This Chartered Accountant worked at a Big 4 firm for a few years and eventually started his own CA practice. Did it pay off?

• Hi! I am Hitendra Ranka, a Chartered Accountant, Co-founder, and Partner at Ranka & Associates, based in Ahmedabad, India.
• I realized early on that I wanted to have my own CA Practice. However, just starting out as a CA fresher wouldn’t make sense so I decided to build my skills by working at MNCs or Big-4 Firms.
• After almost 4 years in the corporate world, I was happy with the knowledge I gained, and thus I followed through with my entrepreneurial plan and established my firm in 2017.
• Even though the gestation period was difficult, our hard work paid off and today we have made a name for ourselves (though we still have a long way to go!)

Always wanted to start my own CA Practice

Like any other student, I was also in a dilemma concerning my career after completing my schooling. However, I always had an inherent interest in accounts and finance which is why I was keen to pursue Chartered Accountancy.

After years of hard work and a lot of learning, I qualified as a CA in November 2012! 

From the day I cleared my CA exams, my goal was to start my own CA practice. However, I didn’t want to start in routine CA practice of Income-tax, Indirect tax, or Tax Audits. Even my Articleship experience was limited to Accounts, Audit (mostly vouching and a bit of ledger scrutiny and finalization), and Income Tax (small clients).