How to Crack CA Intermediate in the First Attempt – Subject Wise Approach

Cracking the CA Inter exam in the first attempt requires a combination of strategic planning, disciplined study, and effective time management. Here are some tips to help you succeed:
– Set Clear Goals: Establish specific, achievable targets for your studies and have a written plan to stay motivated and focused.
– Disciplined Study Schedule: Create and stick to a disciplined study routine, balancing study time with breaks and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
– Regular Revision: Consistently revise both practical and theoretical subjects to ensure retention and understanding.
– Practice Mock Tests: Regularly practice mock tests and previous years' question papers to familiarize yourself with the exam pattern and improve time management.
– Effective Note-making: Develop the habit of making concise, organized notes for quick revision during exam time.
– Focus on Concepts: Ensure a strong grasp of concepts, especially in practical subjects, by practicing a variety of problems.
– Utilize ICAI Resources: Take advantage of ICAI's resources, including study materials, training programs, and online lectures.
– Stay Updated: Keep up with amendments and updates in the syllabus and the latest study materials provided by ICAI.
– Seek Guidance: Don’t hesitate to seek help from mentors, teachers, or peers when facing difficulties in understanding any topic.
– Maintain Balance: Balance your study time between practical training (articleship) and academic preparation to gain practical insights and apply theoretical knowledge effectively.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. CA Intermediate Syllabus
3. Steps to be followed
4. Subject-wise Planning
5. Conclusion

1. Introduction

For students entering through Foundation Route, CA Intermediate is the 2nd stage of Chartered Accountancy (CA) Course and for Direct Entry students, it is the 1st stage. CA Intermediate Course covers working knowledge of core and allied subjects to accountancy profession.

The subjects of Intermediate Course are classified into two groups (3 papers in each group) which a student can study and appear in the examination group-wise or both the groups together; exams of which are held thrice a year in the months of May/June, September and January.

Being an important stage of the Course, it is pertinent to understand the syllabus and devise an appropriate strategy for the examination considering the subject-specific requirements.

2. CA Intermediate Syllabus

Notes:

• Passing Criteria – 40% Individual Subjects/50% Aggregate
• All subjects – 30% MCQ/Remaining 70% Subjective
• Recommended Approach – Both Groups to be appeared together as set off of marks is possible.

3. Steps to be followed

• Gather all resources – ICAI material, RTP, MTP, CRACKER or Past year papers.
• One should try to complete the entire course at least three months before the exams.
• Make a realistic plan – short term plan including one practical and one theory subject daily.
• One should plan his/her daily routine (hour-basis) and also keep a check on whether targets are being achieved.
• Make a habit of reading at least 10 pages daily.
• Understand the concepts in depth.
• With theory subjects, develop a habit of reading multiple times for clear understanding of concepts along with memorising the text/keywords.
• Make notes for each subject individually which shall include – Tricks to remember

1. 1. Keywords
   2. Formats
   3. Formulae
   4. Sample Answers
   5. Technical Words
   6. Charts/Audio links

• Review/Revise whatever has been studied every night.
• Always prepare one book for each subject for revision.
• Always highlight the difficult areas while studying.

4. Subject-wise Planning

4.1 Advance Accounting

• Along with the first reading itself, one must start making notes, highlight important points that need to be referred a day before the final exam. So, one must accordingly cut short the course.
• One must practise and filter the course. Practise well for better presentation skills.
• To practise writing professional answers and formats in the exams, write sample answers.
• This paper comprises of two parts – Accounting Standards and Practical Topics. For Accounting Standards, after going through the ICAI Module, one must revise from the RTPs/Past Papers/MTPs in order to have a grip over the presentation techniques expected by ICAI.
• For Practical topics, from the ICAI Module, one can make notes for the important concepts, note down the proforma for all the new things, mark any new points while practising the questions so that the same may be referred to at the time of revision.

4.2 Law

• The paper is divided into two parts – Company Law & LLP Law: 70 marks and Other Laws: 30 marks.
• One must include sections in the notes, make them the source of provision, it helps one to remember the provision better.
• In Companies Act, one must especially make notes for Penalties, since, list of the same is quite big.
• Other Laws consist of the General Clauses Act, 1897; Interpretation of Statutes; the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
• One should give emphasis to amendments as they cover 15-20% of the paper.
• The candidate should never think of skipping the “Other Laws” as it has a weightage of 30%, since, the first question in the paper is a compulsory one and the other questions are such designed, that each question comprises of a sub-part from the Other Laws.
• One must not use layman’s language in the exam; thus, revision would give a grip of the technical language expected by ICAI.

