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There is no single CA salary, because two different groups are being measured. ICAI’s campus placement drive for newly qualified CAs reported an average package of Rs 13.30 lakh a year in April to May 2026. A large self-reported salary survey, by contrast, puts CAs with up to one year of experience at about Rs 8.4 to 9.3 lakh a year.
Both numbers are real. They answer different questions, and most pages that rank for this search mix them without saying so. This guide gives each figure with its source and date, explains why they differ, and marks the bands where no reliable published data exists. All figures were read on 20 October 2026 and are annual cost-to-company (CTC) in rupees unless stated. For what the qualification involves first, see the CA course guide, and for what it costs, CA course fees.
What is the salary of a CA in India?
A freshly qualified CA’s pay ranges from roughly Rs 8 lakh to Rs 13 lakh a year depending on which dataset you trust, and the top campus offers reach the high Rs 20s of lakhs. Pay then rises with experience, with senior finance roles and practice at the upper end, though for those bands we found no reliable published figures. For the first job alone, including how campus placement works for a newly qualified CA, see CA fresher salary.
| Group | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Newly qualified, ICAI campus placement, average | 13.30 | ICAI Placement Directorate, 64th drive, Apr-May 2026 |
| Newly qualified, ICAI campus placement, highest offer | 27.50 | Same, 64th drive |
| CAs with 0 to 1 year of experience, typical range | 8.4 to 9.3 | AmbitionBox, 1.6k self-reported salaries, read 20 October 2026 |
| CAs with 1 to 3 years | 8.8 to 9.7 | AmbitionBox, 4.5k salaries |
| CAs with 3 to 6 years | 9 to 10 | AmbitionBox, 5.7k salaries |
| CAs with 6 to 9 years | 10.5 to 11.6 | AmbitionBox, 2.7k salaries |
| CAs with 9 to 12 years | 14 to 15.4 | AmbitionBox, 997 salaries |
| 12 years and above, partners, own practice | No reliable published data | None found |
What does ICAI campus placement pay?
In its 64th campus placement programme, held in April to May 2026, ICAI’s Placement Directorate reports 185 organisations registered, 2,570 candidates offered jobs, a highest CTC of Rs 27.50 lakh and an average CTC of Rs 13.30 lakh (ICAI Placement Directorate). The 65th drive for May-exam passers was scheduled for August to September 2026, and we did not find its results.
ICAI’s Career Counselling Committee reports a highest domestic offer of Rs 32.33 lakh for the December 2025 to January 2026 drive. It names banking and financial services, professional services (consulting), IT services and consulting, and financial services among the top sectors in that drive, and says campus placements are held twice a year (ICAI placement page).
ICAI’s prospectus adds context from earlier drives. It says 50% to 70% of registered candidates got offers and the rest were absorbed off campus within months. The minimum CTC at most centres was Rs 9 lakh (Rs 7.2 lakh at a few smaller ones), and over 100 recruiters took part (ICAI Prospectus 2026). That text dates its average to the May 2022 pass-outs, so treat it as background, not a current figure.
Two cautions on the campus numbers. An average is pulled up by a few large offers and is not what a typical candidate receives. And the drive covers only newly qualified members who registered for it and were shortlisted by recruiters.
What do CAs typically earn outside campus placements?
AmbitionBox, a salary and company-review platform, shows a typical range of Rs 11.5 to 12.7 lakh a year across all CA salaries, based on 15.3k self-reported submissions, for people with 0 to 10 years of experience, as of 20 October 2026. AmbitionBox hides its average and top-earner figures behind a login in its salary panel, so we quote only the ranges it shows openly (AmbitionBox).
By experience, the same dataset gives Rs 8.4 to 9.3 lakh at 0 to 1 year, rising slowly to Rs 10.5 to 11.6 lakh at 6 to 9 years, then Rs 14 to 15.4 lakh at 9 to 12 years. The table above lists each band.
This is useful but imperfect data. It is self-reported, nobody verifies the entries, and the job title “Chartered Accountant” includes people in very different roles. We do not average sources against each other. We show each one with its limits.
Why do the two numbers differ?
