Preparation and Presentation- CA Exams

Chartered Accountancy is a Professional course, it is different from the other regular courses. The approach to achieve the destination (getting through CA) is different from the regular courses like the B.Com, etc. It requires:

• Planning
• Professional reading
• Dedication
• Syllabus
• Confidence
• Self Motivation
• Handsome presentation.
• Time Scheduling

For success to be in your way, there should be 99% hard work, confidence & professional approach & 1% luck should be in your favor. Few tips for the preparation and to write the exam are given below:

The preliminary round before planning

• The student should have a thorough reading of the syllabus.
• Going through the scanner to have an idea as to the possible questions being asked, mark out the questions you feel are important.
• Keeping the syllabus as the base the student should limit himself/herself to

-         follow only one author for each subject

-         stick to one method in case of multiple methods

-         referring the suggested answers for around 10 previous years

-         get the revision test papers for the last 3-4 attempts, gives you the latest updates/changes 

-         have the latest scanner

Planning to clear CA Exams

Ø      The student should divide his day into parts viz., fresh hours, and unfresh hours based on his experience. The student has to identify the subjects he/she is more comfortable in and where to study the subjects he/she is not comfortable/difficult. The student should study the subjects, in which he or she is not comfortable during the fresh hours, & subjects which he or she is comfortable during the unfresh hours. By following this method there will be an effective utilization of time.

Ø      Try to accommodate as many subjects as possible in a day; this allows the student to have constant touch in all the subjects.

Ø      When a student is bored while preparing with a subject then it is better to switch on to another subject, this improves the effective utilization of time while reading.

Implementation / Preparation for theory and practical subjects in CA Exams

Ø      In case of theory subjects –

o       reading a topic, at the end of the topic start to prepare notes viz., jotting down the important definitions, case studies, answers to important questions. Preparing notes plays a very important role in preparing of exams viz helps the student at the time of revision & the day before the exams also.

o       whenever you have doubts jot down the same & at the end of the day discuss the same with your friends or mentors.

o       Prepare for questions, which are felt important by the student on the first study, at the end of the preparation you would have prepared for around 40-50 questions in each subject.

o       Notes should have a lot of Charts, as charts are easy to remember and recollect.

o       Prepare for answers according to the marks, say for 2 marks question it should be in a maximum of 4-5 lines. For a 5 mark question, it should be maximum of 1 to 1 ½ sheet and for a 10 mark paper it should be a maximum of 1 ½ -2 sheets. This helps in scheduling of time in the preparation & even while writing of the exam.

o       Write as much as possible while preparing for the exams, this improves the synchronizing the speed of thinking with that of speed of your writing.

Ø      In the case of practical subjects –

o       Preparing for practical exams could be compared to the art of learning like “swimming”, you don’t learn swimming by reading a book on swimming. Start working as many problems as possible. By working out problems you could have many advantages viz., increase the speed, how to approach problems at exam, timing will be improved, etc. Start making notes even in practical subjects.

o       In the initial preparation you may take say 40-45 minutes (or even more) for working a problem don’t get tensed it is the case with everybody. Start working a same problem once after 15-20 days by doing the same problem again helps you to recollect as to how to approach the problem, presentation of the answer and increases the speed gradually as you work out more and more problems. See to it that you have worked covered all the problems in the suggested answers and study paper at least once, as far as possible see to it that you work out a problem twice at the end of preparation of that topic.

o       Once you are reading a topic, keep revising the formulae & keeping working out problems relating to the previous topics once in a week, by this you keep brushing your memory with the previous topics.

o       go through questions from the suggested answers published by ICAI as this would help preparation as well as improve the presentation.

o       Normally the revision test papers (RTP) & suggested answers are kept for reading at the end of the preparation, it is suggested that the same should be read at the time of preparation at leisure time or at the gap when you switch between subjects.

o       Don’t ignore the theory aspect in the practical paper, prepare notes with respect to the same, as & when you feel questions are important start noting them and jot down the points relevant to answer the question.

Presentation in the Exams:

Ø      Presentation plays a major role in delivering the contents in a tight schedule of 3 hours more presentable manner.

Ø      Handwriting plays one of the major roles in the presentation of answers.

Ø      Place yourself in the shoes of the examiner, all the students read from the same material provided by the institute, hence all the answers will be similar you should try giving something special in each answer viz. examples, charts, structuring the answers, etc.

Timing scheduling at the exam:

Ø      Student has to attempt for 100 marks & he/she has 3 hours viz 180 minutes. The student has to schedule his or her timing to attempt for the entire paper. The student has to allocate the first 15 minutes for going through the entire question paper & last 15 minutes for revising. On an average a student will have 1.5 minutes for 1 mark to answer.

Ø      Student at the time of preparation has to reach a level of answering questions where he/she can answer a question with in the allocated time.

Ø      The student has to answer a question in a particular time frame, if he/she is stuck up in a particular answer then it is suggested that he/she continues with the next question as cribbing on the same question for long leads to waste of time. This will help you to attempt the entire paper on time.

Presentation of papers in CA Exams

Ø      The paper should be written neatly & legibly.

Ø      The answers should be short & crisp.

Ø      In Theory subjects-

ü      The answer is to be broken into parts

-         Facts of the case (applicable while answering case study)

-         Question in brief

-         Name of the act

-         Section number dealt in the question

-         Case laws

-         Body of the letter

-         Conclusion

ü      In every answer it is preferred that the above format is used as far as possible.

ü      Try to use charts in the answers as far as possible.

ü      Give as many examples and case laws at appropriate places.

ü      If you are not able to remember the case law in the exam, then cite the facts of the case.

Ø      In Practical Subjects:

ü      In subjects like accountancy, costing, management accountancy, it is suggested that the main answer should be presented on the First few sheets of the answer & other part of answer are given as workings. 

ü      In these subjects give the formulae & answer in step by step. There will be marks allotted for each step.

ü      In practical subjects also the conclusions are also important.

Tips to face exams:

1.      Wear a Neat & Comfortable Dress preferably cottons.

2.      On the previous day of the exams keep all the things you want to carry along with you in a bag like hall ticket, pens, scale, calculators, eraser, pencil, etc.

3.      Take a water bottle.

4.      Don’t Get Tensed.

5.      Go at least half an hour early to the examination hall.

6.      Before answering any paper read the questions carefully.

7.      Choose the ones you know very well/ Rank the questions based on your ability to answer them.

8.      Schedule your time by allotting time for each mark.

9.      Attempt for Full 100 marks don’t leave any question unanswered.

10.  Start every new answer in a fresh page.

11.  Write the roll number, question numbers properly.

Good luck with your exams, we wish you all come out with successful results. Start your preparation today. If not now, then when? If not you, then who?

Note: The approach suggested is not the only one but could be modified according to the caliber of each student.