Commerce
Game for big bucks
The beauty of commerce is its diversity. It exposes students to a number of disciplines, providing a unique opportunity to broaden their horizon. Even at the graduate level, it does not restrict choice and opens up a number of avenues. Each student has three years to explore, study, examine and decide before making a final choice.
Dr C. S. Sharma

AFTER Class X, when Rahul had to choose an academic stream, he chose commerce as he was fascinated with the job profile of his Chartered Accountant uncle and had ‘decided’ that he wanted to become a Chartered Accountant. But now, two years down the line, after clearing his Class XII exams, he wants to explore the choices he has, in case, he doesn’t want to pursue Chartered Accountancy.

The questions in his mind are: should he continue with commerce at the college level and what are the other options available?

And then, there is Rajita, who, though from the arts stream, wants to find out if she can shift to commerce and have a successful career. What avenues may possibly open to her?

The most common myth about commerce is that it prepares one to become an accountant.

Commerce is equal to accounting, hence Chartered Accountancy is the lone attractive career avenue for those opting for commerce.

Far from this, commerce as a stream of study can be visualised as a much wider range of diverse but related subjects that cover the entire spectrum of business and economy.

Study of these subjects exposes and enables the students to select a field of their choice from a wide range of career paths. At the time of entering college, often the interest of students is not fully focused. Their ideas regarding what they want to do are nebulous. It is during their college years that they get exposed to the diverse yet related subjects and as their interests get more focused, they can choose the career avenue that fits their aptitude and aspirations.

The commerce stream at the college level provides a fair level of knowledge relating to business laws, including tax laws, maths and statistics, economics, finance, marketing, human resource management, and of course, accounting and auditing. Here are some of the areas that a commerce student can explore in college:

Solve the IT law puzzle

The study of business and corporate laws opens the door to advanced legal studies. A commerce graduate may choose to specialise in Income Tax law which confronts every individual and business firm earning above a certain level.

The complex web of our income tax law requires its deep understanding for correct tax calculation as also for investment planning. This has created a huge demand for professionals who can help businesses and individuals through the maze of the income tax law.

Here, the knowledge of accountancy gives a commerce graduate an added advantage, because a proper understanding of the flow of personal and business transactions as also their balance sheets is an absolute must to carry out the task properly.

Corporate law

Studying business laws provides commerce students another option — to be corporate lawyers. The growth of Indian economy has also resulted in a symbiotic growth of the corporate sector. With that, the demand for corporate legal services is zooming northwards.

Yes, both these options will require a commerce student to pursue a law degree after graduation. In this context, one may look at a company secretary’s course, offered by The Institute of Company Secretaries of India. The course prepares a professional, having comprehensive knowledge of corporate laws, who during the course of discharging his duties, ensures compliance to all laws applicable to the company that he works for. One convenient thing about the course is that it can be pursued along with regular college studies.

Business of analysis

An exposure to economics prepares students to become business analysts. These are the people who analyse global and domestic trends in macro-economic variables like prices, income, consumption, investment, interest rates, exports, imports etc.

Practically, all good companies have in-house teams of business analysts, who provide inputs for their strategic decision-making. If commerce graduates choose to do advanced study of economics at the post-graduate level, they can become economists with various domestic and international bodies.

Taking stock

Study of finance as part of the commerce curriculum, can pave a career path in the fascinating world of stock markets where rationality and skill are put to the test by the extremes of greed and fear every day..., no, every hour, every minute!

With some training, one may work for stock-broking firms, and eventually grow and wean away from them to make and manage personal investments in the stock market.

The KPO factor

There also are a large number of Knowledge Process Outsourcing firms (KPOs) that trade in international markets, providing analysis relating to stocks, bonds etc. to their clients. These companies tend to prefer commerce graduates because their range of knowledge is much wider. They grasp, understand and analyse easily things as diverse as financial statements, macro-economic trends, investment patterns, stock market movements, cyclical changes, legal environment etc; all because commerce offers a package of what we described earlier as ‘diverse but related subjects’.

Personal touch

Another avenue for commerce graduates is managing personal finance and wealth. Known as Financial Planner or Wealth Manager, these professionals provide specialised assistance to individuals in achieving feasible personal financial goals like how much to save and in what form so that one has enough money to buy a car or a house, educate children and marry them and maintain a certain standard of living after retirement etc.

Wealth Managers, manage the moveable and immoveable portfolio of wealth of people who are busy creating wealth for themselves but have little time to manage it. Courses like Certified Financial Planner provide professional edge and understanding to persons opting for this career.

Blending into the rhythm of this area is much easier for commerce students for obvious reasons.

Journalistic twist

If a commerce student with an analytical bent of mind also has an aptitude to write complex thoughts and events in simple, common man’s language, then he may take to financial journalism.

For such graduates, entering the exciting world of reporting the movements and trends in financial markets, the plans and programmes of corporates and the events affecting them should be like entering their natural habitat. The profession is not only intellectually gratifying, but also provides an opportunity to work as a watchdog of the society.

Also, one has an opportunity to educate the masses about facts as these are, and perspectives that can make life better.

Sound account

Coming back to accounting and auditing, commerce graduates might take up the prestigious Chartered Accountancy course, which enables one to become a legally approved auditor who is authorised to authenticate the accounts of business entities. Take up this course if you are naturally comfortable with numbers and are willing to spend long hours at work.

Cost Accountancy is another career option for those having a liking for accountancy. The area is concerned with studying and determining the correct cost of production of goods and services. The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India offers a specialised course in Cost Accountancy.

The commerce stream provides a natural progression to today’s craze — Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Basic levels of most courses taught in MBA are covered here. MBA, these days, has become an important degree for entering and also for rising in the corporate hierarchy. It is better to have a strong foundation right at the graduation level by taking commerce courses.

Finally, if one wants to start one’s own business or join one’s family business, it is the commerce stream that provides the basic understanding of the concepts and skills required to run a business. The practical world might be different from that of the classroom but understanding of essential concepts comes in handy for a quick grasp of the real-world dynamics.

— Dr. C. S. Sharma is Professor in charge, placements, at Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi