Free template
Free attendance register for CA firms (Excel)
A day-wise attendance register for a CA firm that needs one place for paid staff and articled assistants. Enter the firm name and the month, log each person's day, and collect sign-off from the student or staff member and from the principal or manager. Weekly hours for articled assistants are added up so you can see when a week goes past the limits you have set. The file is a firm record. Any attendance or task entry that ICAI requires in its own system still has to be made there. This sheet does not do that job.
Important notice
This register is for your firm's own records. It does not replace any form, diary or declaration that ICAI requires. This is a template, not legal, tax or Institute advice. Check your records with your principal and, where needed, with ICAI or your adviser.
- 14-day free trial
- ₹120/user/month + GST
- ₹114 on 6 months, ₹108 on 12 months.
What's in the file
- A Firm details tab for the practice name, the principal, and the month
- A People tab for staff and articled assistants, with a firm-set scheduled week
- A Daily register with one row per person per day: status, in and out times, lunch, hours, location, a short work note, and sign-off columns
- Hours that fill in from in time, out time and lunch
- A Weekly hours tab that totals each person's week, and flags an articled assistant's week above the scheduled hours you have set
- A Month grid for a one-page people-by-days print view
- A Sign-off tab for the principal's monthly acknowledgment and each person's initials
- An Instructions tab, including how to use the file and a short caution that it is the firm's own record
- Sample rows use obviously dummy names (they start with SAMPLE) so you can delete them and type your own team
How to use it
- Download the Excel file. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
- Fill in the Firm details tab, then add your people. Remove the SAMPLE rows first.
- The sample Daily register is filled for October 2026. For a new month, copy the workbook, set the month on the Firm details tab, and replace the daily rows. Log each person's status for each day. For working days, enter in time, out time and lunch minutes.
- Ask the student or staff member, and the principal or manager, to initial the sign-off columns.
- Check the Weekly hours tab for articled assistants. Confirm any week that goes past the scheduled hours you have set, and follow the Institute rules that apply to that student.
- Keep this file with the firm's records. Do not treat this sheet as a substitute for any record ICAI requires in its own system.
- Print the Month grid on A4 landscape when you want a one-page wall view for the month.
What this register is, and what it is not
ICAI has its own official training record for articled assistants who fall within the scope it states. Confirm the current scope and process on icai.org. This register is only the firm's own day-wise sheet, including for paid staff who are not on articles.
A signed day-wise attendance sheet can still be useful as the firm's own record, including if the Institute later asks for papers. This template can hold the attendance side for the firm. It is not an official Institute filing pack.
Articled assistants, check ICAI's current rules
Confirm the current working-hours rules for articled assistants on icai.org, including the announcement on working hours of articled assistants, before you rely on any summary. This page does not set staff hours. The weekly hours column for staff is a figure you set, not a statutory default.
Paid employees are covered by the firm's contracts and by the law that applies to the establishment. The weekly hours column for staff is a figure you set, not a statutory default.
When a spreadsheet is not enough
A shared register works for a small practice. It gets harder once you are chasing initials every month, reconstructing papers for a late Institute filing, or trying to see who is in the office, at a client site, or on leave during filing season. Trakkar is time tracking, attendance and GST invoicing software for Indian service businesses, used by 100+ teams. People clock in from the web app or the phone app, and admins choose which ones the team can use. Attendance has a week view with late and half days, and shifts with grace periods. Leave, work-from-home, overtime and time-correction requests go through one approval queue, including from the Android and iPhone apps.
See time tracking software for CA firms, attendance management software for India, the weekly timesheet template, and the monthly attendance percentage calculator.
Download again
This register is for your firm's own records. It does not replace any form, diary or declaration that ICAI requires. This is a template, not legal, tax or Institute advice. Check your records with your principal and, where needed, with ICAI or your adviser.
Questions
Does this replace an official Institute record?
No. Use this register for the firm's own records, including paid staff. Complete any record ICAI requires in ICAI's own system. Confirm the current scope on icai.org.
Why keep a signed day-wise sheet at all?
A signed firm record is still useful as your own evidence of who was present, and if the Institute later asks for papers. Confirm on icai.org which papers apply to a given filing. The FAQ list, when you use it, is a practical list, not a substitute for the regulations.
Can I use this for paid staff as well as articled assistants?
Yes. That is the point of a firm register. Set staff scheduled hours on the People tab and follow your contracts and the law that applies to the firm. Do not treat the article-training figures, if you later add them, as staff limits.
Is the template free?
Yes. Download it and use it as often as you like. No sign-up needed.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. Check that the dropdowns and hour formulas carried over, then save a copy for the firm.
Keep attendance in one place through filing season
Trakkar Premium is ₹120/user/month + GST, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card.