4.3 Taxation

• This paper is divided into two parts, Income Tax Law: 50 Marks; Goods and Service Tax (GST): 50 Marks
• Direct Tax (DT) being vast compared to Indirect Tax (IDT) needs more time.
• DT being a vast subject, one mandatorily needs a summarized version of the course to revise the same, so preparation of notes is very important.
• In DT, revision and practising questions is the key.
• For IDT, ICAI Module is quite handy, summaries provided at the end of each chapter are beautifully drafted and one can just add a few missing points to the same and it would serve as complete notes for final revision.
• In case of GST, the exam paper being practically oriented, one needs to practise a lot of questions (MTPs/RTPs).
• Clarity and practical application of provisions, clauses and various income heads is very important. Also, if appropriate section numbers are quoted in the exam, it would help one fetch good marks.

4.4 Cost and Management Accounting

• For better conceptual clarity, one must first read the theory part from the module and then solve the practical questions. It would help one to deal with any new type of questions, apart from the ones already practised.
• In order to prepare the summary notes, one must write the formulae, chapter-wise concepts which one finds new/difficult.
• However, practise is the key. One should try solving problems by setting timers, to keep a check on the writing speed.
• Core Part – Material, Labour and Overhead Costing.
• Easy but less important – Reconciliation of Financial Accounts with the Cost Accounts and Overview.
• Lengthy – Single Unit cost, Job Costing, Batch Costing, Contract Costing, Process/Operation Costing, Costing of Service Sectors.
• Important and Scoring – Standard, Marginal, Budgetary Costing and Cost Sheet cover almost 40-45% of the entire course and direct questions can be expected from these.

4.5 Auditing and Ethics

• One can make notes for the lengthier chapters.
• For definitions, keywords can be written besides the text in the text book (ICAI Module) itself.
• Highlighting the important aspects helps one cut-short the course while revision by avoiding the repetitive areas.
• In Audit, multiple revision from the module language itself is the key.
• This paper needs higher level of knowledge along with good presentation skills. So, one must always include technical words used by ICAI in the Study Material.
• Initially, one must complete the first five chapters of the study material – Nature, Objective and Scope of Audit; Audit Strategy, Audit Planning and Audit Programme; Audit Documentation and Audit Evidence; Risk assessment and Internal Control; and Fraud and responsibilities of the Auditor in this Regard.
• Then, one must take up Audit Sampling; Analytical Procedures; and Audit Report. All these aforesaid chapters cover the basic concepts of this paper.
• Also, one must complete the relevant Standards on Auditing (SAs) along with the chapters. They cover an average of 15-20 marks which are easily scorable.
• Further, one shall proceed with the chapter having the maximum weightage, i.e., Company Audit including CARO which covers around 10-20 marks in the paper.
• Then, one must cover Audit of Different Type of Entities; Audit of Banks; and Audit in Automated Environment.
• At last, one must complete Audit of Items of Financial statement. This is a vast topic and must be practised with questions.

4.6 Financial Management & Strategic Management

• The paper is divided into two sections – Financial Management (FM): 50 marks & Strategic Management (SM): 50 marks.
• All the general points discussed in Cost and Management Accounting (Paper-3) apply for this paper too.
• In FM, one must first cover the basic theory and formulae of the chapters in order to solve the difficult-level questions.
• The aspirant must always cover the easy and small chapters first as they collectively contribute to a huge weightage of marks. E.g.: Ratios, Leverage, Dividend Decisions, etc.
• In SM, the language of the text is easy, so one can prepare from the study material provided or make notes if need be. However, one must have conceptual clarity and practise well for the case study question, as the same is tricky to understand at times.

5. Conclusion

Thus, besides remaining positive and determined throughout the study period, analysing the course, subjects as well as the evaluation pattern and then allocating one’s study time accordingly can help the candidates in planning their CA Intermediate exams and cracking the same in first attempt successfully.