Average Duration | 2 years-3 years | ||
Average Fee | 21.5 K-25.5 K INR annual | ||
Study Mode | Part-time |
Company Secretary is a pivotal position within big reputed firms. It is considered to be a senior post in a company with a higher job satisfaction rate. The business requirements have increased with changing times, resulting in changes in business strategies, which have expanded the duties and responsibilities of a company secretary within an organization. A company secretary is a person who performs the legal activities of an organization that they are associated with. A company secretary prepares and keeps track of all the legal documents of a company including tax returns and compliance forms, and keeps general records along with evaluating legal aspects of a firm.
A company secretary is one of the major support pillars of any company's board of directors and administrative staff. A company secretary takes complete legal responsibility for a firm by dealing with its legal matters and handling corporate governance simultaneously. One major role that a company secretary has in the administration of a company is to make sure that the company abides by all of the regulatory and statutory compliance requirements. A company secretary ensures that the decisions of the company’s board of directors and stakeholders are implemented successfully.
The company secretary is a representative of a company on its legal documents and ensures that the administrative staff is functioning under the compliances of the company. A company secretary also connects with shareholders and ensures that their dividends are paid off by the company while also maintaining the annual records of the company.
The Company Secretary course, or CS course, is offered by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). A company secretary course is a distance learning course that was started to regulate the profession of a Company Secretary. With the right mix of academic programs and practical training, the course opens up wonderful opportunities in the corporate sector. Aspirants willing to pursue the Company Secretary course have to undergo different stages of a CS course and 1-3 years (depending upon which Company Secretary program the students are studying/ passed) of practical training to get the company secretary credentials. Following are the stages to become a company secretary that one has to go through in the ICSI Company Secretary program:
A few of the major highlights related to the company secretary course are mentioned below:
All those candidates are encouraged to pursue the ICSI Company Secretary program who:
Aspirants may choose to become a Company Secretary because it’s a highly rewarding career with a plethora of job opportunities and an excellent growth trajectory along with a high-paying salary. As a company secretary, you would be directly working with the senior management of a company, and your job duties and responsibilities would be to handle tax returns, ensure dividends are paid off on time to the shareholders, and manage financial and other legal regulations. If you have excellent legal skills, solid communication skills, good critical thinking, and problem-solving aptitude then you should opt for the ICSI Company Secretary course to become a company secretary within a reputed company.
All the aspirants willing to take admission into the Company Secretary Executive or Company Secretary Professional program must check all the important and updated dates regarding the CSEET examination 2022, Company Secretary Cut Off dates, and Company Secretary Foundation course examination 2022.
The exam schedule for ICSI CSEET 2022 is as mentioned below:
Events | Dates For January Session | Dates For May Session |
CSEET 2022 Registration Opens | 18th October 2021 | 17th December 2022 |
Last Date for CSEET Registration | 15th December 2021 | 15th April 2022 |
CSEET Admit Card 2022 | 29th December 2021 | Yet to be announced |
CSEET Exam 2022 |
| 7th May 2022 |
The ICSI Company Secretary important cutoff dates for 2022 are listed below:
Details of Cut-off Dates | Appointed Cut-off Dates |
Acceptance of Applications for Admission to Company Secretary Executive/ Professional Programme (for appearing in any one module in the June 2022 Examination) | 31st January 2022 |
Declaration of Results of December 2021 Examination (Company Secretary Executive and Company Secretary Professional program) | 25th February 2022 |
Last Date for submission of Enrolment/ Examination Application without Late Fee (June Session) | 25th March 2022 |
Last Date for submission of Enrolment/ Examination Application with Late Fee (June Session) | 9th April 2022 |
Applying for Paper-wise Exemption based on qualification for June 2022 Examination | 9th April 2022 |
Applying for Registration De Novo (for June 2022 Examination) | 9th April 2022 |
Last Date to Change Centre/ Medium/ Module (June Session) | 1st May 2022 |
Last Date for Cancellation of Exemption (June Session) | 1st May 2022 |
