A Chartered Accountant can hold a Certificate of Practice and still take up certain employment, but the important professional question is not merely whether the certificate remains on record. The real questions are whether the employment requires ICAI approval, whether practice remains the member's main occupation, whether the member can perform attest functions, and whether the member can train articled assistants.
ICAI's current September 2026 Know Your Ethics guidance states that a member in practice may engage in full-time or part-time employment in business or non-business concerns after obtaining specific and prior approval from the Council of ICAI. It also states that such a member will not be able to perform attest functions. This makes one distinction essential: holding a Certificate of Practice is not the same thing as being in full-time practice with unrestricted attest rights.
What happens if a practising CA takes full-time employment?
For the purpose of eligibility to train articled assistants, ICAI's main-occupation guidance under Regulation 43 says that where a member is engaged in full-time employment, employment is the member's main occupation even though the member may hold a Certificate of Practice. The guidance explains that a member cannot have two main occupations and that arranging employment hours so that time remains for practice does not make practice the main occupation.
That point should not be read as a blanket rule for every professional question; the ICAI page is specifically framed around determination of main occupation for training articled assistants. But it is highly relevant when a CA is considering whether a full-time job can coexist with the status and privileges associated with full-time practice.
Can a CA in employment perform audit or certification work?
The answer is generally no where the member is in part-time practice because of another business or occupation. ICAI's Council decision on part-time practitioners states that, with effect from 1 April 2005, a member in part-time practice, described there as a member holding a Certificate of Practice while also engaging in another business or occupation, is not entitled to perform attest functions.
The term attest function is broader than statutory audit. ICAI's Council resolution under Regulation 190A explains that, for this purpose, attest functions cover services relating to audit, review, certification, agreed-upon procedures and compilation. Therefore, a member should not assume that avoiding a statutory audit engagement automatically leaves all signing or certification work available.
Does employment require prior ICAI approval?
ICAI's current ethics guidance says that a member in practice can engage in full-time or part-time employment in business or non-business concerns after obtaining specific and prior approval from the Council. For employment in a business concern, the same guidance adds that the member and/or the member's relatives should not hold substantial interest in that concern.
The practical implication is that a member should resolve the ICAI permission and professional-status position before starting an employment arrangement, rather than assuming that the Certificate of Practice itself authorises both roles. Employment terms should also be reviewed separately because an employer may impose contractual restrictions that are additional to ICAI's professional rules.
What about training articled assistants?
This is another area where the possession of a Certificate of Practice does not answer the whole question. The Regulation 190A Council resolution says that a member who is not entitled to perform attest functions is also not entitled to train articled clerks. Separately, the Regulation 43 main-occupation guidance treats full-time employment as the member's main occupation for purposes of eligibility to train articled assistants.
A member moving from full-time practice into employment should therefore review existing training responsibilities promptly. The professional-status change can affect not only future engagements but also the member's eligibility to act as a principal for articleship purposes.
Not every outside activity has the same consequence
It would be wrong to conclude that every activity outside conventional CA practice automatically eliminates attest rights. ICAI's Regulation 190A resolution lists specified activities that may coexist with attest work when the applicable conditions are met. Examples in that resolution include authorship of books and articles, certain examination work, and teaching engagements within the stated conditions. The same resolution, for example, includes engagement as a lecturer in a university, affiliated college, educational institution, coaching organisation or private tutorship where direct teaching hours taken together do not exceed 25 hours a week.
This is why the correct analysis is activity-specific. A salaried corporate job, a permitted teaching assignment and authorship are not interchangeable simply because each produces income outside ordinary client practice.
A practical decision framework before accepting employment
- Identify the exact role. Determine whether the proposed arrangement is full-time employment, part-time employment, another business or occupation, or an activity separately permitted under ICAI's framework.
- Check whether prior permission is required. For full-time or part-time employment in business or non-business concerns, current ICAI ethics guidance calls for specific and prior Council approval.
- Determine the attest consequence. Do not look only at whether the Certificate of Practice continues. Check whether the activity leaves the member entitled to audit, review, certify, perform agreed-upon procedures or compilation work.
- Check main-occupation implications. If the role is full-time employment, remember that ICAI's Regulation 43 guidance treats employment as the main occupation for articleship-training purposes even if a Certificate of Practice is held.
- Review articleship responsibilities. If the member currently trains articled assistants, verify whether the proposed change affects the ability to continue as principal and complete any required ICAI process.
- Review employer restrictions too. ICAI permission does not override an employment contract that prohibits outside professional work, directorships or other engagements.
- Document the conclusion before commencement. Retain the applicable ICAI permission, status update and the professional basis for any activity that will continue alongside employment.
Worked example: moving from practice to a corporate finance role
Assume a CA currently in full-time practice receives an offer to join a company as a full-time finance manager. The member would like to retain the Certificate of Practice and occasionally sign certificates for old clients.
The correct analysis is not to ask only whether the Certificate of Practice can remain active. First, current ICAI ethics guidance says full-time employment requires specific and prior approval. Second, the Regulation 43 guidance says full-time employment becomes the main occupation for articleship-training purposes. Third, ICAI's part-time-practice decision and Regulation 190A framework mean that the member would not be entitled to perform attest functions in the ordinary employment-plus-practice situation. Because certification is expressly included within the attest-function concept, continuing to sign client certificates would conflict with that restriction.
If the member also has articled assistants registered under the practice, that issue needs separate attention because ICAI links eligibility to train articles with the member's attest entitlement and main occupation.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming that a valid Certificate of Practice automatically means the member can continue all audit and certification work after joining employment.
- Starting a job first and checking ICAI permission later even though current ethics guidance calls for specific and prior approval.
- Treating statutory audit as the only attest function and overlooking reviews, certifications, agreed-upon procedures and compilations.
- Assuming that a flexible employment schedule makes practice the main occupation for articleship-training purposes.
- Applying the employment rule to every outside activity without checking the specific permissions and exceptions under Regulation 190A.
- Ignoring the effect of a status change on existing articled assistants or the employer's own outside-work restrictions.
Practical takeaway
A CA should separate four questions whenever employment and a Certificate of Practice overlap: permission, main occupation, attest eligibility and articleship eligibility. Current ICAI guidance permits specified employment only through the applicable approval framework, while part-time practice created by another business or occupation generally does not carry attest rights. Before accepting employment, verify the precise activity, obtain the required prior approval, determine what professional work can lawfully continue, and deal with any articleship responsibilities before the change takes effect.
