Learn everything about ICITSS 2026

Last Updated On -24 Jul 2026

Student completing ICITSS 2026 registration on the ICAI online portal

Somewhere between your Intermediate registration and your first day of articleship, the word ICITSS will land on your desk. A senior mentions it or you spot it on the ICAI website and quietly hope it is optional. Every year, students discover this only when articleship is weeks away and every nearby batch is full.

Here is the honest picture. ICITSS is a compulsory CA training programme, not an exam and not a formality either. Skip it, and ICAI will not let your practical training begin. Deal with it early, though, and it turns out to be one of the gentler parts of the whole CA journey.

So, let us walk through the ICITSS course properly: what it teaches, who has to complete it, the right time to enrol, how ICITSS registration works in 2026, and what it costs. Along the way, we have added the mistakes our mentors see students repeat batch after batch, so your experience goes more smoothly.

What is ICITSS?

The full name is a mouthful: Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills. In plain terms, ICAI wants you to arrive at a CA firm already knowing your way around a computer and a professional conversation.

The training is split into two halves. The first is Information Technology Training, or ITT, which is ICAI IT training conducted in a proper computer lab. You spend your days working with spreadsheets, accounting software, databases and e-filing rather than studying theory.

The second half is the Orientation Course, or OC, which works as a Soft Skills Course. Here, the focus shifts to how you speak, present yourself, behave in an office and handle people.

Each half takes 15 days, so the complete ICITSS training stretches across four weeks. You can attend the ICAI IT OC courses at an available branch or programme-organising unit, subject to the batches listed on the official portal.

Why ICAI Made This Training Compulsory?

Picture a first-week article assistant. The senior hands over a messy Excel sheet and asks for a summary by lunch. A client email needs drafting. Ledger entries are waiting in the accounting software. Nowhere in the Intermediate syllabus did anyone teach these things in a practical office setting, yet the firm expects them from day one.

That is the gap ICITSS exists to close. Principals tell us, fairly often, that students who take the Information Technology Training seriously settle into office work much faster. Less time spent searching online for basic Excel functions means more time learning real audit work.

The Orientation Course earns its place too. Plenty of academically brilliant students freeze in interviews or fumble a simple client call, purely because no one has shown them what professional communication looks like. Fifteen days will not make you a polished speaker, but it gives you a useful starting point and that is more than many freshers have.

ICITSS Eligibility and the Right Time to Do It

The ICITSS eligibility rule is short: once you have registered for CA Intermediate, you can enrol. Foundation-route students and direct-entry graduates are both required to complete the programme before beginning practical training.

Timing is where students trip up. Under the current scheme, ICITSS must be completed before your articleship starts. For direct-entry students too, this deserves attention from the beginning rather than being left until practical training is due.

Our counselors usually suggest a simple approach. Book your batch soon after Intermediate registration, during a lighter stretch of your study calendar, instead of waiting until the last moment. Metro-city batches fill quickly around result dates and articleship joining periods.

We have seen students lose an entire month waiting for a vacant IT OC batch. That one month quietly pushed back their CA articleship and, in a few unlucky cases, affected their broader CA Final timeline.

ICITSS Registration Process 2026

Everything happens online, but one common confusion needs clearing first. The ICAI SSP portal the main student portal where you registered for Foundation or Intermediate is not where this training is booked.

The SSP Portal ICAI handles your course-level records. For IT OC registration, ICAI runs a separate online registration portal. Students mix these up constantly, and it can cost them valuable time.

Once you are on the correct portal, the steps are straightforward:

Open icaionlineregistration.org and register as a student.
Set your user ID and password. Treat these as your ICITSS login details and store them safely because you will need them again for the second course.
From the dashboard, go to Course Registration.
Select your region and preferred centre.
Choose ICITSS, then select Information Technology or the Orientation Course, depending on which one you are booking first.
Find a batch showing available seats. If your preferred batch is full, look for another date or centre rather than making overlapping bookings.
Pay through the available online payment options.
Save the acknowledgement generated after submission. Keeping a digital copy and a printout is helpful.
Complete any document-submission requirements mentioned in the acknowledgement or communicated by the programme-organising unit.

Repeat the same process for the second half of the course. One caution from ICAI itself: ITT and OC must be pursued separately, on different dates and timings. Schedule them one after the other instead of choosing overlapping sessions.

ICITSS Fees 2026

The current non-residential ICITSS fees are:

Component	Duration	Fees
Information Technology Training (ITT)	15 days	Rs. 6,500
Orientation Course (OC)	15 days	Rs. 7,000
Total	4 weeks	Rs. 13,500

The official course fees are Rs. 6,500 for ITT and Rs. 7,000 for OC. Since ICAI may revise fees or centre-level arrangements, check the registration portal once before making payment.

Refunds are generally not allowed. Depending on the circumstances and applicable ICAI rules, the programme-organising unit may approve a batch transfer or issue a token that can be used for the same course within the permitted period.

One small planning note: students budget carefully for registration and examination fees, and then this Rs. 13,500 appears just before articleship and catches them unprepared. Keep it in your financial plan from the start.

What will you learn during the Training?

ITT days are spent at a computer, not in a lecture hall. The syllabus cover computer fundamentals, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, databases, accounting packages, e-filing, and other practical digital tools used in accounting work.

If you give one topic your complete attention, make it Excel. Few skills from these 15 days will follow you as far into your career.

OC feels different, closer to a workshop than a class. You will practise business communication and presentations, work on interpersonal and negotiation skills, and learn office procedures along with some general management basics. Expect role plays, group discussions, and moments when you are asked to stand up and present, sometimes when you would rather not.

And a word of caution here. Some students treat these 30 days as pure attendance: phones under the desk, minds elsewhere. They leave with a certificate and little else. The students who participate properly carry those habits straight into interviews and office life.

How does ICAI assess you?

ITT comes with a proper assessment. Students must meet the attendance requirement, qualify in two module tests with at least 50% in each, submit a project, and take the online test.

You need at least 60% in aggregate across the module tests, project, and online examination to complete the training successfully. If you fall short, ICAI permits another attempt at the online test, so one difficult day does not end your progress.

The Orientation Course relies mainly on attendance, continuity, and participation. Missing sessions without informing your centre can delay your completion certificate. If a genuine problem comes up, tell the programme-organising unit beforehand and follow its instructions for attendance or compensatory sessions.

Advance ITT and MCS: The Second Round

ICITSS is phase one. Later in the CA course, you will also complete Advanced ICITSS, or AICITSS. It consists of the Advanced Information Technology course, often called Advanced ITT, and the Management and Communication Skills course.

Under the current scheme, students must complete AICITSS after completing practical training but before appearing for the CA Final examination. They must also pass the Advanced IT test required under the programme.

For 2026, ICAI has published a monthly schedule for the Advanced IT test. Most tests fall on the 8th of the month, while the November test is scheduled for the 12th. That gives students reasonable flexibility, but it is still unwise to push Advanced ITT and its assessment into the months immediately before your Final attempt. Those months belong to revision.

Plan Your ICITSS Without Stress

Handled early, ICITSS is genuinely one of the easier boxes to tick in the CA course. Enroll soon after registration, choose batches that respect your study plan, show up with some curiosity, and clear the assessment in one go. A month of effort here can protect you from a much longer delay later.

Still unsure how ICITSS 2026 fits into your larger CA timeline, or torn between articleship options? Talk it through with someone who has guided students along this road. The counselling team at IIC Lakshya offers free guidance on training schedules, examination planning, and career decisions.

Get the paperwork sorted early. Save your energy for the preparation that actually decides your result.