They measure different people. Campus placement counts candidates who passed Final, registered for ICAI’s drive and received an offer from a recruiting company. A survey counts anyone who submitted a salary under a CA job title, at any employer, at any stage of their career.
Our reasoning, which is interpretation and not published fact, is that several things push the campus average above the survey figure for the same experience level:
- Who recruits. Campus recruiters are large employers in banking, financial services and consulting, which tend to pay more than small firms and practices.
- Who takes part. The drive covers those who registered for it, and ICAI says only 50% to 70% of registered candidates had received offers in earlier drives.
- What is counted. A campus offer is CTC at joining. Survey entries mix CTC, gross salary and sometimes in-hand pay.
- Who is in the survey. It includes CAs in small firms, smaller cities and early-career roles.
The practical reading: if you qualify and join a large recruiter, the campus range is realistic. If you work in a smaller firm or city, the survey range is a more cautious guide. Neither is a promise.
How does CA salary vary with experience?
In AmbitionBox’s data the climb is gradual for the first nine years and steeper after that: Rs 8.4 to 9.3 lakh at under a year, Rs 9 to 10 lakh at 3 to 6 years, and Rs 14 to 15.4 lakh at 9 to 12 years. The survey does not say what drives the jump after nine years, so we do not guess.
We found no published data we trust for partners, senior practice owners, or CAs past 12 years of experience. Pages that quote Rs 70 lakh or Rs 1 crore for those bands give no source, so we have not repeated them. Income from practice also depends on clients and is not a salary at all.
On direction of travel, the AmbitionBox page for CAs carries a note of 12% growth in average salary over the last two years. It hides the average itself and gives no base-year figure, so we report the direction and not a rupee amount.
Which sectors pay a CA the most?
In AmbitionBox’s data, management consulting, financial services and IT services pay about Rs 3.5 to 4.5 lakh more than accounting and auditing firms. The figures are ranges around the average for each group, not guarantees.
| Group | Typical range | Salaries in sample |
|---|---|---|
| IT services and consulting | 13.6 to 15 | 554 |
| Management consulting | 13.5 to 14.9 | 3.1k |
| Financial services | 12.9 to 14.3 | 587 |
| Engineering and construction | 11.3 to 12.5 | 296 |
| Accounting and auditing | 9.4 to 10.4 | 798 |
Source: AmbitionBox, read 20 October 2026. We do not list individual firms: AmbitionBox’s rows for PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG India each rest on 56 to 89 salaries, below the 100-salary minimum we apply to every salary table on these pages. For government, PSU and bank posts, pay follows published scales that differ by post, and we did not find a single CA figure to quote.
How does CA salary differ by city?
Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad lead in the survey. New Delhi is under Rs 1 lakh below Bengaluru and Ahmedabad about Rs 3 lakh below, a gap still smaller than the one between consulting and accounting firms.
| City | Typical range | Salaries in sample |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | 12 to 13.3 | 1k |
| Mumbai | 11.8 to 13 | 2.1k |
| Hyderabad | 11.6 to 12.8 | 753 |
| New Delhi | 11.2 to 12.4 | 2.4k |
| Ahmedabad | 9.2 to 10.2 | 840 |
Source: AmbitionBox, read 20 October 2026. We found no reliable published data for smaller cities, where ICAI’s minimum articleship stipend is also lower under its city-size bands. What you can earn in your own city is best checked against live job listings.
What do CAs in practice and article assistants earn?
CAs who report their job title as “Practicing Chartered Accountant”, show a typical Rs 10.9 to 12.1 lakh a year for 1 to 15 years of experience, from 682 self-reported salaries, read 20 October 2026 (AmbitionBox). The title appears to mix practice-firm employees and people in their own practice, judging by the employers named. Article assistants, who are CA students in training, show Rs 2.3 to 2.6 lakh for 0 to 4 years, from 11.8k salaries, read 20 October 2026 (AmbitionBox).
| Experience | Typical range | Salaries in sample |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 years | 6.8 to 7.7 | 142 |
| 3 to 6 years | 8.5 to 9.5 | 228 |
| 6 to 9 years | 10.3 to 11.9 | 161 |
| 9 to 12 years | 13.1 to 15.6 | 106 |
| 12+ years | Not quoted | 49 |
Source: AmbitionBox, read 20 October 2026. On this page we quote a band only when it rests on at least 100 salaries, so the 12+ row is left out. The figures are what people reported for themselves. Income from owning a practice comes from clients, is not a salary, and the survey does not say how it was counted, so we found no reliable published figure for it.
