The Ultimate Guide to CA Final

After being a user for years in CCI, just now I felt that I should share something with members. Here by I am sharing something which I have a clear understanding about the obvious question that will be raised to every ca final student 'How do I clear in this attempt?'.The information appearing here is purely depends on my understanding based on reading Rank Holder interviews, CCI Articles and forum, conversation with friends who include rank holders, first-attempt pass outs and who took more than 3 attempts and also who gave attempts and are yet to clear. The main objective is to have a clear road map for preparing final exams. To move further the article is divided into 9 sections:

1. Both or Single Group
2. Reference Books
3. Revision and practice
4. Mock Tests
5. Body and Soul
6. Deviations
7. Mental Strength
8. Love towards studies
9. Exam Time

1. Both or Single Group

It is better to clear one group rather than failing in aggregate by attempting both..but all those students who cleared both groups of IPCC in single attempt, who missed both groups of final by aggregate or atleast one group by aggregate, who are not working and fully dedicated to studies, who are confident enough to clear both then they should appear for both the groups, otherwise a strict no. No to write both the groups if you don't belong to atleast one of the above mentioned categories.

2. Reference Books

After hours of research in CCI, buying them and borrowing from friends these are the top books which are popular among students:

• FR: MP Vijay Kumar or Parveen Sharma
• SFM: Pattabhiram (good for concepts) or AN Sridhar (more no. of problems)
• Auditing: Surbhi Bansa l(better for revision) or Padhuka (better if you have time)
• Law: Munish Bhandari (Main Book+Hand Book)
• AMA: Padhuka
• ISCA: Manish Vallecha (Mnemonics included) or Chandrasekhara n(SM summarized) or Institute SM(If you have time-best option)
• DT: Vinod Gupta (Time Taking but good conceptually) or T N Manoharan (Good for exam point of view)
• IDT: Bangar (more no. of Practical problems) or Vineeth Sothani (good for theory)

Whatever reference book u follow the following are mandatory:

PM+5 Suggested Answers+3 RTPs and MTPs+problems in institute SM for practical subjects.

3. Revision and Practice

After reading the heading most of the people are gonna think 'hey I know this. he's gonna repeat the same old thing' but believe me this is gonna have effect on half of your result. You should do atleast 3 revisions before exam i.e. the next day, week and before mock tests for sure because not remembering an answer which you studied once will give you more pain than not knowing an answer at all.

Regarding practice I am yet to clear final only because of the reason of  'Auditing the practical problems' rather solving on my own, the answer seems very easy when u see it but when u are solving in the exam u may face n number of doubts ultimately leading to more time to solve and a wrong answer. So Revise and Practice..Practice and Revise.

4. Mock Tests

It is recommended to write atleast two mock tests for whole syllabus, if possible join a revision exams batch near your place which are gonna give you many advantages i.e. maintenance of time, writing practice, valuation of papers, rectification of mistakes etc. Plus if we plan on our own we are gonna keep on delaying our schedule but as revision exams schedule is fixed you can't escape the portion and as exam pressure will be there to cover the whole syllabus.

5.Body and Soul

For most of the students preparing for exams their mantra=sitting in front books for hours+eat+sleep...usually they skip that major thing called Exercise. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean hitting gym or running like usain bolt for 5km. It can be in any form be it gym, yoga, swimming, jogging, dancing, sports and the list goes on and do only which you really enjoy, You can afford to spend atleast 30 minutes per day for your health and believe me its gonna help u study better which i experienced personally after joining gym.It is recommended do meditation i.e. concentrating on your breath for atleast 20 minutes per day.

6. Deviations

This is the biggest snake in our game..this includes n number of factors social networking, chit-chatting, watching movies and TV etc..and major concern is most people don't know where to stop..they will start like 'hey I studied a lot today. I need some relaxment yaar' and they do it for hours in one of my attempts I planned to watch 1st episode of American TV series "Game of Thrones" after listening to positive reviews just to have a look at how it looks and my plan is to watch remaining 59 episodes after the exam. Believe me I finished whole 6 seasons of 60 hours in just 1 week thereby not studying and god gifted me two extra eyes. Of course I am not talking about those Mr. and miss perfect who can simultaneously be in online in Whatsapp and Facebook and the same time study effectively but majority loses concentration. So value your time and use it well.

7. Mental Strength

This is particularly required for everyone who are not able to clear many attempts. I know how it feels because I am in that situation now and what is working for me is:

• I am only in contact with friends who are writing in May 17 Exams
• I lost touch with people who already cleared so no comparison involved
• I forgot my past ca final failures
• I tuned my mind that this is my first ca final attempt

Works for me. Can't say that its gonna work for everyone.

8. Love towards studies

Whatever effort you put in your studies if love is not there towards the subject u may not be in position to spend the required time and effort in studies. Take up your books with smile like the feeling u get before watching a movie. Well known point but generally people don't follow and they consider it as a burden including me at a point of time in past.

9. Exam Time

Don't sleep during 2 to 5pm atleast 1month before exam. Sleep atleast 7 to 8 hours per day including 20 minute naps. Eat right diet and during exam and be relaxed after writing exam simply start moving from exam hall without any discussion with friends, if you didn't write well assume that I am gonna get atleast 40 mark in this exam and I will get exemption in the remaining papers.

Final Note: There are people who didn't follow some of the above mentioned points but still they cleared exam just because they believed in whatever they believe and they remained in the race till the final exam. There may be contrast opinions but this is my wish to post this article and its your wish whether to follow or not. Feel free to comment-Good or Bad.

The author is CA Final, CS Final student and a rank holder in CS Executive