A Company Secretary assists in the efficient management of a corporate body. The role of the Company Secretary is that of an advisor to the management of the company with regard to legal and business matters.

It is a statutory requirement that all companies with a paid up share capital of a minimum of Rs. 50 lakhs are required to appoint a Company Secretary.

Company secretaries find employment at senior posts with the Government of India, and on the panel of bodies such as the Bureau of Public Enterprises, State Government Financial Institutions, and Stock Exchanges , and in Grades 1 to 4 in the accounts branch of the Central Government Law services of the Department of Company Affairs, as specialists in the fields of finance, law, accounts, and merchant banking of nationalised banks. Qualified company secretaries can also join academics, as lecturers in universities.Company secretary has a great scope of employment in Private companies, consulting firms, financial institutions, banks, Department of company affairs and other regulatory bodies.

A qualified company secretary is competent enough to take up wide range of responsibilities in legal, secretarial, finance, accounts, personnel and administrative departments of companies and are involved in major decisions such as formulating long and short term corporate policies and programmes.

Their other responsibilities include incorporation, managing public issues, act as internal legal advisor and representative, process inter-corporate loans and investments, maintain company's records, take care of company's tax planning, tax management, tax returns, explore expansion opportunities, arrange collaborations, amalgamations, joint ventures within and outside India etc. They are required to understand relevant aspects of law, update themselves with the changes to ensure proper compliance of legislations. The job also involves arranging company meetings, collecting and compiling information and recording the decisions. Nowadays, they are even foraying in capital markets and financial services industry. Their assistance in administration, management, planning and general running of the company makes them the company's chief administrator.

Whereas a Chartered accountant is one who is specialised in accounting, auditing and taxation. He also serves as a management and corporate caretaker. In recent times, accountancy has become popular as a profession. The services of a CA is required in money matters even in a small business . Moreover according to the Company Act only CA's in professional practice are allowed to be appointed as auditors of companies in India. A chartered accountant is a person who is accepted as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) after having passed the Final examination of the Chartered accountancy course conducted by the institute. Chartered accountants work as Finance Managers, Financial Controllers, Financial Advisors or Directors (Finance) and watch over the finances in the day to day management of companies. Their main areas of work include Accountancy, Auditing, Cost accountancy, Taxation, Investigation and Consultancy.

The various areas of consulting include Management accounting and internal audit, corporate law advice, project planning and finance, business advise, systems design and information consultancy. Chartered Accountants also act as directors, arbitrators for settling disputes, handling work related to insolvency, bankruptcy etc. and also as executors under a will or trust in order to carry out the administration of an estate or settlements. They are also engaged in activities like markets research, budget planning, working capital management, inventory control, policy planning, securities consultancy, registrar of issues of securities etc.

Some of the opportunities available for Chartered Accountants are in capital markets, business houses and industry. They can also have their own consultancy or private practice which could be more lucrative and satisfying. With the country liberalizing its policies and approach, opportunities are expected to grow further. So now it is upto you in which field you want to go or which interests you more and then choose the course accordingly.

All the best..