Section-wise preparation tips for CA final

One important success mantra that all CA gurus and All India Rank holders suggest is to cover every single topic in the CA syllabus before appearing for the examination. Read on to know more.

Becoming a Chartered Accountant is a dream of many. It is also a challenging career option as the exam and the training modules are tough and are completely different from the rest of the professional courses in our country. The exam is conducted in three levels in India by the Institute of Chartered Accountant ICAI and at the end of the CA final examination, the candidate gets both the theoretical exposure and the practical knowledge in grabbing the best-paid jobs in leading MNCs and public sector organizations.

Clearing the CA final exam is tough, that too in the first attempt demands extensive preparation and dedication to study for more than 15 hours in a day. The exam has low success rates, but once cleared will lead to excellent job prospects for the candidate. 

CA Final Examination

The CA intermediate (IPCC) and the CA final examinations have about eight subjects that are divided into two groups each. The groups can be attempted either individually or together, most of the experts suggest taking up both the groups together. One important success mantra that all the CA gurus and the all India rank holders suggest is to cover every single topic in the CA syllabus before appearing for the examination. The next mantra is to practice as many CA final question papers as possible. While preparing the syllabus, the candidate should also keep himself informed about the latest amendments and new additions to the financial laws.

How to approach the different papers while preparing for CA finals?

Paper 1: Financial Reporting

The financial reporting paper has the highest weightage and about 25-30% of the questions are asked from this section alone. This paper includes applications of accounting and preparing a financial statement. It is thus important to remember all the standards thoroughly by making notes, the candidate should also present them neatly in their answer sheets. There are also two chapters in financial reporting that has to be solved practically, namely accounting for share payments and reporting of financial instruments. The problems in these sections should be thrown light during exam preparations.

Paper 2: Strategic Financial Management

The SFM paper demands a lot of practice and yields the maximum weightage in terms of marks from the examination point of view. All of the chapters in this paper are given weightage and candidates can expect questions from any corner of SFM. It is mandatory to solve at least four problems from this paper on a daily basis so as to cover the course syllabus on time.

Paper 3: Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics

All of the individual chapters of this paper are given equal weightage. As candidates are exposed to auditing during article ship, this subject becomes little easy. With this practical exposure, it would be easy for them to understand the theory portions better as well. The latest amendments in the auditing standards should be studied and revised well before the examination.

Paper 4: Corporate and Economic Laws

This examination paper has two sections and the section one corporate law in for 70 marks and the section 2 economic laws is for 30 marks. This is a major theory paper and mandates through study with note-taking to help last-minute revisions before the examination.

Paper 5: Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation

This paper again in divided into two parts with equal weightage on both the sections. It is important to prepare on all the sections that covers the content of this subject. While preparing for this subject it is important to get versed with case studies and acquaint with its problems by solving them.

Paper 6: Elective Studies

This is an elective paper that mandates open book examination, students can carry the books to the exam centre and prepare case studies that are relevant to it.

Paper 7: DT and International Taxation

This paper has a very short syllabus and more weightage (up to 70%) is offered for the direct tax laws session. It is good to club this paper with practical subjects as its theory portions can be boring.

Paper 8: Indirect Tax Laws

More weightage is given to section 1 of this paper which deals with GST. Section 2 of this paper has only 25% weightage. It is good to learn about GST during practical training to get things easy before the examination.

How much time to devote to CA finals preparation

It is important to complete three years of Articleship before appearing for the CA main exam. Most of the aspirants take 3-4 months leave before the exam to prepare for it, this is also the time when their study leaves start. But experts suggest that candidates start preparing for the CA finals at least 3 months ahead of the study period. So that they will have an additional lead in terms of total study hours than the other aspirants.

For the CA final exam preparation, it is important to study 13-15 hours in a day. Candidates have to divide their study period into the morning session, afternoon sessions, and evening and late-night sessions so as to cover all the subjects. They should also reward themselves with small breaks for food, relaxation and small naps in-between. While devising every time table it is important to allocate enough time for 2-3 subjects in a day to avoid boredom. To make things interesting, it is good to club theory papers with practical papers.