Journey of a Chartered Accountant – From Failing CPT to Clearing CA

Many a time when students fail the CPT exam (1st level CA exam from ICAI) they feel Chartered Accountancy is not for them! This article might inspire those CPT students who plan on quitting CA.

Sharing the journey of Shashikant who is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

His journey is amazing – He failed in CPT, worked at a Call Center to pay his IPCC tuition fees, and eventually qualified as a Chartered Accountant with some great articleship learnings.

My Journey:

At the age of 16, I did not know what I wanted to be. One day my commerce tutor told me about Chartered Accountancy (CA),” says CA Shashikant Varshney from Hayatnagar ( Kasba of Distt. Sambhal).

“A total of 30 people started CA from Hayatnagar, Sambhal (a Distt of Uttar Pradesh.) but no one qualified. I was the first CA of Kasba. I was a very average student during my school days, with zero communication skills (literally!). My father, (Mr. Mahipal Gupta) has a famous shop in Kiryanaat Hayatnagar.

My CPT Journey:

After taking guidance from my commerce tutor, I along with my friend Love Varshney started preparing for CPT (1st level CA exam from ICAI). We put in a lot of hard work but failed CPT. I already spent INR 7k-10k on registration and tuition fee. My father being a Baniya asked me to go and recover the same by working elsewhere or at his shop. My friend dropped the idea of CA and joined some IT courses.

It was then that I convinced my family and decided to give CPT another shot. I came to Laxminagar in Delhi (Janam Bhumi for many CA’s). This was the first time I traveled and lived alone without my family. I started my coaching after shifting to a hostel. In the beginning, I was scared and cried almost every day. I spent 3 months like I was in hell. But I successfully completed my CPT on my 2nd attempt.

IPCC Journey:

Now it was time for IPCC (2nd level CA exam from ICAI). At that time, my family was not able to bear my coaching expenses, so I started working in a ‘Call Centre’ to earn money. As soon as I got my salary I joined a coaching class for IPCC. I lived very frugally spending very little on myself.

I failed my 1st attempt at IPCC because I overstudied. I was really depressed. Everyone started questioning me about my failure, and they said sarcastically – Ye Karne Gaye the CA! My mother gave me the inspiration to start again. I qualified for my IPCC in May’11 on my 2nd attempt.

Articleship:

I then started with my articleship which changed my whole life for the best. CA K.G. Sharma, CA S.K. Jain, and CA Ravinder Kumar taught me a lot in every field.

I cleared CA Final Group – 1 on the 1st attempt and Group – 2 on the 2nd attempt (CA Final has 2 Groups – Group 1 & Group 2).

Life Post-CA Qualification:

After qualifying, I joined Gold Plus Group as an Assistant Manager and still working here.

Mr. Subhash Tyagi, chairman of the Company is my inspiration. In the last 3 years, I got lots of experience.

Other Interest Areas:

• I am an Adventurer, already completed skydiving, paragliding, bungee jumping, river rafting, cliff jumping, etc.
• I am a Solo Biker and drove more than 40,000 km in the last 3 years.
• I am a Poet and have written 17 poems on Love, Life, and other aspects.
• I love Travelling and have visited more than 15 states in India.
• I love to Research religions and visited most Temples and Mosques in India.
• Best of all – I am in love with the most beautiful girl on earth (Motu).

My advice to all is – LIVE LIFE WITH DETERMINATION,” he concluded.

He can be reached at caskvarshney@gmail.com/thecastory@gmail.com