HOW TO PREPARE FOR CA FOUNDATION EXAM- A COMPLETE GUIDE

The CA foundation was previously offered as the CPT exam or the common proficiency test and later it has been replaced as the CA foundation course by the ICAI.

The CA foundation exam hsa the following subjects:

  1. Principles and practice of accounting 
  2. Business law and business correspondence reporting (two parts each)
  3. Business mathematics and logical reasoning and with statistics (again considered as two parts that are for 60 marks and statistics for 40 marks)
  4. Business economics and business commercial knowledge 

It is essential to score a minimum of 40 percent in each of these papers and a minimum of 50 percent overall aggregate. The third and fourth paper will consist of objective type questions and there will also be negative marks for a wrong answer.

The paper 1 will seem to be easy for those who come from the commerce background and they just need to brush their basics before appearing for the exam. The second paper is really important and it will include all the corporate laws and regulations pertaining to businesses and governance. It is essential that students take notes as and when they prepare so that they can make use of the notes for revision. 

The paper 2 also calls for good written communication skills just to match the communication skills of the current era of CAs. 

Paper 3 requires a lot of practice and students will be advised to take a lot of mock assessments that are offered by the CA coaching institutes because students need to gain accuracy and excellent problem solving skills. Taking a lot of assessments will help students keep a track on their timing to attempt the objective type questions. 

The ICAI website itself has a lot of learning resources such as revision test papers, mock test papers, solved previous year question papers, and so on. Students can make the best use of these resources and the key to success in clearing the CA foundation is a lot of practice and that has to be consistent. For those students who take up the foundation exam after their 12th standard, statistics paper might seem a little difficult but this too can be mastered with regular practice and attempting mock assessments that are conducted by a lot of CA institutes.

The paper 4, business and commercial knowledge is a theoretical paper and students have to ensure that they are strong in the fundamentals of the subjects. It is a mix of both objective and theory papers. 

Having the right resources of information and learning material, devising a proper strategy for oneself in terms of preparation and regular practice can take them to the trail of success. As often said, ensure you stay positive and determined throughout your journey and work hard to achieve your goals.

As a CA aspirant, if you are struggling to find the best CA academy that can assure you success, it is definitely Fundazone. They have been instrumental in the success of a lot of aspirants.

PREPARE FOR YOUR CA EXAMS FROM HOME

During these times of lockdown, all of us are totally in a different situation and each day has been bringing various challenges. So this period has become a blessing in disguise because we are not going to get back these days.

As CA aspirants, you can make the best use of this time to focus on your preparation for the CA exams as well as to devote a lot of time in practising various topics. Never listen to any of the negative stories as they might be demotivating. All you need is the right mindset and the right access to reliable resources in terms of learning.

Most of you must have been a part of any of the CA coaching institutes and you might have been preparing for the CA final or CA intermediate exams. In these tough times, a lot of CA institutes have come up online classes and webinars just to help CA aspirants stay rooted in their passion of learning.

One such institute that has been in the limelight to help CA aspirants is Fundazone. It is one of the finest CA coaching institutes in Chennai and the faculty team has come up with ‘learn from your home’ classes for both CA inter as well as CA final subjects. All their ‘learn from your home’ classes are discussed in real time webinars – face to face interactions.

All these online webinars are conducted by professional faculty with the best subject knowledge and those who have several years of industrial experience. All these ‘learn from your home’ classes are targeted for this year’s November exams and the CA final classes of this category will comprise the new syllabus (Direct taxes, SCM and Performance evaluation, financial services and capital market, International taxation, Financial reporting, and so on).

Fundazone always limits their batch strength to provide undivided attention to each and every aspirant. Students can enrol in these online webinars and can login and learn in real time from their homes. They can in fact attend these sessions through their mobile / desktop or laptop. 

They have such online webinars that begin from the third week of June and the classes are available for every subject of CA final new syllabus. 

This is the perfect time to concentrate on your preparation strategies and stay focused as you stay indoors. Fundazone also has announced about Hybrid classes that comprise both physical classroom sessions along with online webinars that will be a part of CA intermediate classes also.

Make the best use of these lockdown days by enrolling yourself in these ‘learn from your home’ classes and be consistent in your efforts so that you can crack the CA exams with ease.

Preparation Strategies For CA Final Exams Preparing Students

With CA final exams approaching, all you need to do is allot time for the subjects you feel you need to improve on.

This can be extremely possible if you can utilize this lockdown period very effectively. 