What stipend does CA articleship pay?
ICAI’s minimum articleship stipend is Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 a month today, and Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 is proposed for the two-year articleship, but that was still a draft on 20 October 2026. ICAI sets only minimums. The rule now in force, Regulation 48 of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, gives Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 a month by city size and year. In cities of 20 lakh population and above it is Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 in the first, second and third year. It is Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 in cities of 5 to 20 lakh and Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 below that (ICAI Prospectus 2026). ICAI’s FAQ says that table is for students already in the three-year training. For the two-year articleship under the current scheme it recommends Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000, subject to amending the regulation. The proposed first and second year rates are Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 in the largest cities, Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 in mid-size cities, and Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 below that (ICAI FAQ). That amendment was published only as a draft on 25 June 2026, with comments invited until 5 August 2026 (ICAI announcement), and we found no final notification on 20 October 2026. An articled assistant who goes on industrial training, which lasts 9 to 12 months in the last year of practical training, is entitled to at least Rs 15,000 a month. The survey range of Rs 2.3 to 2.6 lakh works out to about Rs 19,200 to Rs 21,700 a month (our arithmetic), well above the minimums, which suggests that many firms pay above the floor. It is self-reported, so do not assume your own offer will match it.
How have ICAI campus offers changed over the years?
ICAI publishes the figures drive by drive but not in one table, so we assembled the ones on its own pages. The average has stayed in the low teens of lakhs, while the highest offer moves with a few large recruiters.
| Drive | Average CTC | Highest CTC | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56th (May 2022 pass-outs) | More than 12 | 31.50 domestic, 41 overseas | ICAI Prospectus 2026 |
| December 2025 to January 2026 drive | Not on the page | 32.33 domestic | ICAI placement page |
| 64th (Apr to May 2026) | 13.30 | 27.50 | ICAI Placement Directorate |
| 65th (Aug to Sep 2026) | No results published | No results published | ICAI Placement Directorate |
Read it as a range, not a trend. Each highest figure is a single offer, the 56th drive’s average is described only as “more than” 12, and ICAI does not publish a complete series. Several news and coaching pages give other drive numbers and sometimes attach the same figures to different drives. So we label ICAI’s December 2025 to January 2026 drive by its dates and use ICAI’s own numbers only where ICAI gives them. The 65th programme was listed for August to September 2026 for May-exam passers, and we did not find results for it.
Which CA skills and roles show up in the salary data?
The skills listed most often against CA salaries on AmbitionBox are taxation, income tax, TDS, direct tax, tax audit, internal audit, statutory audit, GST, indirect taxation and financial reporting (AmbitionBox, read 20 October 2026). That tells you what CA roles ask for, not what pays more: no source we found measures a pay premium for any single skill.
For individual roles, we found reliable ranges only for the two above, practice CAs and article assistants. Pages that rank finance controller, internal auditor or CFO pay for CAs quote figures without a source, so we leave those roles unpriced. For how CA sits beside the other qualifications, see the comparison of CA, CS, CMA and ACCA.
What do CAs earn in government jobs?
There is no CA-specific government pay scale. A CA qualification is one of several desirable qualifications for the Assistant Audit Officer and Assistant Accounts Officer posts in the Staff Selection Commission’s Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026, where a bachelor’s degree is the essential qualification and a CA, CMA or CS is listed as desirable. The posts are at pay level 8, a basic pay scale of Rs 47,600 to 1,51,100 a month, as Group B posts (SSC notice, 21 May 2026).
Basic pay is not CTC: allowances and deductions are added under government rules, and the post is filled by competitive exam. For the full pay-level picture, see accountant salary in India. We found no reliable published pay figure for CAs in PSUs, banks or regulators, whose posts follow their own scales.
Do CAs earn more abroad?
