CA Final 2026: January Result; May Registration, Exam Dates, Mock Test, Syllabus & Pattern

If a candidate is unable to clear the CA Final course exam in the first attempt, they can reappear. The initial registration for Final Course is valid for five years, which means each candidate gets 10 attempts. After five years, they can register again for the next five years. The certificate to practice Chartered Accountancy as a profession is given to any student by the ICAI only after they clear the final level. Irrespective of the number of attempts they have made to clear it. Until they clear the CA Final level and get the certificate, they cannot practice as a professional.

The passing marks for CA Final is minimum of 40 per cent aggregate in each individual subject and 50 per cent aggregate of all the subjects at one sitting in either both the groups or a single group. Candidates who do not score the minimum percentage, have to take the exam again in the next cycle.

Students can make as many attempts as they can because, to complete the Chartered Accountancy course, one needs to clear all the course levels with passing marks. The CA course is of a very high difficulty level and even the toppers manage to score not more than 70-75 per cent. A large number of students cannot clear a course level in one go. The pass percentage hovers around 25 to 30 percent.

To re-register for CA Final exam, candidates can simply login with their ICAI credentials at the SSP portal of the ICAI (eservices website), and fill the applicatiom form. 

Candidates have to pay INR 600 as late fee to submit the CA Final exam application form after the last date has passed. For candidates appearing for the exam at overseas centres, the late fee amount is USD 10. CA Final late fee window remains open for a limited period of time, which is around 3-4 days after the original deadline. Candidates who do not submit their form even during the late fee window, will not be allowed to submit it later.

ICAI certification for CA professionals has a lot of credibility across the world which is why many candidates living abroad pursue this course. Members of Indian communities who live abroad also pursue the CA course by ICAI. The exam is conducted in eight cities for all course levels. They are:

1.     Abu Dhabi

2.     Bahrain

3.     Thimpu

4.     Doha

5.     Dubai

6.     Kathmandu

7.     Muscat

8.     Kuwait

Candidates living in the above mentioned cities can pursue the CA course and appear for the level while exams by registering at ICAI website. The test city will be allotted to candidates as per the choice mentioned in the ICAI CA application form.

The CA Final registration fee is non-refundable. Candidates cannot seek a fee refund under any circumstances. If a candidate makes mistake in the form, they will have to fill another one and pay the fee again. Thus, when fill the CA Final exam form, students must take care in entering correct and valid information as there is no option to edit the form after submission. During the form correction window, only a few sections are open for editing.

After completing CA Final course, students can start independent practice or join an auditing firm as chartered accountant or analyst. Top job options for certified CAs are Finance Manager, Tax Manager, Certified Public Accountant, Teacher, Civil or Government Service, to name a few. They can also go for other professional courses such as MBA/PGDM to make a career in corporate finance. If one wishes to start independent practice, they need to set up a firm as a sole-proprietorship or in partnership. Also Read: CA career scope and job profiles

While filling CA Final exam form, candidates are required to upload:

·       CA Foundation and CA Intermediate marksheets.

·      Passport size photo 

·       Signature

·       Reserved Category certificate (if applicable)

·       Proof of articleship

It is not easy to crack CA Final by self study as one needs guidance and mentorship at various stages of preparation. Most of the CA students opt for coaching as it helps them study in a disciplined and dedicated manner. However, one can also crack the CA Final course level by self-study, if they are determined, dedicated and disciplined in their preparation. Also refer to the study material provided by the ICAI. To prepare by self study, one will need to first set clear goals, make a study time table and prioritise subjects. They will need to allocate a good number of hours daily to study. Practice test and revision are integral part of exam preparation, so the practice a good number of previous years question papers and sample papers.

The difficulty level of CA Final exams is the highest among all the as the course is vast and extensive. The CA Final exam includes papers such as Corporate & Economic Laws Part I: Corporate Law, Economic Laws, Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation, Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation, Goods and Services Tax, Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation, etc. which are tough to crack. The pass percentage of CA Final exams is low as low as 25 per cent in a particular session and students need multiple attempts to clear this level. Even after completing the CA Foundation and CA Intermediate levels, candidates find it tough to clear the CA Final level.

Yes, candidates can fill the CA form partly before and complete it later but they must ensure to complete the form filling and submission process before the last date so that their application is accepted. The ICAI provides late fee submission facility to candidates for a week, however candidates should submit the form at the earliest, to avoid paying the late fee. Until the ICAI CA exam form is submitted and fee amount is paid, the form will remain incomplete. Thus, candidates must comply by the registration deadline to be eligible to appear for the exam.

Usually, an individual takes about 3 to 5 attempts to clear the CA Final exam. The course level is too difficult to crack in the first attempt. The overall CA Final pass percentage of any session is usually between 20-25 percent only. It is mainly due to the fact that one needs to clear both groups of the CA Final course. The vastness of CA Final syllabus makes it difficult to crack it in the first attempt.

If you have forgotten your login password for ICAI account, you can create a new one by visiting the eservices website and using the 'forgot password' option.

Yes, in case you have created login from November / December 2016 CA exam onwards, you don’t need to recreate the login even if you have converted to New Course. You can log in with your credentials and avail the services offered by the ICAI.

In fact, once you have created a login ID for the CA course, be it at the time of registering for the CA Foundation course after Class 10 or 12, or at the time of registering for CA Intermediate after graduation, you will not have to create a login ID again for rest of the course levels and activities.

