Chennai lad tops Chartered Accountants final exam

Chennai: City-based James John Britto R has bagged the all India top rank in the Chartered Accountants final examination securing 74.38 percent. “I feel on top of the world. The planning and preparation I did have paid off,” said an elated James, who was celebrating his success with family and friends.

According to James, he had been preparing for the exam for the past six months. “The journey was not easy. It was quite hectic. There was pressure to perform and score well. Handling pressure was the most difficult task,” the 23-year-old said.

James secured 595 out of 800 marks with 74.38 percent and the first rank, Tirupati-born Nagolu Mohan Kumar was ranked second for securing 71.50 per cent 572, followed by Avinash Sancheti from Kolkata who got 566, securing 70.75 per cent.

The final exam consists of two groups. There are eight subjects, split into four exams per group, and an applicant has to obtain passing marks in both the groups in order to clear the final exam.

The exam was conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in November.

James, who is currently interning with Sharp and Tannan, is planning to focus and find himself employment with an industry that gives him more exposure.

For CA aspirants, James’ mantra would be to plan properly and focus on executing it well.

“If I had to advise people who are preparing for the exam, I would take it as an opportunity to help them. I would ask aspirants to give their best keeping the target high, and being a smart worker instead of a hard worker is very important,” said James, when asked about tips to aspirants.

A total of 9,764 candidates passed in Group I final examinations out of the 77,442 candidates who had appeared, a press release from ICAI said announcing the results.

In Group II examinations 9,084 candidates passed out of 75,774 candidates.

While of the 42,469 students who took both Group I and II, a total of 2,440 candidates passed, it said.

In the Common Proficiency Test, held in December, a total of 99,077 candidates appeared while 34,129 students passed, the release said.