There are simple and basic tips that you need to adhere to so that you do not feel the pressure on the day of your exam. 

  • First things first, do not surround yourself with any sort of negative comments and plan your time effectively and stick to the schedule so that you don’t fool yourselves
  • Do not spend one entire day on one subject just because there is a lot to cover up
  • Make sure you focus on the amendments and regulations
  • Try and enrol yourself in the online classes or webinars that are offered by some of the best CA coaching institutes in Chennai because this is the best period to stay indoors and make the best use of technology and connectivity
  • Focus on rtp and mtp issued by the ICAI, watch out for its release and allocate some time to prepare from them as they follow the pattern of the examination
  • Make sure you take notes as your prepare so that you can use them on the day of your exam
  • Most importantly as many of the successful CAs say, follow one good book to prepare and do not get lost by following so many materials
  • Get enough sleep when you prepare because you need to stay fresh when you give your exams
  • Stick to your own strategy but make sure you seek advice from your faculty who can guide you better and make sure you are confident about your strategy
  • On the days of exam make sure you reach the exam hall at least ahead of 30 minutes so that get some time to relax and keep yourselves calm

Last but not the least, make sure you follow the guidelines you’d learnt from your CA final classes.

Giving tips or suggestions can sound really easy but I know it is you who are going to put yourselves into the tunnel to reach the bright light waiting at the end of the tunnel.

If you are passionate enough, your efforts shall be sincere and consistent and this will drive you to reach your goals.

Online Classes During Lockdown Period. Face To Face Classes Post Lockdown

This lockdown period has left all of us in a gloomy state. But most of us are trying to get back stronger to reach our goals and to keep up our spirits high. 

For CA aspirants, this time is a little difficult to handle as they have their exams round the corner, they are on the verge of completing their revision, a few of them are definitely missing their CA coaching classes. 

In order to keep the CA aspirants stay on the flow of their revision and also to utilize this lockdown period effectively, a lot of CA coaching institutes in Chennai, have come up with online classes to cover the most important topics of the subjects in both intermediate and final levels.

One of the best CA intermediate institutes in Chennai is Fundazone, and they have taken the best possible steps to help each and every CA aspirant stay motivated from their online classes.

Fundazone has come up with ‘learn from your home’ classes as a part of their CA final classes as well as intermediate sessions. These classes enable students to learn from their home on their own personal devices like laptop or desktop. 

The highlights of these ‘learn from your home’ classes are:

  • Classes handled by professional faculty who have several years of industrial as well as teaching experience
  • Students can login from their home and participate in the sessions from their own convenient devices
  • Web based real time interaction with the faculty who have the best subject knowledge and are dedicated to provide real-time learning experience 
  • All the classes are available in online mode and the classes will be pertaining to the new syllabus for both intermediate and final levels
  • The classes are spanned until October this year in order to provide support and guidance to the aspirants to face their November exams

Fundazone has also been in the plans of starting face to face interactive classes very soon post lockdown for CA inter level which is targeting the November examinations. The details for the same shall soon be updated on their website. 

For all of their ‘learn from your home’ classes as well as face to face sessions, they limit their intake so that the faculty can spend a lot of time on each candidate to address their concerns and provide crystal clear concepts.

Their regular mock assessments will help you gain comprehensive feedback after attempting each of them so that you can focus on your strengths and devote a lot of time on your weaknesses. 

Although his period can get your going tough, it is equally important to stay positive and leverage on the advantages of staying indoors by enrolling yourselves in such online classes and utilizing the period effectively.

Revised Syllabus Of CA Inter And Final Exams 2020

According to the new syllabus, the CA intermediate classes level has about 8 subjects that are divided into two groups. The following are the new 8 subjects:

  1. Accounting 
  2. Corporate laws and other laws (Part I – company law Part II – other laws) (any new legislations will be included in the syllabus)
  3. Cost and management accounting
  4. Taxation (direct taxes and indirect taxes)
  5. Advanced accounting 
  6. Auditing and assurance
  7. Enterprise information system and strategic management  (section A will be Enterprise Information management and section B will be strategic management)
  8. Financial management and Economics for finance (section A Financial management and section B Economics for Finance)

Group 1 will comprise Papers 1, 2, 3 and 4. Similarly remaining papers 5, 6,7 and 8 will fall under group 2.

You should have enrolled yourself in the CA inter classes offered by your coaching institute. But if not, you can make the best use of this lockdown period to enroll yourself in the classes that Fundazone has been offering. Fundazone is one of the finest CA coaching institutes in Chennai and they have some of the best industry professionals with several years of experience as faculty members.