• Visit eservices.icai.org
• Click on admit card for your exam group
• Enter registration number and password
• Login to go to student dashboard
• Click on admit card and download it

CA Final has six papers in both course groups (New scheme and Old scheme). Here are the paper topics for CA Final Group 1 and CA Final Group 2.

CA Final Group 1: Financial Reporting, Strategic Financial Management, Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics, Corporate and Economic Laws, Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation, Risk Management, Financial Services and Capital Markets, International Taxation, Economic Laws, Global Financial Reporting Standards, Multidisciplinary Case Study, Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation and Indirect Tax Laws.

CA Final Group 2: Financial Reporting, Strategic Financial Management, Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics, Corporate and Allied Laws, Advanced Management Accounting, Information Systems Control and Audit, Direct Tax Laws, Indirect Tax Laws

There is usually a one-day gap between CA Final exams. The exam is conducted within 10 days for any session. For example, CA Final May 2025 exams are scheduled as, May 2, May 4, May 6, May 8, May 10. And May 13 for both Group I and Group II.

Yes, students need to carry an ID proof along with the CA Final admit card on the exam day. The ID proof should be issued by the government of India. Given below are the ID proofs that the student can carry along with the CA Final exam admit card. Candidates can carry an original copy of any of these:

·       Aadhaar card

·       Voter ID card

·       PAN card

·       Passport

·       Driving license

CA Final exam had been conducted twice in a year. From 2025 onwards the CA Final exam will be held in September as well. Thus, going forward, there will be three CA Final sessions in a year - January, May and September.

Eligibility criteria for the session depends on candidate's current stage in the CA course. Candidates can repeat the papers in the next session only if he/she meets the criteria. Registration for CA Final May exams start in March and for CA Final September exams, it starts in August. The window to register for CA Final January exam will open in November.  

AThere are 6 papers in CA Final. Earlier, there were 8 papers in this course level. These six papers are divided into two groups – Group I and Group II.

·       Paper 1 Financial Reporting

·       Paper 2 Advanced Financial Management (AFM)

·       Paper 3 Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics

·       Paper 4 Multi-disciplinary case study with Strategic Management

·       Paper 5 Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation

·       Paper 6 Indirect Tax Laws

AThere are 6 papers in CA Final. Earlier, there were 8 papers in this course level. These six papers are divided into two groups – Group I and Group II.

·       Paper 1 Financial Reporting

·       Paper 2 Advanced Financial Management (AFM)

·       Paper 3 Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics

·       Paper 4 Multi-disciplinary case study with Strategic Management

·       Paper 5 Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation

·       Paper 6 Indirect Tax Laws

Candidates need to score 40 per cent in each paper of every group/course level and 50 per cent in aggregate in all the papers of a group/course level. This minimum mark criterion is applicable to all three courses - CA Foundation, CA Intermediate and CA Final. Candidates cannot move to the next level of the Chartered Accountancy course until they clear the previous level. A very few percentage of candidates get a high score as the scores of All India toppers are usually below 75%. Candidates can take any number of attempts to clear a course level. The process includes practical training as well.

The CA Final has 6 papers. As per the exam pattern, CA Final Papers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have 30 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and 70 illustrative questions, whereas Paper 6 has 40 MCQs and 60 subjective questions. The questions are case study-based. There are five case studies and students have to attempt four.

CA Final is a very high difficulty level exam and it is very, very tough to clear in the first attempt. The pass percentage of CA Final is usually 25-30 percent in every session so one can understand how difficult is it to actually clear the CA Final papers in first attempt. Any student usually needs 2-3 attempts to clear the CA Final exam.

In the CA course, candidates can make any number of attempts until they clear a particular level. They will be eligible to register for the next level only after clearing the previous level. For example, a candidate needs to clear the CA Foundation level to be able to register for CA Intermediate. For appearing in CA Final exams, a candidate needs to clear both Foundation and Intermediate levels.
Since, the level of difficulty of this course is very high, a maximum percentage of students make multiple attempts. Candidates who decide to pursue CA course, need to make sure that they are well prepared to a marathon of studies, preparation and exams.

Hope this helps!!!

The time duration of ICAI CA exams varies for each paper. For some papers, the duration is three hours whereas for some papers it is two hours. The time limit of CA Foundation paper 3 and 4 is two hours and for rest of the papers across levels is three hours. There is no sectional time limit in CA exams. 

The difficulty level of CA Intermediate exams is high. It is considered to be one of the toughest exams to crack due to the vast syllabus and multiple subjects. The pass percentage of CA Intermediate exam is low and candidates have to make multiple attempts to clear it. CA is a course, one can complete without coaching and guidance. Even though study material, test practices and other support is provided by the ICAI, it is not really possible to study by self. The topics and chapters are vast. They require guidance and practice as well as discipline and productive study hours.

CA exams for all the three levels are being held thrice in a year from 2025. The first phase exams are held in May and June and the second phase exams are held in September. The third phase exam is held in January. Registrations for the May-June exams is held in February-March and registrations for September exam is done in July and registration for January exam is done in October-November. Candidates can register and appear for the exam as per their preparation and articleship completion. For any phase of exam, they need to fill the form and pay exam fee through registered login ID.