Company Secretary (CS) Course

Company Secretary (CS) Overview

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. 

CS Course

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:

• Company Secretary Foundation Programme (replaced with CSEET exam)
• Company Secretary Executive Programme
• Company Secretary Professional Programme
• Company Secretary Internship Training

Company Secretary Course Highlights

A few of the major highlights related to the company secretary course are mentioned below:

• The Company Secretary program is a 2-3 year course offered by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) to aspirants who have completed their 10+2 or graduated from a recognized institute. The time duration for each company secretary course stage is mentioned below:
  • Company Secretary Foundation Program: 8 months (replaced by CSEET examination in 2020)
  • Company Secretary Executive Program: 9 months
  • Company Secretary Professional Program: 15 months
• Aspirants can complete the company secretary course in 2 years as well if they have completed their graduation from a recognized university because graduate candidates can skip the company secretary foundation program.
• The University Grants Commission has provided the ICSI Company Secretary (CS) course a status that is equivalent to a postgraduate degree.
• 10+2 students are required to pass three levels of the ICSI Company Secretary (CS) program i.e Company Secretary Foundational, Company Secretary Executive, and Company Secretary Professional to become a company secretary in India whereas candidates who have completed their graduation are required to complete only two levels i.e Company Secretary Executive and Company Secretary Professional to become a company secretary in India.
• The ICSI Company Secretary CS entrance exam happens twice a year in June and December via online as well as offline mode.
• The Company Secretary CSEET (Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test) is a mandatory exam that every aspirant is required to undergo if they want to take admission to the Company Secretary Executive Program. ICSI Company Secretary (CS) Foundation examination has been ceased by ICSI since February 2020.

Who Should Do CS Course?

All those candidates are encouraged to pursue the ICSI Company Secretary program who:

• Are interested in/ passionate about the field of law, commerce and finance.
• Want to work in a reputed and extremely valuable position within renowned giant firms.
• Like to work directly with top company executives and stakeholders and provide legal and financial advice to them.
• Want to earn higher salaries with a good work-life balance.
• Would like to smoothly manage the administration of a firm ranging from compliance and legal regulations to shareholders' management and devising corporate planning and strategies for a company.

Why Choose CS Course?

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.

CS Course Important Dates

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.

ICSI CSEET 2022 Important Dates

The exam schedule for ICSI CSEET 2022 is as mentioned below:

CS Eligibility Criteria

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:

ICSI Company Secretary Foundation Course Eligibility Criteria

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.

ICSI Company Secretary Executive Course Eligibility Criteria

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.

ICSI Company Secretary Professional Course Eligibility Criteria

Candidates willing to take admission into the ICSI Company Secretary professional course must successfully pass the ICSI Company Secretary Executive examination.

How many Courses are there in ICSI Company Secretary Program?

There are a total of 3 Company Secretary programs within the ICSI Company Secretary curricula and they are as mentioned below:

• CS Foundation Program:

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.

• CS Executive Program:

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.

• Professional Program:

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.

What is ICSI CSEET Exam?

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.

ICSI CSEET Exam Highlights

The table given below provides the highlights of ICSI CSEET.

CS Course Syllabus

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.

CSEET Syllabus

The CSEET syllabus includes four papers that are as listed below:

• Business Communication
• Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning
• Current Affairs and Viva Voce (Viva Voce announcement yet to be done by ICSI)
• Economic and Business Environment

Business Communication Topics

• Business Correspondence
• Business Communication
• Essentials of Good English
• Common Business Terminology

Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning Topics

• Indian Contract Act and Law of Torts
• Indian Constitution
• Company Law
• Company Secretaries Legislation
• Legal Reasoning
• Verbal Reasoning
• Logical Reasoning
• Non-Verbal Reasoning

Current Affairs and Viva Voce

• Current Affairs
• Listening Skills
• Written Communication Skills

Economic and Business Environment

• Demand, Supply, and Forms of Competition
• Indian Union Budget
• National Income Accounting and Related Budgets
• Indian Union Budgets
• Indian Economy
• Business Environment
• Entrepreneurship Scenario
• Indian Financial Markets
• Key Government Institutions

ICSI CS Executive Course Syllabus

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

• Company Law
• Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws
• Setting of Business Entities and their Closure
• Tax Laws and Regulations

Module-II

• Corporate and Management Accounting
• Security Laws and Capital Markets
• Economic, Commercial and Business Laws
• Financial and Strategic Management

ICSI CS Professional Course Syllabus

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

• Advanced Company Law and Practice
• Secretarial Audit, Compliance Management, and Due Diligence
• Corporate Restructuring, Valuation, and Insolvency

Module-II

• Information Technology and Systems Audit
• Financial, Treasury and Forex Management
• Ethics, Governance and Sustainability