Last Date for Re-submitting the Call-For Documents for Granting Exemption based on Higher Qualification (June Session) | 1st May 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications of CSEET Registration for May 2022 Exam | 16th December 2021 to 15th April 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications for Admission to Company Secretary Executive/ Professional Programme (for appearing in All modules in the December 2022 Examination) | 31st May 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications of CSEET Registration for the July 2022 Exam | 16th April 2022 to 15th June 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications for Admission to Company Secretary Executive/ Professional Programme (for appearing in any one module in the December 2022 Examination) | 31st July 2022 |
Declaration of Results of June 2022 Examination (Company Secretary Executive & Professional Programme) | 25th August 2022 |
Last Date for submission of Enrolment/ Examination Application without Late Fee (December Session) | 25th September 2022 |
Last Date for submission of Enrolment/ Examination Application with Late Fee (December Session) | 10th October 2022 |
Applying for Paper-wise Exemption based on qualification for December 2022 Examination | 10th October 2022 |
Applying for Registration De Novo (for December 2022 Examination) | 10th October 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications of CSEET Registration for November 2022 Exam | 16th June 2022 to 15th October 2022 |
Last Date to Change Centre/ Medium/ Module (December Session) | 20th November 2022 |
Last Date for Cancellation of Exemption (December Session) | 20th November 2022 |
Last Date for Re-submitting the Call-For Documents for Granting Exemption based on Higher Qualification (December Session) | 20th November 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications for Admission to Company Secretary Executive/ Professional Programme (for appearing in All modules in the June 2023 Examination ) | 3rd November 2022 |
Acceptance of Applications of CSEET Registration for January 2023 Exam | 16th October 2022 to 15th December 2022 |
The important dates for ICSI Company Secretary Foundation program June session examination 2022 are mentioned below:
Examination Date | Subjects | Batch Number | Examination Timing | |
15th June 2022 | Paper 1 - Business Environment and Law And Business Management Paper 2 - Ethics and Entrepreneurship | I | 9.30 A.M. | 11.00 A.M |
II | 4.00 P.M. | 5.30 P.M. | ||
16th June 2022 | Paper 3 - Business Economics Paper 4 - Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing | I | 9.30 A.M | 11.00 A.M. |
II | 4.00 P.M. | 5.30 P.M |
The eligibility criteria for ICSI Company Secretary are divided into three sections according to the ICSI Company Secretary program structure. The Company Secretary eligibility criteria for Company Secretary foundation, Company Secretary executive, and the Company Secretary professional course is mentioned below:
All the company secretary aspirants must have passed a 10+2 or equivalent examination from a recognized board. There’s no minimum percentage required by ICSI for students who have successfully completed their 10+2 or an equivalent examination from a recognized board for the ICSI Company Secretary foundation program. CSEET examination has now replaced the ICSI Company Secretary Foundation program since February 2020.
To be eligible for the ICSI Company Secretary Executive course, all the candidates must pass CSEET (Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test) examination and they must be of 17 years of age or above. It’s important to note that all the aspirants must have completed their 10+2 or equivalent examination to be eligible for the CSEET examination.
Candidates willing to take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary professional course must successfully pass the ICSI Company Secretary Executive examination.
There are a total of 3 Company Secretary programs within the ICSI Company Secretary curricula and they are as mentioned below:
ICSI Company Secretary Foundation course is the first step in your journey to becoming a company secretary. The foundation program lasts not more than eight months and comprises four papers which include business environment and law, business economics, fundamentals of accounting and auditing, and business management, ethics, and entrepreneurship. Students who have passed the 10+2 or equivalent examination from a recognized board are eligible to apply for the ICSI Company Secretary foundation course.
Note: The CSEET examination has replaced the ICSI Company Secretary foundation program since February 2020.
You can take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary Executive program after passing the CSEET examination which is mandatory for all students who are willing to take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary Executive course. You are eligible to apply for the CSEET (Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test) examination if you are appearing/ completed your 10+2 or equivalent examination from a recognized board.
The subjects to study for the CSEET examination are Business Communication, Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning, Economic and Business Environment, and Current Affairs and viva voce. The CSEET exam is conducted in a remote proctored manner. Candidates are also required to complete 2 years of mandatory internship in a specified firm after the completion of the Company Secretary Executive program. The graduate and postgraduate students who earlier got admission directly into the Company Secretary Executive program must now mandatorily qualify CSEET exam to be eligible to take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary Executive course.
