Do you want to take your career to a prestigious level? Or you are thinking to make decent money and boom your career? If yes then your wait is over as Company Secretary is one of the best platforms to build your career in. Moreover, being in this position is utterly financially rewarding and reliable. This guide will brief you about everything you want to know about Company Secretory courses such as its eligibility criteria, course content and details, course duration, admissions, fees, career prospects, and salary.
A Company Secretary is a senior position in a public or private sector organization that can be classified into 3 categories, that is Certification on CS Foundation, CS Professional Programme, and CS Foundation. You need to complete all these stages in order to become one in a company. Regular examinations will be conducted by the specified institutes across India that you need to crack to be awarded the CS course certificate.
Company secretory is also called Corporate secretory in many countries. It is a specialized and coveted profession which can only be managed by a few people. Undoubtedly, you are one of those few people. Let’s first find out what exactly is Company secretory and it’s role.
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Company Secretary Course Details
What is Company Secretary?
It is a position at which one of the highest level managers of an organization is responsible for ensuring that the company is abiding by the law and is managed efficiently. The Company Secretary also has the authorization to sign official documents that are legally binding on behalf of the company. It is a very senior management position that involves high salaries with excellent perks.
How to become a CS?
It is not that difficult to become a CS as you may be thinking. You need to possess adequate skills and talents. You must become an associate member of ICSI (The Institute of Company Secretary In India) to become a Company Secretary.
ICSI is a statutory professional body that regulates, promote and develops the training programs of CS. ICSI was established by the Indian Act of Parliament for conducting training, membership, and the entire CS profession. You need to complete these three programs- Foundation Programme, Executive Programme, and Professional Programme in order to complete the CS course.
Then there is a 15 months management training program that candidates must complete under the guidance of practicing CS or sponsored by ICSI. Once the candidates pass the foundation and executive program, they become eligible for this 15 months training.
Let us know about the inclusions of CS course details.
CS Course Duration
CS course consists of 3 main stages which are listed below-
- Foundation Programme- This course can be completed in 8 months and must be passed before 3 years from the admission period
- Executive Programme- The course completion period is 9 months
- Professional programs- It takes 10 months if you want to qualify professional examinations
These 3 category courses examination will be conducted by the ICSI council. The candidates must fill up the application form available on the ICSI website throughout the year. This form is available for Rs. 200 and the students need to enroll themselves with ICSI even if they just want to know about the entrance exam information.
The candidate must register with ICSI in order to register themselves for the entrance exams 9 months prior. And within 3 years a candidate must qualify the entrance examination from the period of admission.
Company Secretary Course Eligibility
As there are 3 main courses, there have to be 3 criteria based on which eligibility is perused-
1) Foundation Programme
A candidate must be 10+2 pass or at least equivalent to 10+2. The students may persuing Arts, Commerce Stream, and Science.
The last date of submitting applications to appear in the CS foundation program examination is 31st March for appearing in the same year in December along with the late fee charge of Rs. 250 until 9th April. Whereas, for appearing in next year in June, 30th September is the last date along with the late fee charge of Rs. 250 until 10th October.
2) Executive Programme
You can pursue this course, once you clear the foundation program. Moreover, you should be graduated with any specialized degree and should be above 17 years old.
The last date of submitting applications of CS Executive Exams is 28th February for appearing in both modules in December exams (the same year) and 31st May for appearing in a single module in December examinations (the same year). Whereas, 31st August turns out to be the last date to appear in both modules in June exams (the next year) and 30th November for appearing in a single module in June examinations (the next year)
3) Professional Programme
It can be perused only after clearing the Executive program and can be conducted twice a year in June and December.
The last date to submit applications for professional program examinations is 25th March for December examinations and 25th September for the June exams.
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Company Secretary Course Syllabus
a) Foundation program consists of 4 papers which are mentioned below-
- Business Economics
- Business Environment and law
- Business management, Entrepreneurship, and Ethics
- Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing
b) Executive examinations include 7 papers that are divided further into 2 modules. The first module includes 4 papers and the second one includes 3 papers-
i) Module 1
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- Company law
- Economic and Commercial Laws
- Cost and Management Accounting
- Tax Laws and Practice
ii) Module 2
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- Capital Markets and Securities Laws
- Industrial Labour and General Laws
- Company Accounts and Auditing Practices
c) The professional program includes 3 modules which are composed of 8 papers. It further consists of elective subjects. In elective subjects, the candidate has an option to opt for 1 elective subject out of 5.
i) Module 1
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- Corporate Restructuring, Valuation, and Insolvency
- Secretarial Audit, Compliance Management, and Due Diligence
- Advanced Company Law and Practice
ii) Module 2
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- Ethics, Governance, and Sustainability
- System Audit and Information Technology
- Financial, Treasury and Forex Management
iii) Module 3
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- Drafting, Pleadings, and Appearances
- Advanced Tax Laws and Practices
iv) Elective
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- Insurance Law and Practice
- Banking Law and Practice
- International Business-Laws and Practices
- Intellectual Property Rights – Law and Practice
- Capital, Commodity and Money Market
Job Opportunities for Company Secretary Course
You are eligible to grab any of the following job opportunities-
- Legal, Secretarial and Corporate Governance
- Foreign Collaborations and Joint Ventures
- Capital Market and Investor Relations
- Project Planning
- Corporate Restructuring
- Corporate Advisory Services
And once you are certified with CS course certificate, you can establish or become-
- Investment sectors
- Housing Associations
- Insurance companies
- Employer’s cooperatives
- Bank and building societies
- Trade bodies
- Regional/Senior/Assistant Manager
Company Secretary Course Fee structure
Mentioned below is the fees charged for these 3 different programs or examinations-
Foundation Programme
The total fees for applying in these exams are Rs.4500 in which Rs 1200 is the examination fee.
Executive Programme
There is a different fee structure for this examination depending upon the type of applicants (but the registration fee remains the same which is Rs. 1500)-
- Commerce Graduates (Rs. 9000)
- Non-Commerce Students (Rs. 10000)
- CPT passed of ICAI/ Foundation passed of ICAI (Rs. 12500)
- CS Foundation Programme Passed Students (Rs. 8500)
- Professional Programme
You need to pay Rs. 12,500 to pass through these exams in which the registration fee is Rs. 1500.
Earnings of Company Secretory
One of the most common questions being asked is how much does a company secretory earn on an average? However, it depends upon some factors which are-
- Employment type
- Skills, Experience, and Talent
- Job Location
- Status of the Employer
If we conclude, the average salary of CS with a small or medium-sized company is 3 lakhs per year. If they are working under a large scale enterprise, it can go between 5 to 6 lakhs per year.
CS working under multinational companies or corporate giants can earn between 12 lakhs to 18 lakhs per year. You can also take the help of recruitment portals that provide salary guides. These portals will guide you on the salary indicators and also about the company reviews over the projects in the future and about the past few years.
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Conclusion
If you want to become a successful CS, you need excellent analytic, mathematical, linguistic, and communication skills. Many students perusing this course, are not able to qualify the post Foundation course. So, it is always suggested to focus more to clear the other two programs which are Executive and Professional.
We hope that we are able to solve every query that you might be having regarding the CS course. If you still have any further questions, you can reach us out by commenting on the drop-down section below. We will revert back within 24 hours.