Module-III

• Advanced Tax Laws and Practice
• Drafting, Appearances and Pleadings

Electives 1 out of below 5 subjects:

• Banking Law and Practice
• Capital, Commodity and Money Market
• Insurance Law and Practice
• Intellectual Property Rights - Law and Practice
• International Business Laws and Practices

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:

• Computer Training
• Student Induction Program
• Executive Development Program
• Professional Development Program
• Specialized Agency Training

ICSI Company Secretary Fee Structure

Given below are the details of Company Secretary fee structure:

• The fee for Company Secretary Foundation course is INR 4,500 along with an additional examination fee of INR 1,200.
• The fee for Company Secretary Executive course is divided into four categories:
  • Fee for Commerce candidates: INR 9,000
  • Fee for ICAI CPT passed/ ICAI-CMA Foundation passed: INR 12,500
  • Fee for non-commerce candidates: INR 10,000
  • Fee for CS Foundation passed aspirants: INR 8,500

The additional examination fee for Company Secretary Executive program is INR 1,200 per module

• The fee for the Company Secretary Professional course is INR 12,000 along with an additional exam fee of 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.

ICSI Company Secretary Admission Process

The admission process of the ICSI Company Secretary Executive and ICSI Company Secretary Professional courses is mentioned below:

• Apply and register for the CSEET examination on the ICSI official website.
• Pay the examination fee of INR 1,000 online
• You’ll receive the admit card on your registered email ID. Download the admit card and take a printout of the same.
• Give the CSEET examination on the specified date and time. CSEET examination will be conducted online in proctored mode.
• CSEET result announcement will be done by the conducting body.
• After the declaration of results, qualified candidates will be able to take admission into the Company Secretary Executive Program.
• After successfully completing the CS Executive course with the required pass percentage, candidates will be able to take admission into the Company Secretary Professional program.

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.

ICSI Company Secretary Admit Card

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.

ICSI Company Secretary Result

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.

ICSI Company Secretary Top Colleges

Some of the top colleges in 2022 to pursue CS courses are listed below:

• The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)
• National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), Delhi
• Indira Gandhi National Open University
• Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
• Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore
• Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad

Required Skill Set For Company Secretary

To be successful in the role of a Company Secretary, a candidate must possess the following skills and qualities:

• Excellent knowledge of Company Law and Finance law
• Fluent Communication Skills
• Knowledge of legal aspects related to a firm like accounting, tax returns, auditing including other financial activities
• Hardworking aptitude as this job requires you to deal with a lot of administrative activities of a firm including but not limited to compliance and regulatory requirements of a particular firm.
• Keen attention to detail because a Company Secretary must be fully aware of all the company dealings and know and understand all the nitty-gritty of a particular corporate entity.
• Excellent legal knowledge because the Company Secretary is a person who ensures that a firm is working under all the statutory and regulatory compliances and under all of its legal obligations. A Company Secretary must ensure that a firm’s tax returns are filed under the deadline, dividends are paid off to all the stakeholders on time, formulation of essential administrative documents like share transfer documents, tweaks in articles of association and memorandum of an organization are all done under a required timeline.
• A Company Secretary is the one who is responsible for producing the minutes of each meeting so they should have a sharp mind and quick decision-making skills. They must know how to effectively take notes of all the important information discussed during meetings covering important goals during the board meetings.
• Excellent record-keeping skills because a Company Secretary is required to keep all the essential documents of a company like articles of incorporation, minutes of meetings, business registration, balance sheets, etc. and also update all of these documents as and when required. They should also be able to produce these documents to the government agencies for verification and compliance purposes.
• A creative mindset can potentially help a candidate in becoming a successful Company Secretary as their input will be required during various board meetings when board members would run out of ideas. A Company Secretary may be called upon to suggest various forms of strategies related to a company’s growth and development along with suggesting ideas related to marketing.
• A good Company Secretary doesn’t only have knowledge and understanding of the legal matters of a company but they must also be well-versed in finance as they are required to check the financial statements and study the financial reports of a company along with crosschecking a company’s taxation reports from time to time.
• A good Company Secretary must also be upfront and assertive as they have big decision-making responsibilities related to corporate governance and statutory compliances. They must provide their input in all business proceedings.

ICSI Company Secretary Scope in India

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 Career Options and Company Secretary Job Prospects

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.

Company Secretary Employment Areas

Some of the employment areas for a Company Secretary are listed below:

• Banks
• Corporate Institutions
• Financial Institutions
• Company Law Boards
• Company Secretaryship Consulting Firms
• Stock Exchanges

A few of the top recruiters that hire Company Secretaries are mentioned below:

• KPMG
• Deloitte
• ONGC
• HCL Technologies Ltd.
• Jaypee Group
• Punjab National Bank