They have come with online classes, learn from your home classes and webinars to help CA inter and final aspirants to stay in the flow of their preparation. If you are preparing for the CA final, you can enroll in their CA final classes that are handled by the best faculty who make sure they give you the best opportunity to understand the depth of the syllabus.

Regarding the CA final exam syllabus for the year 2020, the following is the gist of the syllabus, the 8 papers, that is being under practice for the current year:

  1. Financial reporting
  2. Strategic financial management
  3. Advanced auditing and professional ethics
  4. Corporate and economic laws
  5. Strategic cost management and performance evaluation

The Paper 6 has subdivisions such as the following:

6A. Risk management

6B. Financial services and capital markets

6C. International taxation

6D. Economic laws

6E. Global financial reporting standards

6F. Multidisciplinary case study

7. Direct tax laws and International taxation

8. Indirect tax laws

What is really important when you are taking any exams in the CA, is that your amount of efforts will determine the success in your exams. Make the best use of online classes, video lectures, mock assessments conducted by the reliable CA academy, RTPs, Practice manuals, previous year question papers, and so on during this period and gear up your preparation strategies.

How should CA aspirants deal with covid-19?

The entire world is facing a crisis because of covid-19 and many of them are finding their own ways to make the best use of this period. As all of us are in lockdown, it is better to keep us involved in something or the other so that we do not fall prey to negativity and its effects.

As CA aspirants, this lockdown period is a golden opportunity to all of you. This is the time you can reflect a lot on your preparation, revisit some of the topics if you had not touched it earlier. Thanks to connectivity, there are a lot of online sessions and learning resources available for CA intermediate as well as CA final subjects.

This covid-19 has put a lot of pressure on the coaching institutions to come up with webinars, video sessions, online crash courses, and so on to help CA aspirants be on the flow. If you are a part of any of the CA institutes in Chennai, you must be aware of their classes, what measures they have taken to cope up with the present situation. 

Try to make the best use of online classes, video lectures, webinars that are announced as a part of your CA final classes. You get a lot more time and space to practice, take a lot of assessments that are conducted by your CA coaching institute.

You can even connect with your friends via networking applications like Zoom or Facetime to have an online discussion regarding the topics that you are learning. This is simply the new way to recreate the traditional group study method. You can even reach out to your faculty member if you feel you are in need of any clarification. They would be glad to address your concerns.

With CA inter exams round the corner, spend a lot of time practising previous year question papers and RTPs. You should be having study notes that you had taken during your CA inter classes in Chennai, take them and brush those topics to get an idea of what you had learnt during the classes.

Prepare a schedule to prepare and most importantly stick to the schedule. Consistency in efforts and strong determination to succeed are the two main factors that will help you focus on what you want. Do not listen to any sort of negative comments, it is always best to stay away from negativity. Chase your dreams and you will achieve them.

Top strategies to clear upcoming CA inter and final exams

With CA inter and final exams round the corner, all of you must be in the stages of revision of your preparation. There might be a few of you who would be on the verge of completing a few topics and practising them. 

Let me share a few simple strategies that will help you to clear the upcoming CA inter as well as the final exams:

  1. Practice, practice and practice : Practice is the only key to approach any subject in the CA inter and finals. You have to be smart enough to plan your days accordingly, where you get enough time to study theory as well as solve problems. When I say practise, it means you have to be keen on resources such as the RTPs, MTPs, previous year question papers, and so on. Assuming that you are a part of the CA intermediate classes, take a lot of mock assessments that are conducted by your coaching institute.
  2. Take each mock assessment as your final exam : this is very crucial because mock assessments can help you do a self analysis on where you stand in terms of preparation as well as understanding. After your CA final classes get over, do not refrain yourself from taking part in their assessments and practice sessions. The faculty team will provide you with comprehensive feedback that will help you focus more on the weakness. This will give you a glimpse of the examination pattern as well as the type of questions.
  3. Follow a trusted learning resource : since there are a lot of CA aspirants, there are an equal number of learning resources in the form of textbooks, question papers (solved and unsolved), video lessons, online lectures, tutorials, and so on. Do not get misled at any point of the time by material that is not reliable. For subjects like taxation, make the best use of the practice manual (PM) from the ICAI. In the same manner follow one particular text book for a subject so that you get used to the terms and the context of the book.
  4. Make the best use of online classes : this is the right time to leverage on the online classes and webinars that are conducted as a part of the CA inter or final classes. Many of these sessions will be of great help to you as you can take the guidance of your faculty and do a quick revision of selected topics. A lot of faculties make themselves available during this lockdown to help the aspirants in the best way possible.
  5. Be consistent in your efforts and determined enough : consistency and determination go hand in hand because they drive each other towards success. Keep revisiting the topics that you feel you should give one last check. Take short notes as and when you prepare because these notes will save a lot of time during the exam. You can just have the notes as a last minute revision manual.
  6. Stay positive and cheerful : surround yourself with positivity and do not stress yourself at any point of time. Take enough rest and get good sleep. This will help you stay cheerful throughout the days of your examination. There are a lot of coaching institutes who offer CA intermediate classes in Chennai, along with the best preparation strategies to clear the inter and the final exams. Believe in yourself and keep giving your best. 

