From managing household accounts to auditing accounts of large companies—the fair sex seems to have come off age. The popularity of CA profession among women in India is on rise.

The number of female CA’s has gone up by 325 per cent over the last 10 years. In 2000, the number was 7,826, which has now increased to 25,400. The figures clearly show an upward trend and that more women are opting for CA as a profession, Amarjit Chopra, president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), told FC.

The present membership of the institute is nearly 1,61,000, of which the number of male members is 1,35,600 and the number of female members is 25,400.

And why not? “The profession of CA is growing and thriving on a stupendous scale. CAs play a very significant role in the society, providing reliable and transparent information, both in the public and private sector. It is very rewarding socially, professionally and financially,” said Chopra.

It’s paying as well. Take a look at the salary offers during the recently concluded campus placements. Among the overseas job offers, Olam International offered nearly Rs 70 lakh per annum, Tolaram Corporation offered Rs 20.75 lakh per annum, Topaz Energy and Marine offered Rs 12 lakh per annum. The domestic offers include: Axis Bank – Rs 10.82 lakh per annum, ITC – Rs 10.61 lakh per annum and BPCL – Rs 9.5 lakh per annum, to mention a few.

The institute is also encouraging more and more women to join this profession. Time is also just ripe, he said. “CAs will definitely be in demand as the prepa­redness of industry also depends upon the readiness of professionals,” Chopra said.

In 2007, around 2.7 lakh students were pursuing CA course. Now over 6 lakh stu­dents are pursuing this cou­r­se and a sizeable portion of this incremental number comes from the fair sex.

The ICAI president said that the experience and expertise of CAs is now being utilised to a greater extent in several newer areas such as insurance, IT, public finance, risk and assurance services. If the economy grows at 6 per cent approximately, all the CAs produced will be absorbed. In case the economy grows at rate of 8 to 10 per cent, shortage of CAs would be widely felt.