Candidates will be eligible to take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary Professional program once they have successfully completed their ICSI Company Secretary Executive course which spans 9 months. This is the last ICSI Company Secretary program that needs to be completed by each candidate to become a bonafide company secretary. The Company Secretary professional program spans 15 months after which all the candidates are mandatorily required to complete long-term internships with specified companies.
CSEET or Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test is a national level examination conducted by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India via online remote proctored mode. CSEET exam has replaced the ICSI Company Secretary Foundation course from February 2020. Currently, all the candidates who wish to pursue the ICSI Company Secretary program including graduate and postgraduate students must register and qualify the CSEET exam to take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary Executive program.
The table given below provides the highlights of ICSI CSEET.
Exam Name | CSEET (Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test) |
No. of Questions | 120 |
Exam Mode | Online- Proctored |
Conducting Body | ICSI (Institute of Company Secretaries of India) |
Frequency | 4 times in a year (Januaty, May, July, November) |
Exam Level | National Level |
Duration | 2 hours |
Application Fee | INR 1,000 |
Negative Marking | No |
Total Marks | 200 |
Question Type | MCQ based |
There are a few exempt categories that are not required to give CSEET exam for admission into the ICSI Company Secretary Executive program. Those categories are mentioned below:
All those candidates who have completed or are appearing for their 10+2 exams are eligible to apply and register themselves for the CSEET examination. The minimum age to appear for the CSEET examination is 17 years.
The Company Secretary syllabus is divided into 3 major sections that are CSEET, Company Secretary Executive Program, and Company Secretary Professional Program. The ICSI Company Secretary curriculum doesn’t include Company Secretary Foundation Program anymore as it had been replaced by the CSEET examination in February 2020.
The CSEET syllabus includes four papers that are as listed below:
Business Communication Topics
Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning Topics
Current Affairs and Viva Voce
Economic and Business Environment
The syllabus for Company Secretary Executive course consists of a total of eight papers divided into 2 modules where each module consists of four papers.
Module-I
Module-II
The syllabus for Company Secretary Professional course contains three modules with each module containing 3 papers. Therefore, there are a total of 9 papers in the Company Secretary Professional course. The papers for each module are listed below:
Module-I
Module-II
Module-III
Electives 1 out of below 5 subjects:
Note: As per the new syllabus, the modified training structure for Company Secretary Executive and Company Secretary Professional program includes 3 years of mandatory internship training at a specified corporate entity on registration to the Company Secretary Executive program OR Two years after passing the Company Secretary Executive program OR 1-year after passing the Company Secretary Professional course. The new syllabus guidelines also include 15 days of Management Skills Orientation Program. A few of the scrapped Company Secretary training components as per the new ICSI Company Secretary guidelines are listed below:
Given below are the details of Company Secretary fee structure:
The additional examination fee for Company Secretary Executive program is INR 1,200 per module
In addition to the above fees, there is an additional fee of INR 250 for late submission of an application for appearing in the examination for either of the three Company Secretary programs mentioned above.
The admission process of the ICSI Company Secretary Executive and ICSI Company Secretary Professional courses is mentioned below:
Note: The qualifying marks for Company Secretary Foundation, Company Secretary Executive, and Company Secretary Professional course is 40% marks in each paper and 50% aggregate marks including all the subjects in each of the respective Company Secretary programs.
The ICSI Company Secretary admit card will be released online a few days or weeks before the ICSI Company Secretary examination date. All the registered candidates would be required to download the admit card by logging in using their respective registered credentials. All the students are required to carry the admit card on the date of examination. Online registration on the official ICSI website is mandatory if you want to receive the admit card for the applied Company Secretary examination.
The ICSI Company Secretary CSEET or Company Secretary Professional course examination result will be declared online and all the candidates are required to login to the official website using their registered login credentials. After logging in, candidates are required to enter their registration ID and roll number to check their respective result and download the scorecard thereafter. The scorecard contains marks obtained in each subject along with other personal information of the candidate.
