ICITSS Course: ICAI IT and Orientation Course Before Articleship

The ICITSS course is ICAI's Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills, and every CA Intermediate student has to finish it before starting articleship. It has two parts: a 15-day Information Technology Training (ITT) and a 15-day Orientation Course (OC), held as separate slots at ICAI branches. Together they cost Rs 13,500. The rules below come from ICAI's own ICITSS and Advanced ICITSS FAQ, last updated 19 July 2024.

ICITSS is the gate to articleship. Book both slots as soon as your Inter registration allows it, because a missing OC or ITT certificate can hold up your articleship start by a month.

TL;DR

• ICITSS = ITT (15 days) + OC (15 days). They run on different dates and cannot be done together.
• Fees: Rs 6,500 for ITT and Rs 7,000 for OC, unchanged under the new scheme.
• Complete both before practical training starts, on both the Foundation route and the direct entry route.
• You cannot register for ICITSS before registering for CA Intermediate.
• Book on icaionlineregistration.org and pay by Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card. RuPay is not accepted.

What is ICITSS in CA?

ICITSS is the first of two short training blocks in the CA course. The FAQ describes it as a combination of Information Technology Training and the Orientation Course, effective from 1 July 2017 and four weeks long in all. ITT covers the office and accounting software you will use in a firm. OC covers communication, presentation and the working habits of an audit team.

The second block, Advanced ICITSS, comes much later, before CA Final. I cover it at the end of this post.

ICITSS means two separate 15-day courses, ITT and OC, done before articleship.

When do you have to complete ICITSS?

Before your practical training begins. The FAQ says the Intermediate student has to undergo these courses before commencement of practical training, for both the Foundation route and the direct entry route. A graduate who joins Inter through direct entry has the same requirement as a student who came through Foundation.

The earliest you can book is after your Inter registration. The FAQ says plainly that registering for ICITSS before registering for Intermediate is not allowed.

A realistic timeline

OC and ITT have to be booked as separate slots, so they cannot overlap. Fifteen days of OC and fifteen days of ITT take 30 days at the very least, and slot start dates rarely line up back to back. I tell students to allow five to six weeks between booking the first slot and the date they want to start articleship. Our CA articleship guide covers what happens after that, from Form 103 to stipend.

Book ICITSS soon after your Inter registration and finish both parts before your planned articleship start.

How much does ICITSS cost?

The FAQ gives the course fees as Rs 7,000 for OC and Rs 6,500 for ITT, applicable since 1 August 2022, and says the new scheme made no change to them. That is Rs 13,500 for the full ICITSS.

For later planning, Advanced ICITSS costs Rs 7,000 for Management and Communication Skills (MCS) and Rs 7,500 for Advanced IT. Across both blocks, a student pays Rs 28,000 in ICITSS fees over the whole course.

ICITSS costs Rs 13,500 in total, Rs 7,000 for OC and Rs 6,500 for ITT.

How do you book an ICITSS slot?

1. Open ICAI's seat allotment portal and sign in with your student registration details.
2. Pick the course (OC or ITT), then a branch and a slot with seats.
3. Pay online with a Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card. RuPay cards do not work on this portal.
4. Email the documents listed on your acknowledgement slip to the address on the slip, at least two days before the slot starts. You do not need to visit the branch only to submit them.
5. Repeat for the second course on different dates.

If money leaves your account but the booking fails, send the transaction details to the course helpdesk and allow 10 to 15 working days for the refund. The FAQ lists [email protected] for OC and [email protected] for ITT.

Booking is online, one course at a time, with documents sent by email two days before the slot.

What happens if you miss days in ICITSS?

ITT

The FAQ requires 90% attendance in an ITT slot. If an emergency or illness intervenes, you must still complete at least 60% in that slot, and you can make up the rest in an upcoming slot at the same branch with permission. You do not pay again, as long as you informed the branch and submitted the documents.

OC

OC has to be completed without a break. Up to two days, or four sessions, of absence can be allowed only for medical reasons or the death of a close relative. Any other absence means compensatory classes at the same or a nearby branch, and ICAI will not issue the certificate until they are done.

Treat OC as a full-time commitment for 15 days; missed ITT days can be made up, but only within the rules.

Can you cancel or change an ICITSS slot?

You can change an ITT slot before it starts or before confirmation, with the branch's approval. For OC, you can transfer to another branch, or change timings at the same branch, by paying Rs 500 within three days of the slot starting. It is allowed once, and only if the other slot has a seat.

If you cancel, the branch issues a token number instead of a refund. The token is valid for one year for the same course, can be used once, and is never refunded, even if the branch itself cancelled the slot for low numbers.

Cancelling gives you a one-year token, not your money back, so pick dates you can keep.

What comes after ICITSS?

After the 15 days, the branch lets you print your certificate from your dashboard once you submit the course feedback. If it has not appeared three days after the course ends, the FAQ says to email the branch with the helpdesk in copy.

Advanced ICITSS, made up of MCS and Advanced IT, comes after practical training and before you appear for CA Final. You also have to pass the MCQ-based Advanced IT test. Our post on Advanced ITT explains booking and the test.

Students who did OP and ITT under the old scheme do not repeat them. If you did only one of the two, you do only the remaining one.

While you wait for a slot, keep writing Inter papers. Gradehunt's CA Inter test series lets you write by hand and upload, and an ex-examiner returns each paper within 48 hours with step-wise marks and comments. The first paper is checked free.