The CA Foundation exam is the first stepping stone in your ambition to become a chartered accountant. If you intend to earn a lucrative salary and are eager to climb up the corporate ladder quickly, you must aggressively pursue your ambition to become a chartered accountant. However, the exam is more challenging than its earlier version, the CA-CPT exam, and you need to prepare well. Experts will tell you it is essential to know about the CA Foundation exam pattern as a part of the preparation process. The exam pattern will guide students on essential aspects such as chapter-wise weightage.
CA Foundation exam: Date, Eligibility, Application Fee
You will surely concentrate on your studies, but it is important to know the date eligibility application fee for the exam. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will conduct the exam. Here are some important facts you need to know as a student.
- A student who has passed the class 10+2 board exam can sit for the CA Foundation paper. However, the government has made a recent amendment that allows provincial registration. A student can enroll for the course after passing the class 10 exams.
- The exams will be conducted twice a year. The CA Foundation paper is traditionally held in June and December every year.
- A candidate will have to pay for the registration and application fee. The registration fee is Rs 9000, and the cost of the prospectus is Rs 200. The application fee will depend on the examination center you select. If you take the exam at any Indian center, you will pay Rs 1,500 as an application fee. Students who prefer Kathmandu as the exam location must pay Rs 2200 as an application fee. If you sit for the exam at overseas centers, the application will cost $USD325.
This is a brief on the date & eligibility and the application fee you must pay as a student. Here we covered more in-depth about the ICAI CA Foundation exam date and eligibility.
Brief on the Number of Papers for the CA Foundation Exam
Once you know the date & application fee, and eligibility, you must concentrate on the CA Foundation exam pattern. How many papers do I have to appear for? This is the question you would seek answers to. A student will have to appear for four papers, and here are the details.
- The subject of the first paper is Principles and Practice of Accounting. It is a three-hour duration exam, and the question type is subjective.
- The second paper is Business Laws and Business Correspondence and Reporting. This is also a three-hour duration exam, and the question type is subjective once again. The Business Law segment carries 60 marks, and the Business Correspondence and Reporting carry 40 marks.
- The third paper a student will have to appear for is Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning, and Statistics. It is a two-hour paper further subdivided into three segments. The business math segment and statistics both carry 40 marks each. The logical reasoning segment carries 20 marks. The question type will be objective.
- The fourth exam a student must sit for is Business Economics and Business and Commercial Knowledge. It is a two-hour exam, and the Business Economics segment carries 60 marks. The Business and Commercial Knowledge section carries 40 marks. The examinees will have to face objective types of questions for this paper.
This is a complete guide on the CA Foundation exam pattern and weightage. A prospective examinee who wants to wear the hat of a CA must prepare accordingly.
The Topic-Wise Weightage
Students eager to learn about the CA Foundation exam pattern must know the topic-wise weightage for the paper.
- In the first paper, there will be a focus on the accounting process and final accounts of a sole proprietorship. 70% of the questions will be based on this segment. This study segment will also focus on company accounts and accounting for special transactions.
- In paper 2, the Business laws section will focus on the Indian Contract Act of 1872 & Sale of Goods Act of 1930. The study will shed light on the Indian Partnership Act of 1932. The Business Correspondence and Reporting segment will test your skills in communication.
- In paper 3, the Business mathematics segment is broad but primarily about ratios, proportions & indices, and logarithms. A student is taught about time value for money and permutations & combinations. Part B of this paper focuses on number series, coding, and decoding. Part C of paper 3 is primarily about statistics.
- In paper 4, the Business Economics segment will teach a student about the theory of demand & supply and price determination in various markets. In this segment, the student will also gain input on business cycles.
Important Aspects of the CA Foundation Exam
An examinee on the verge of sitting for the exams could have plenty of questions in their mind. Here are some important aspects of the exam you should know about.
- The medium of the exam is primarily English and Hindi, with the exception being paper 2. Section B will only be in English.
- Is there any negative marking in the CA exams? Many examinees may have this query because the concept of negative marking exists for professional exams. There will be no negative marking for the subjective portion of the test, papers 1 & 2. However, there will be negative markings for the objective segment of the exam. In papers 3 & 4, a student will have to face negative marking and lose 1/4th mark for every wrong answer.
Conclusion:
This is a complete guide to the CA Foundation exam pattern and various aspects of the paper. You learn about the date & eligibility and the fees you must pay to appear for this prestigious but tough exam. This is only a stepping stone to your final ambition of becoming a chartered accountant.