With all the regulations and compliances involved, managing the finances of an organization is no small thing, and that’s where a Chartered Accountant comes in. A chartered accountant is a finance expert with specialization in a wide range of financial services, such as Tax planning, capital budgeting, budget forecasting, financing, and many more. As businesses across the globe continue to grow, there has been a growing demand for CAs to help firms in terms of financial advice and guidance. An accomplished chartered accountant with more than a decade's worth of experience in a wide range of financial services, Ankita Agarwal singlehandedly started her CA firm, Ankita Agarwal & Associates in 2013 as a proprietary venture with just one bank as the client before converting it into a partnership venture. Under her inspiring leadership and guidance, the firm has grown into one of the leading CA firms in Delhi NCR, offering service to almost all leading banks in India.

In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Ankita sheds light on her educational and professional background, the inception story of the firm and her accomplishments, and much more:

Take us through your educational background and the industry experience that you bring to the table.

Born and brought up in Lucknow, I completed my entire education, including my CA, in the same city. Being the eldest child among four, my parents wanted to get me married after my graduation. While I always wanted to become an Interior Designer, the hefty course amount required as well as zero interest from my parents' side made me drop the plan. After some initial persuasion from one of my cousins, finally I opted for CA and later took a fancy to the course. After my CA, I got married and moved to Delhi. Being completely new to Delhi, it was initially a huge challenge for me to start my career in the city. However, I persisted and finally started my firm in 2013.

“Don't get scared of challenges and trust your abilities, because we can achieve everything”

Introduce us to Ankita Agarwal & Associates and the firm’s key areas of specialization. What are the key areas of expertise you have developed over the years in terms of Finance and Banking consultancy?

I started Ankita Agarwal & Associates in 2013 as a proprietorship firm before converting into a successful partnership firm. Today, the firm is a leading chartered accountant venture providing services to major banks in the country. We also offer a wide range of other services, including business setup in India, accounting & bookkeeping, auditing & assurance, taxation & regulatory services, with specialization in acquiring patents, trademark registration, FDI approvals, transfer pricing, and so on. Headquartered in Delhi, the firm has four partners and other branches in Mumbai, Lucknow, and Rewa.

I have over a decade of experience and expertise providing services in various fields, such as auditing and assurance, Direct and indirect taxation, accountancy, transaction advisory, secretarial advisory, and compliance services. Apart from that, I also provide various training related to financial education and am currently working as a guest lecturer in finance with various Government schools and colleges, especially in girl’s colleges.

In your opinion what are some of the most critical challenges you encounter as a leader in finance today? What steps do you undertake to overcome these roadblocks?

One of the primary challenges that we face is in terms of keeping ourselves updated about regulatory compliances and technical advancements. Unlike in the past, nowadays, the amendments and compliances go through rigorous changes quite often, which requires us to continuously update ourselves with those changes as it helps us provide quality service to our clients. Owing to various technical advancements, even people nowadays are getting assistance from various apps and software. We try our best to be wellversed with those tools to be able to help those nextgen clients.

Another major challenge that we face is in terms of managing the current generation of employees as they are more focused on earning rather than learning and want bigger results within less time. We still try our best to impart knowledge and help them have the right attitude required to serve clients.

Throw light on some of the professional milestones you have achieved over the years.

Starting as a proprietary venture with just one staff and only one bank as a client, we have come a long way today as one of the most well-known Chartered Accountant firms in Delhi NCR, converting the proprietorship into partnership and serving almost all the major public sector banks in the country, which I consider as a huge milestone. Coming to personal achievements, I consider completing my Chartered Accountant course as well as various other courses that I did after starting my firm as some of the significant milestones in my career.

Ankita Agarwal, Founder & Partner, Ankita Agarwal & Associates

An accomplished entrepreneur and CA professional with extensive experience of more than 10 years in a wide range of financial services, such as Tax, Internal Audit, Auditing, Accounting, and Financial Accounting, Ankita Agarwal currently works as the Founder and Partner at Delhi-based leading CA venture, Ankita Agarwal & Associates. Apart from her job, she also provides various training related to financial education and is currently working as a guest lecturer in Finance with various Government schools and colleges.

• Educational Qualification: Fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India & MCom from Lucknow University, FAFD & DISA Qualified

• A business leader you admire: Sudha Murthy