ICAI’s prospectus reports a highest overseas posting of Rs 41 lakh in its 56th drive and says it also runs a separate overseas placement programme, but it publishes no country-wise averages. Pages that tabulate CA salaries for the USA, Dubai, the UK and Australia give no source or date and compare jobs that are not alike, so we do not repeat them. Pay abroad depends on that country’s recognition of the qualification and its own labour market, which is a question for that country’s regulator and employers.
How can a CA raise their salary?
The data points to four levers, in order of how much evidence sits behind them:
- Sector. In the survey table above, consulting, IT services and financial services sit Rs 3.5 to 4.5 lakh above accounting and auditing firms.
- Time and role. Pay climbs slowly for nine years and faster after that, so a move to a larger or higher-paying employer can matter more than waiting for appraisals.
- City. Bengaluru leads New Delhi by under Rs 1 lakh and Ahmedabad by about Rs 3 lakh, a smaller lever than sector.
- Specialist skills. ICAI runs post-qualification diplomas (international taxation, insurance and risk management, management and business finance, information systems audit) and certificate courses such as GST, forensic accounting and fraud detection, insolvency and bankruptcy, internal audit, Ind AS and FEMA. We found no dataset that links any of them to a salary increase, so treat them as skills to build, not guaranteed raises.
A rank also does not buy a published number. ICAI holds a subsidised Management Development Programme for rank holders after the Final results, but it publishes no pay figures by rank or attempt, so claims such as “Rs 25 lakh for toppers” have no ICAI source.
What is the monthly salary of a CA?
Divide the annual CTC by twelve for a rough monthly figure, but that is not your take-home pay. On that arithmetic, Rs 13.30 lakh is about Rs 1.11 lakh a month, and the survey range of Rs 8.4 to 9.3 lakh is about Rs 70,000 to Rs 77,500 a month, both before tax and deductions.
CTC usually includes components that never reach your bank account in the month, such as employer provident fund contributions, insurance and variable pay. Income tax then comes off the rest. Do not compare an offer by its CTC alone. Ask for the fixed, variable and benefits split, and check the tax position on the Income Tax Department’s website or with a tax professional. We give no tax advice here.
What does it cost, and how long does it take, to earn this?
ICAI’s published fees come to about Rs 84,500 from Foundation or Rs 74,000 for direct entry, before coaching, and the prescribed periods add up to about 43 months before sittings and results (fee breakdown, route and timeline). The cost that matters more is time. In the May 2026 sittings only 8.47% of Intermediate candidates (ICAI result release) and 14.07% of Final candidates (ICAI result release) who sat both groups passed them.
So a salary figure should be read against a pass rate, a stipend of a few thousand rupees a month during articleship, and years of study. If your priority is a quicker route into accounts and finance work, compare high-salary courses after 12th commerce and which accounting course to take.
Is CA right for you?
CA is worth it if you can sustain the study and training for several years and want the licensed roles it opens. It is a poor choice if the main reason is a headline number. A short checklist:
- Are you ready to study for four to five years, with two years of full-time articleship in the middle?
- Can your family cover the fees and living costs when the stipend is small?
- Do you want audit, tax, finance or practice, not just a high first salary?
- Have you planned for the chance of a retake at Intermediate or Final?
If you stop partway, the work is not wasted: see what to do if you do not clear CA. If you want accounts-job skills sooner, NIMB EDU sells an online Diploma in Financial Accounting. That is a different qualification from CA, we are not suggesting it replaces CA, and we mention it for disclosure as well as information.
Sources and method
- ICAI Placement Directorate, 65th campus programme page with 64th drive highlights, ipd.icai.org, read 20 October 2026.
- ICAI Career Counselling Committee, campus placement page, ccg.icai.org/placement, read 20 October 2026.
- ICAI Prospectus 2026 (February 2026, reprint June 2026), placement services, practical training and stipend sections, read 20 October 2026.
- ICAI, FAQ on the new scheme of education and training (stipend rates for two-year articleship), and ICAI announcement of 6 July 2026 on the draft stipend amendment, read 20 October 2026.
- AmbitionBox, Chartered Accountant salaries in India, read 20 October 2026.
- AmbitionBox, Practicing Chartered Accountant salaries (682 salaries, read 20 October 2026) and Article Assistant salaries (11.8k salaries, read 20 October 2026).
- Staff Selection Commission, notice of the Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026, 21 May 2026, read 20 October 2026.
- ICAI press releases on the May 2026 results for Intermediate (24 June 2026) and Final (18 June 2026), read 20 October 2026.
Method: we quote each source’s own figure, with its date and, where shown, its sample size. We do not average sources or convert one into another, and we leave a band blank where we found no reliable data. We excluded pages that give salary tables without a source or date. Claims we could not trace to ICAI or a named dataset were dropped. They include a Rs 36 lakh peak, Rs 50 lakh international offers, Rs 1 crore for senior CAs and a rumoured Rs 3 to 5 lakh fresher figure. Also left out on 20 October 2026: overseas and by-rank figures from pages that gave no source or date, and skill or role pay premiums that no dataset measures. Also left out: individual Big 4 firm rows, which rest on fewer than 100 salaries each. We will update this page when ICAI publishes the next campus programme results.
Frequently asked questions
What is the starting salary of a CA in India?
ICAI’s campus placement average for newly qualified CAs was Rs 13.30 lakh a year in April to May 2026. A self-reported survey puts CAs with up to a year of experience at Rs 8.4 to 9.3 lakh. The difference is explained above.
What is the salary of a CA per month?
Divide the annual CTC by twelve. Rs 13.30 lakh is about Rs 1.11 lakh a month and Rs 8.4 to 9.3 lakh is about Rs 70,000 to Rs 77,500, both before tax and other deductions, so take-home is lower.
Which CA job pays the most?
In the survey data, consulting, IT services and financial services pay above accounting and auditing firms as a group. We found no reliable data to rank individual job titles.
How much does a CA earn in a Big 4 firm?
We do not quote a Big 4 figure. AmbitionBox lists PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG India separately, but each rests on 56 to 89 self-reported salaries, below the 100-salary minimum we apply, and covers all experience levels. The sector rows above (consulting, financial services, IT services) are the better-supported guide.
Do CAs earn more than MBAs?
It depends on the school, the sector and the individual, and we found no sourced dataset that compares the two fairly, so we will not give a number.
How long until a CA earns Rs 1 crore?
We found no reliable published data on this. The survey’s top-earner figures are not shown to non-members, and partner or practice income depends on clients and is not a salary.
Is the highest CA salary really Rs 36 lakh or more?
ICAI’s own pages show a highest domestic campus offer of Rs 32.33 lakh (December 2025 to January 2026) and Rs 27.50 lakh (April to May 2026). We could not match higher figures to an ICAI source.
What is the CA salary after 5 years?
In the survey, CAs with 3 to 6 years of experience show Rs 9 to 10 lakh a year and those with 6 to 9 years show Rs 10.5 to 11.6 lakh, from samples of 5.7k and 2.7k salaries. Practice CAs in the same periods show Rs 8.5 to 9.5 lakh and Rs 10.3 to 11.9 lakh.
What do article assistants earn during CA articleship?
ICAI sets only minimum stipends. The rule now in force gives Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 a month. Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 is recommended for the two-year articleship but was still only a draft regulation on 20 October 2026. Industrial trainees get at least Rs 15,000 a month. A self-reported survey of 11.8k article assistants shows Rs 2.3 to 2.6 lakh a year.
Do CAs earn more abroad?
ICAI reports a highest overseas posting of Rs 41 lakh in its 56th drive but publishes no country-wise averages, and we found no sourced country comparison.
What is the salary of a CA topper or rank holder?
ICAI publishes no pay figure by rank. It runs a Management Development Programme for rank holders, which is a training programme and not a salary guarantee.
What if I do not clear CA?
Your articleship and exams still count for something. See the guide on what to do if you do not clear CA for the routes that use what you have already done.
Still deciding?
A salary figure is a poor reason on its own to commit years to CA. If you want to talk through whether it fits you, or compare it with other routes, see career counselling, or call 9212008787 or message us on WhatsApp. For the full picture of the route, read the step-by-step guide to becoming a chartered accountant.
