Company Secretary

The CS Professional is the final stage of the Company Secretary exam, whereas the CS Executive is the second stage. The CS Executive course can be pursued by any graduate (except a fine art graduate). After clearing the CS Executive course, only you can appear for the CS Professional course. In the CS Executive stage, there are just two modules to be cleared to advance to the next stage. Since CS Professional is the last stage, there are three modules and one elective subject. You need to pass a total of nine exams to become a company secretary. The fee for a CS executive is around Rs. 10,000, whereas it is Rs. 12,000 for CS professionals.

The CS executive exam is challenging for all aspirants, as only 3 to 4 percent of them can make it to CS Professional every year. The difficulty level of the CS executive stage depends on the following factors: 1. Nature of the questions in that particular year 2. Preparation level of students appearing in this exam 3. Your understanding of each subject 4. Number of applications for CS executives in a particular year Some subjects, like tax, company law, and capital markets, have tough questions. For those who are from a commerce background, the accounting and auditing part is easier. Therefore, CS executive is not that challenging if you have prepared each module well.

If you start from scratch, passing the CS Executive in two months is very challenging. The CS executive syllabus consists of two modules that are each broken down into a total of eight papers. To pass the CS Executive exam, you must pass each paper. You must score at least a 40% on each paper and a 50% on each module in order to pass. If you are preparing for ICSI CS exam from scratch, it would be difficult to complete the syllabus in two months. Negative marking is an additional factor that makes accuracy more difficult to achieve without extensive practice. Thus, it takes at least six to seven months to finish the syllabus and prepare for the CS Executive exam.