How to Manage Article Assistants' Work, Time and Access

Short answer: Give each article assistant specific engagements and tasks with planned hours and due dates, review their work and weekly time through a named senior, rotate them across audit, tax and GST work, and plan around ICAI's rules: 35 working hours a week (45 at most, exceptionally) and, under the New Scheme, 12 days' leave in each year of training.^[1][2] Give each article the least access that lets them work: a staff-level role, limited to the clients they are assigned.

Last updated 14 October 2026. ICAI rules were checked on ICAI's own pages on that date. Check the Chartered Accountants Regulations 1988 and any later ICAI announcement before relying on them; this is practical guidance, not a statement of the regulations.

Article assistants do a large share of the work in most Indian CA firms, from vouching and bank reconciliations to GST returns and ITR preparation. They are also trainees, with rules on hours and leave, and they are usually the people with the widest view of client files and the shortest stay with the firm. Managing them well means three things: clear work, regular review and sensible access. For the wider tool choice, see our guide to the best practice management software for CA firms.

What do ICAI's rules say about articles' hours and leave?

Stipend rates for the two-year New Scheme training are under revision: ICAI invited comments in July 2026 on proposed rates and a draft amendment to the Regulations.^[4] Check ICAI's site for the final position.

Two practical consequences. First, 35 hours is a planning number, not a target to beat; set each article's weekly capacity at 35 so busy weeks show as over capacity. Second, with only 12 days' leave a year under the New Scheme, articles will want their leave around their own exams and study, so agree leave for the filing season early.

How should you assign work to article assistants?

• Work in engagements, not chats. Put each piece of work under the client's engagement as a task with an owner, a due date and planned hours. "Bank reconciliation, HDFC current account, April to September" is a task; "do the bank stuff" isn't.
• Break big jobs into subtasks and set dependencies, so everyone can see that the tax audit report waits on the ledger scrutiny.
• Name a reviewer for every task. Usually the senior or manager on the engagement. Articles learn from review notes, and the firm signs off on reviewed work.
• Keep one work list per person. Each article should be able to open one screen and see everything due this week, across clients.
• Rotate for training. Plan each article's year across audit, direct tax, GST and company law work, so they don't spend two years on one kind of return. Record rotations so the principal can see the spread.

How do you review articles' work and time?

Time tells you whether the plan was right. Ask articles to log time against the task they worked on every day, billable or non-billable, and have a manager approve it each week. Patterns to look for:

Keep training time visible. Create an internal "Firm training" engagement and log classes, workshops and self-study there as non-billable time, so it doesn't vanish into client write-offs. Once a week's time is approved, lock the period so approved hours can't change. Our guide to tracking billable hours in a CA firm covers the approval routine in detail.

Which role should an article assistant have?

Use the least access that lets each person do their job. MyPract has six roles:

For articles, Staff is the default. They can do the work but can't approve their own time, create invoices or change members. An article who becomes a semi-qualified senior can move to Manager later.

Why limit articles to selected clients?

Roles decide what someone can do; client-level access decides whose data they can see. In a firm with 400 clients, an article working on 15 doesn't need to see the other 385. Reasons to limit:

• Confidentiality. Salary details, family settlements, litigation and unpublished results of listed clients should reach only the people working on them.
• Conflicts. An article whose family runs a business, or who knows a competitor's staff, shouldn't browse those files.
• Turnover. Articles leave when training ends. The less they could see, the less leaves with them.
• Data protection. The DPDP Rules 2025 expect access control and logs over personal data; need-to-know access is the simplest way to show it. See our DPDP Act checklist for CA firms.

How does "only selected clients" work in MyPract?

Owners and Admins choose each member's client access when they invite them, or later from the member's settings:

• All clients: sees every client, now and in future.
• Only selected clients: sees only the chosen clients and their engagements, tasks, time, documents and invoices.

The limit applies to Managers, Staff and Viewers, and it holds everywhere in the app, including reports, search and the AI assistant. It is enforced in the database with row-level security, not just hidden on screen. Owners and Admins always see every client. A member set to "only selected clients" with none selected sees no client data at all.

If a manager assigns a task to someone who can't see that client, MyPract shows a warning that they won't see the work; assigning does not grant access by itself. An Admin can give access in one click, and anyone else is told to ask an Admin. When an article finishes training, remove them from the workspace on their last day, so their access ends with their articleship.

What MyPract doesn't do for articles: it does not track attendance or leave, so keep the 12-day leave register elsewhere, and it does not file ICAI forms. It has no native mobile app; articles at a client site use it in a phone or laptop browser. Details are on our facts page, and prices on the pricing page. Every user gets every module.

How we checked

On 14 October 2026 we read ICAI's announcement on the working hours of articled assistants, ICAI's FAQs on articleship forms (last updated 20 August 2024), ICAI's 7 May 2013 announcement on Regulation 65, and ICAI's 6 July 2026 announcement inviting comments on stipend rates. We did not find the final text of the 2026 amendment, so check ICAI before relying on stipend or leave rules. MyPract role and access details were checked against the product and our facts page the same day. No prices or exchange rates are used.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours a week can an article assistant work?

ICAI's announcement on working hours sets 35 hours a week excluding the lunch break. In exceptional circumstances the total may go up to 45 hours a week, with compensatory leave for completed hours above 35. Working beyond 35 hours should not be routine.

How much leave does an articled assistant get under the New Scheme?

ICAI's articleship FAQ says twelve days in each year of the two-year practical training under the New Scheme. Leave beyond that is excess leave and must be served under the principal with whom the assistant last served. Old Scheme students earn one-seventh of the period actually served, up to 156 days over three years.

Which MyPract role should an article assistant have?

Usually Staff, which lets them work on tasks, log time, handle documents and record DSC movements, but not approve time, create invoices or manage members. For the first days, or for an article who only needs to read files, Viewer is read-only.

Can I stop an article assistant from seeing some clients in MyPract?

Yes. Owners and Admins can set any Manager, Staff or Viewer to "only selected clients". They then see only those clients and their engagements, tasks, time, documents and invoices, everywhere in the app, including reports, search and the AI assistant. Owners and Admins always see every client.

Does MyPract track articles' attendance or leave?

No. MyPract does not track attendance or leave. Track the 12-day yearly allowance in a separate register, and use MyPract's timesheet and approvals for hours worked.

Set up your articles in MyPract

Invite your articles as Staff, limit each to the clients they work on, and run a week of time approvals. Three months free, no card, and the trial never converts automatically.

Sources

[1] The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, "Announcement regarding working hours of the articled assistants", checked 14 October 2026.

[2] The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, "FAQs for Articleship forms Form 103-F & 104", last updated 20 August 2024, checked 14 October 2026.

[3] The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, "Restriction on pursuing additional course during Articled Training / Breach of CA Regulation 65", 7 May 2013, checked 14 October 2026.

[4] The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, "Inviting public comments on the proposed stipend rates payable to articled assistants", 6 July 2026, checked 14 October 2026.