ICAI CA Foundation Paper 1 Syllabus 2026: Check Chapter-Wise Weightage
ICAI CA Foundation Exam 2026 ( CA Foundation )
CA Foundation Sep 2026 registration
6 Jul '26 - 19 Jul '26
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India prescribes the syllabus for all papers of CA Foundation exam, including Paper 1 to Paper 4. Students must know the syllabus before starting to prepare for the examination. Check this page to find CA Foundation syllabus for Paper 1, along with weightage for each chapter.
CA Foundation Paper 1 Syllabus
CA Foundation is the first step for aspiring Chartered Accountant. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) conducts CA Foundation exam three times a year – May, September and January. The CA Foundation exam pattern states that there are four papers in ICAI CA Foundation exam, including Accounting, Business Law, Quantitative Aptitude and Business Economics. To clear the exam, a candidate must attain the minimum passing marks in all papers.
In this page, we will talk about CA Foundation Paper 1 in detail, including its syllabus, topics included and chapter-wise weightage. The page will help a student prepare well and clear the exam to move forward to the next step of Chartered Accountancy, which is the CA Intermediate exam.
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- CA Foundation Exam – Overview
- ICAI CA Foundation Paper 1 Syllabus
- CA Foundation Paper 1 Chapter-Wise Weightage
- CA Foundation Paper 1 Study Material
- CA Foundation Books for Preparation
CA Foundation Exam – Overview
CA aspirants, preparing for examination for the upcoming session, must read below to get important details about ICAI CA Foundation exam.
| ICAI CA Foundation Exam |
Details |
|---|---|
| Exam Name |
Chartered Accountancy (CA) Foundation exam |
| Exam Conducting body |
ICAI |
| Exam Mode |
Pen and Paper |
| Number of papers |
Four |
| Frequency |
Thrice in a year:
|
| Level of Difficulty |
Moderate to tough |
| Number of attempts |
Multiple |
| Passing Marks |
Minimum 40% in each paper and overall aggregate 50% |
Commonly asked questions
Check below category wise CA Pass Percentage Foundation January 2025:
Category | Pass Percentage |
|---|---|
Male | 21.74 % |
Female | 21.27 % |
Total | 21.52 % |
The fees for registration of CA Foundation course is INR 9,000 for single group and the exam fee is INR 1500. Candidates have to pay CA exam fee at the time of form submission. They must do so before the deadline set for the CA Foundation exam of a particular phase to avoid penalty of late fee of INR 600. The fee is non-refundable. The fee payment is to be done through credit card, debit card or net banking.
It is not neccessary to have studied commerce in class 12 for clearing CA Foundation. Student from any stream can pursue CA course. Having studied Commerce with Maths in class 12, can be an advantage, as the student will have a strong base in several topics related to accounting, taxation, economy, etc.
The difficulty level of CA Foundation syllabus can be considered lower than CA Intermediate and CA Final but it is challenging as the syllabus is vast. Since it is the beginner's level course, it has topics that requires understanding of core concepts and principles. Given the extremely low pass percentage, CA Foundation is definitely not easy. It requires conceptual clarity of a number of topics related to business, accounting, taxation, laws, etc. and rigorous practice.
ICAI CA Foundation Paper 1 Syllabus
The ICAI CA Foundation Paper 1 is Accounting. According to CA Foundation syllabus 2026, the topics included in CA Foundation Paper 1 are as follows:
| CA Foundation Paper 1 Chapters |
Syllabus |
|---|---|
| Module 1 |
Units |
| Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework |
Meaning and Scope of Accounting Accounting Concepts, Principles and Conventions Capital and Revenue Expenditures and Receipts Contingent Assets and Contingent Liabilities Accounting Policies Accounting as a Measurement Discipline – Valuation Principles, Accounting Estimates Accounting Standards |
| Chapter 2: Accounting Process |
Basic Accounting Procedures – Journal entries Ledgers Trial Balance Subsidiary Books Cash Book Rectification of Errors |
| Chapter 3: Bank Reconciliation and Statement |
- |
| Chapter 4: Inventories |
- |
| Chapter 5: Depreciation and Amortisation |
- |
| Chapter 6: Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes |
- |
| Chapter 7: Preparation of Final Accounts of Sole Proprietors |
Final Accounts of Non-Manufacturing Entities Final Accounts of Manufacturing Entities |
| Module 2 |
Units |
| Chapter 8: Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Organisations |
- |
| Chapter 9: Accounts from Incomplete Records |
- |
| Chapter 10: Partnership and LLP Accounts |
Introduction to Partnership Accounts Treatment of Goodwill in Partnership Accounts Admission of a New Partner Retirement of a Partner Death of a Partner Dissolution of Partnership Firms and LLPs Annexure-II |
