in Professional level.
Scope of science graduate after completing CS
There may not be much difference on scope of science graduates after completing CS. In most cases minimum educational qualification requirement for the post of Company Secretary is membership of ICSI ie ACS/FCS or ACS+ Any Degree. However, some companies prefer CS+B.Com or CS+LLB as minimum educational qualification. However, if your aim is to become a PCS, then there is no need to bother about it.
Let me know does this article help you. All your views, opinions and suggestions are invited…
