How a CA firm is structured

Org chart

The audit line is shown in depth, from the audit partner to a manager and the assistants and article trainees. Tax, advisory, the company secretary, administration and HR are drawn one level down. Article assistants are on training articleship, not permanent staff.

Levels and designations

Approval chains

How the structure works

The firm is a pyramid of experience. Partners bring clients, take responsibility and sign reports. Each service line, audit, tax and advisory, is led by a partner and run day to day by a manager who plans assignments and reviews work. Below the manager sit qualified chartered accountants as assistant managers, then semi-qualified staff, then article assistants who work while completing their CA articleship. Work is allotted by engagement, so a person answers to the manager of the client they are on. A small administration and HR team, and often a company secretary, support the professional staff and keep the office running.

How it changes with size

A sole practitioner may work with a few article assistants and one clerk, handling every client personally. A mid-sized firm adds partners for separate service lines, managers under them, and a proper administration team. A large firm builds specialist verticals such as GST, transfer pricing, internal audit and risk advisory, each with its own partner and managers, and may open offices in several cities under a common brand. Through every stage the pyramid holds: many trainees at the base, fewer managers in the middle, and partners at the top who own the client relationships.

Common problems

Article assistants are both staff and students, so their attendance must be recorded for the institute while their leave for exams and classes is protected. Work is seasonal, with long hours near audit and filing deadlines followed by quieter months, which makes overtime and comp-off uneven. Staff move between clients and managers, so the reporting manager of record can drift. Client visits mean attendance is often taken outside the office. The steady fixes are one reporting manager per person for the period, attendance that works on client sites, and clear leave rules for article exams.

• Article assistant attendance recorded for the institute and the firm
• Exam and study leave protected for trainees
• One reporting manager per person for the engagement period
• Attendance that works on client sites, not only in the office

Set up this structure in ZeniaHR

1. Create departments for Audit, Tax, Advisory, Company Secretarial, Administration and HR, so staff and trainees group by service line.
2. Add designations such as Article Assistant, Semi Qualified Assistant, Assistant Manager, Manager and Partner, and use grades to hold pay bands separate from titles.
3. Give every person a reporting manager, usually the manager of their current engagement, and an HR partner, so leave and corrections route correctly.
4. Set a General shift for office hours, mark weekly offs and holidays, and add busy-season expectations through overtime rules with comp-off.
5. Use mobile app or kiosk punches so staff on client visits and audits can clock in away from the office, with a check-in spot where needed.
6. Keep leave, corrections and overtime on the reporting manager then HR route, and add partners as hiring approvers above managers.

Frequently asked questions