ICAI Articleship Completion Form: Form 108, Deadline and Late Fees

The ICAI articleship completion form is Form 108, and you submit it on the Self Service Portal (SSP) within 30 days of finishing your practical training. Both you and your principal sign it. Students often search for Form 109 instead, but Form 109 is the termination form you use for a transfer, not the one for completion. Everything below is from ICAI's articleship FAQ, the version dated 20 August 2024.

Form 108 is the last step of articleship, and a late filing costs between Rs 500 and Rs 10,000 in condonation fees, so file it in the first week after your end date.

TL;DR

• Completion of articleship: Form 108. Completion of industrial training: Form 105.
• Form 108 opens on SSP only on or after your completion date as per SSP records.
• Deadline: 30 days. Late fee: Rs 500 up to 30 days late, Rs 1,000 for 31 to 180 days, Rs 2,000 for 181 to 365 days, Rs 10,000 beyond.
• If your principal will not sign, file Form 119 with proof that you sent Form 108 to them.
• Leave above 12 days in a year (new scheme) must be served before you complete, under the same principal.

Which form do you file when articleship is complete?

Form 108. It reports your training period, the leave you took and the work and training you received, and the principal signs it to confirm. The FAQ names other forms around it, and the numbers are easy to mix up:

• Form 103: registration of articleship, filed within 30 days of starting.
• Form 105: completion or termination of industrial training.
• Form 108: completion of articled training.
• Form 109: termination, used when you move to another principal.
• Form 119: used when the principal does not sign Form 108.

If your articleship ended on the date in your deed, Form 108 is the one you need.

When does Form 108 open, and what is the deadline?

The FAQ says Form 108 is enabled only on or after the completion of articles as per SSP records. If your end date on SSP is wrong, perhaps because a Form 109 or a leave entry was not processed, the form will not open. Fix the record first.

Once it opens, you have 30 days. The FAQ's condonation schedule for a late Form 108 is:

• Up to 30 days beyond the 30-day period: Rs 500.
• 31 to 180 days: Rs 1,000.
• 181 to 365 days: Rs 2,000.
• More than 365 days: Rs 10,000.

For a delay of more than three years, ICAI also asks for a day-wise work diary and attendance, a bank statement showing the stipend, and a condonation request, all signed by you and the principal.

File within 30 days of your end date and you pay nothing extra.

How do you submit Form 108 on SSP?

1. Log in to the Self Service Portal with your student registration details.
2. Open the articleship section under Article Functions and find Form 108.
3. Fill in the leave taken and the work and training received, only for the period under your current principal.
4. Download the PDF, sign it, get your principal's signature and upload the signed copy.
5. Submit and note the status. The FAQ lists Saved, Requested (at the regional office), Asked for Correction by RO, Corrected, Sent to MSSO and Completed.

If your principal changed within the same firm because the earlier principal was a paid assistant, attach the approved Form 118 or ICAI's approval mail with Form 108. If the regional office asks for a correction, make it and resubmit rather than filing a new form.

If the principal has died, the FAQ says a legal representative signs for a sole proprietorship and a partner signs for a partnership firm, along with your application and the death certificate.

The status reads Completed once the regional office approves the form.

What if your principal will not sign Form 108?

The FAQ's answer is Form 119. You attach four things: a copy of the letter you emailed to the employer, the speed post receipt for the hard copy of Form 108 you sent for signature, Form 108 signed by you and kept in saved mode on SSP, and the signed Form 119.

ICAI then sends the principal three reminders, a month apart. After that the form goes to the Members and Students Section for action. Plan for this to take several months, so start the conversation with your principal well before your last day.

An unsigned Form 108 is handled through Form 119, with proof that you asked.

How do excess leaves change your completion date?

Under the new scheme you get 12 days of leave in each year of the two-year training. Anything above that is excess and has to be served before you complete. The FAQ adds that excess leave is served only under the principal with whom you last served.

Worked example from the FAQ

A student takes 13 days of leave in year one and 15 in year two. The excess is 1 day plus 3 days, which is 4 days. The student serves those 4 extra days under the same principal before Form 108 opens. Under the old three-year scheme the rule was different: leave of one-seventh of the period actually served.

Keep your e-diary and attendance up to date from the first month. The leave count on Form 108 has to match them, and the regional office checks it. Our CA articleship guide covers leave, stipend and registration in more detail.

Count your leave year by year, serve the excess with the same principal, and only then file Form 108.

What should you do while waiting for approval?

Most students finish articleship while preparing for CA Final, so the months around Form 108 are also exam months. Under the new scheme you also need to complete the self-paced online modules and the advanced ICITSS courses for Final. If you are preparing for Final, Gradehunt's CA Final test series lets you write full papers by hand and upload them, and an ex-examiner returns each one within 48 hours with step-wise marks.

Rules change from time to time, so read the latest FAQ on ICAI's helpdesk site before you file, and keep a copy of every form you submit. The FAQ notes that some forms, like 102 and 103, are no longer visible once the regional office approves them.