| Chapter 11: Company Accounts |
Introduction to Company Accounts Issue, Forfeiture and Re-Issue of Shares Issue of Debentures Accounting for Bonus Issue and Right Issue Redemption of Preference Shares Redemption of Debentures |
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CA Foundation Paper 1 Chapter-Wise Weightage
The table below entails chapter-wise weightage for CA Foundation Paper 1 – Accounting:
Commonly asked questions
Check below to find CA Foundation 2026 exam timings for centres at different locations:
| Paper | Domestic Centres (IST) | Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat (UAE Local Time) | Doha (Qatar Local Time) Bahrain, Kuwait & Riyadh | Kathmandu (Nepal Local Time) | Thimpu (Bhutan Local Time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM | 12.30 PM to 3.30 PM | 11.30 AM to 2.30 PM | 2.15 PM to 5.15 PM | 2.30 PM to 5.30 PM |
| Paper 2 | 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM | 12.30 PM to 3.30 PM | 11.30 AM to 2.30 PM | 2.15 PM to 5.15 PM | 2.30 PM to 5.30 PM |
| Paper 3 | 2.00 PM to 4.00 PM | 12.30 PM to 2.30 PM | 11.30 AM to 1.30 PM | 2.15 PM to 4.15 PM | 2.30 PM to 4.30 PM |
| Paper 4 | 2.00 PM to 4.00 PM | 12.30 PM to 2.30 PM | 11.30 AM to 1.30 PM | 2.15 PM to 4.15 PM | 2.30 PM to 4.30 PM |
To clear CA Foundation exam, a candidate must score at least 40% in each of the four papers and overall 50% in aggregate in all papers. If a candidate fails to do so, he/she will have to retake the exam.
If we compare CA Foundation with the other two levels of CA course, the difficulty level of CA Foundation papers is easy to moderate. But, as this is the first level of CA course, students might find the paper tough to crack.
The total pass percentage of CA Foundation exam conducted in January 2026 was only 19.23%. This means that candidates usually take more than one attempt to clear the exam.
There are four papers in CA Foundation exam. Check below marks and timings of CA Foundation papers:
CA Foundation Paper | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|
Paper 1: Principles and Practice of Accounting | 100 marks | 3 hours |
Paper 2: Business Laws and Business Correspondence Reporting | Section A: Business Laws – 60 marks Section B: Business Correspondence and Reporting – 40 marks | 3 hours |
Paper 3: Quantitative Aptitude (+ Logical Reasoning and Statistics) | Part A: Business Mathematics- 40 marks Part B: Logical Reasoning – 20 marks Part C: Statistics – 40 marks | 2 hours |
Paper 4: Business Economics | Part I: Business Economics – 60 marks Part II: Business and Commercial Knowledge – 40 marks | 2 hours |
| CA Foundation Paper 1 Chapters |
Chapter-Wise Weightage |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework |
5% - 10% |
| Chapter 2: Accounting Process |
30% - 35% |
| Chapter 3: Bank Reconciliation and Statement |
|
| Chapter 4: Inventories |
|
| Chapter 5: Depreciation and Amortisation |
|
| Chapter 6: Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes |
|
| Chapter 7: Preparation of Final Accounts of Sole Proprietors |
20% - 25% |
| Chapter 8: Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Organisations |
|
| Chapter 9: Accounts from Incomplete Records |
|
| Chapter 10: Partnership and LLP Accounts |
15% - 20% |
| Chapter 11: Company Accounts |
15% - 25% |
CA Foundation Paper 1 Study Material
ICAI has released the official study material for CA Foundation Paper 1 - Accounting on its official website. Candidates can download the study material for each chapter of Accounting by following steps below:
- Visit ICAI CA official website for study material at boslive.icai.org.
- Click on Foundation > English/Hindi Medium > Applicable for May 2026 Exam Onwards.
- Select Paper 1 Accounting and then on Module 1 or Module 2.
- Click on the chapter for which you wish to check the syllabus.
- Start preparing for the exam.
CA Foundation Books for Preparation
Students can refer to following books to prepare for CA Foundation exam:
- CA Foundation Books for Paper 1- Principles and practice of Accounting by PC Tulsian and Bharat Tulsian.
- CA Foundation Books for Paper 2- Business laws and business correspondence and reporting by PC Tulsian, Tushar Tulsian and Bharat Tulsian
- CA Foundation Books for Paper 3- Business mathematics, statistics and logical reasoning by Kailash Thakur
- CA Foundation Books for Paper 4- Business Economics and Business and commercial knowledge by Bharat Tulsian. P.C Tulsian
- CA Foundation scanner cum compiler by Dr S.K Agarwal, CA Manmeet Kaur
- Fundamentals of Accounting by Grewal's Accountancy
- Fundamentals of Accounting PC Tulsian and Bharat Tulsian
- Mercantile Law by MC Kucchal, Vivek Kucchal
- Mercantile law study Material by ICAI
- General Economics by PM Salwan, Pranjal B Deshpande
- General Economics by SK Agrawal
- General Economics by ICAI
- Quantitative Aptitude by Dr T Padma and KCP Rao
Read More:
30 Days Study Plan for CA Foundation
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