The CA Foundation Course is the entry-level-course-cum-entrance-examination for the Chartered Accountancy Curriculum. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in India (ICAI) conducts this examination twice a year for the aspirants wishing to enrol for the CA course. The examination was previously offered as CPT or the Common Proficiency Test, this format has been replaced by ICAI as the CA foundation course.
CA Foundation Course Curriculum
The subjects that are covered in the CA Foundation course are,
Principles and Practice of Accounting (Paper-I for 100 marks)
Business law and business correspondence and reporting (Paper-II for 100 marks)
This paper also has two parts namely business law for 60 marks weightage and Business correspondence and reporting for 40 marks.
- Business Mathematics and logical reasoning with statistics (Paper-III for 100 marks)
This paper has two parts, business mathematics and logical reasoning for 60 marks and statistics for 40 marks
- Business economics and business and commercial knowledge (Paper-IV for 100 marks)
The two parts in this paper are business economics for 60 marks and business and commercial knowledge for 40 marks.
It is important to secure a minimum of 40 per cent marks in each of these papers and a minimum of 50 per cent overall aggregate in all the papers put together to clear this level one examination. Papers three and four will have the objective type of questions and there are negative markings for every single wrong answer.
Preparation tips for CA foundation course, subject-wise
Principles and Practices of Accounting
This is considered one of the most important of all the four subjects of CA foundation course. This is indeed a very simple and a basic paper for those aspirants who are from the commerce background. Those who are out of the commerce background have to work on strengthening their basics. The maximum marks for this examination are 100 and it is possible to score high in this subject with additional preparation. Students should focus on this subject during their CA exam preparation.
Business Correspondence and Reporting, Business Law
The second and the most important paper in the CA foundation course in Business law and business correspondence and reporting. Business law sounds to be an entirely different subject for those students who are appearing for the CA foundation course directly after their 12th standard. This subject is interesting and offers a basic understanding of the general and corporate laws that bind the constitution of our country. Though it is a theory subject, it is pretty easy to and interesting to study. Students have to take notes while they are studying to revise the chapters later. As it is a subjective paper, students should also concentrate on enhancing their presentation skills.
Business Statistics, Logical Reasoning, and Business Mathematics
The Business Mathematics paper is for 40 marks and is full of formulas and problems, the student must work out the paper regularly to score well. ICAI Exam offers the study material and practice questions to thorough the syllabus. It may be needed to take coaching for this paper and practice it regularly to gain accuracy and quick problem-solving skills.
Business Economics and Commercial Knowledge
The Business Economics carries 60 marks and the entire syllabus will be familiar to the candidate from their higher secondary syllabus. Questions from this subject will be of objective type, students can get proficient in the paper by following the modules given in the study material of the ICAI.
Exam Preparation Tips
The revised syllabus of the CA Foundation course is a mix of both theory and practical papers. So the candidate can club one theory with one problem paper while devising the timetable to avoid boredom and to enhance the concentration skills. Irrespective of the nature of the subject, the candidate has to work hard in getting the underlying concepts clear. For, the guesswork has little luck and will fetch no good results as far as the CA foundation exam is concerned.