Some of the top colleges in 2022 to pursue CS courses are listed below:
To be successful in the role of a Company Secretary, a candidate must possess the following skills and qualities:
Company Secretary (CS) is a highly rewarding and respectable position within a firm along with a good work-life balance and high-paying salary and excellent growth opportunities in India as well as abroad. As a Company Secretary, you get to handle all the crucial legal matters of a firm, liaise with top executives and shareholders of a company for any important discussions, maintain smooth corporate governance, etc.
As a qualified Company Secretary, you will be able to easily find jobs in public sectors, private sectors, banking institutions, etc. If you are qualified as a Company Secretary then you will also be able to open your consulting firm after obtaining a certificate of practice. You should know that companies having a paid-up share capital between INR 10 lakhs and INR 2 crores must mandatorily hire a practising Company Secretary to issue corporate compliance certificates. A qualified Company Secretary will be able to find jobs across various industries like banking institutions, government institutions, private companies, etc.
Company Secretary is a lucrative career option with a high job satisfaction rate and increasing demand among various public and private institutions. Some of the popular job profiles in this role along with their major duties and responsibilities are mentioned below:
1. Chief Administrative Officer: They keep an eye on the company's general administrative activity and keep all legal and other classified documents protected.
2. Corporate Planner: They meticulously oversee and plan the firm's expansion potential as well as manage mergers, joint ventures, collaborations, and takeovers both within and beyond the company.
3. Legal Advisor: They represent the company in any legal problems and ensure that it follows all bureaucratic and legislative requirements, as well as securities and corporate regulations.
4. Business Consultant: Business consultants are in charge of marketing, management, finance, human resources, and accounting. They are in charge of improving a company's numerous operations. They evaluate a company's many flaws and recommend business remedies.
5. Corporate Policymaker: They devise a company's short-term and long-term corporate policy. They also guide the organization during a review of current policies regularly.
6. Administrative Secretary: They assist executive, director, or department head-level employees with high-level clerical support by executing a variety of secretarial responsibilities and skilled activities, such as creating reports, conducting research, and collecting data.
7. Managing Director: They oversee and manage all of the company's business operations, personnel activities, and legal matters. They know how to get the most out of the organization. The director should have exceptional business acumen and be confident in the company's long-term growth.
8. Member of Board of Directors: They are in charge of providing secretarial and expert advice to one of the members of a company's board of directors.
Some of the employment areas for a Company Secretary are listed below:
A few of the top recruiters that hire Company Secretaries are mentioned below:
Yes, you can definitely crack Company Secretary with self-study but you’ll need to be disciplined. Buy a few recommended books to study for the Company Secretary course, attend video lectures, research online and create brief notes to quickly revise the entire syllabus.
To become an authorized Company Secretary in India, you need to pass all the three levels of the ICSI Company Secretary program i.e CSEET exam, Company Secretary Executive program, and Professional program with a minimum of 40% marks in each paper and an aggregate of 50% including all the subjects in each of the three levels of ICSI Company Secretary course.
No, Math is not a mandatory subject for a candidate who would like to pursue the Company Secretary course.
CA course is one of the toughest courses in India and the Company Secretary course is comparatively easier than CA. Individually speaking, the Company Secretary course is difficult.
The Company Secretary course is not easy, the difficulty level is certainly on the higher side. If you are passionate about finance, accounting, and legal domain then only you should opt for it. It’s also recommended that all Company Secretary aspirants should apply for the course from ICSI recognized university.
Yes, B.Com as well as other graduate/postgraduates students(except fine arts) are eligible to apply for Company Secretary Executive program but would need to clear the CSEET examination first.
The average annual salary of a company secretary in India ranges from INR 5.5 lakh to INR 6.2 lakh per annum. With the highest salary going up to an impressive INR 10 lakh per annum.
The duration of a company secretary course is for 3 years.
All the aspirants who have passed the 10+2 or equivalent examination from a recognized board can apply for the CSEET exam and pass the CSEET exam to take admission to the Company Secretary Executive program. With the implementation of CSEET on February 3, 2020, new Foundation Program registration is no longer possible.
No, there’s no age limit to pursuing the Company Secretary course.
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