Guidance to determine the best CA coaching institute in Chennai

How do you land up in one of the best CA coaching institutes in the city? This question runs in the minds of a lot of students as well as in the minds of the parents of CA aspirants. 

Here are a few basic guidelines to choose the best CA coaching institute:

  1. The institute must have a reputation on its own – no student will be happy to settle down in an institute that is low on its reputation as they are investing their future
  2. The team of faculty must be professionals who are the best in industry with several years of industrial experience
  3. No CA academy can succeed without the dedicated efforts and commitment of its faculty
  4. The institute must follow the guidelines provided by the ICAI with respect to the curriculum, its updation, the regulations, amendments, and so on
  5. The classes must be structured in such a manner where no subject gets missed and the classes must be able to provide a comprehensive coverage of the subjects
  6. Students are in a generation where there are a lot of information sources available and connectivity is getting stronger day by day – this presses the fact that CA institutes must provide their students with the right amount of qualitative information
  7. Strength of the batch is really crucial – the size of every batch is essential as overcrowding can result in ineffective teaching as well as learning
  8. Faculty must be available to address the concern of students with respect to doubts, queries, and so on
  9. CA aspirants keep themselves packed with their own preparation schedule so online classes, webinars, practical training sessions, and crash courses can help students who wish to prepare for the exam in short notice
  10. Mock assessments and live practice sessions should be very similar to the ICAI examination pattern so that students are well aware of the examination style and the type of questions asked
  11. Learning resources such as video lectures, notes, assignments, books, and so on have to be made available to students and all the learning material must be overlooked by the faculty so that there is no irrelevant content anywhere 

If you are looking for all the above features, Fundazone is the best CA academy in Chennai with a team of constantly working highly experienced professionals. They have classroom sessions as well as online classes to help students learn from their own place at their own convenient time.

The following factors might be misleading if you do not consider any of the above listed points before deciding upon a coaching institute:

  • If the institutes charge you more for either buying their learning resources or for your participation in their classes
  • False advertisements where an institute can guarantee you a certificate as a qualified CA (which might be fake most of the times)
  • Remember that no CA institute can ‘make’ you a chartered accountant without your efforts and constant preparation (do not trust such fancy advertisements or announcements from fake institutes)
  • CA coaching academies are anchors for your preparation and they help you come up with clear strategies for approaching the exam
  • Do not blindly believe that if you enrol in an institute, you can become a chartered accountant. It takes a lot of effort, time and strong passion to achieve 

Preparation strategies for CA intermediate and final exams

CA Intermediate:All of you must be knowing that the intermediate level has a total of 8 subjects that are divided into 4 subjects under group 1 and another set of 4 subjects under group 2. The group 1 and group 2 exams are conducted separately. 

It is advised that students focus their preparation based on the subjects in each group. When it comes to group 1, the subjects like Corporate laws and other laws (paper 2) and taxation (paper 4) are felt to be a little difficult among two other papers which are accounting and cost and management accounting.

In the same manner in group 2, advanced accounting has been considered as a difficult paper among the other three of them.

Students can follow the below strategies to prepare for the CA intermediate level:

  • First things first, students have to understand the topics under each paper so that they can concentrate on those topics that carry a lot of importance
  • Once you understand the subjects, you can go ahead and learn about the various learning resources that are available for each subject
  • One important thing is to stick on to particular textbook so that you don’t get misled anywhere
  • Try and enrol yourself in the CA intermediate classes offered by any of the best CA coaching institute so that you can be sure that you are on the right track
  • When it comes to CA intermediate, it requires a lot of efforts from your side, especially for papers such as taxation, corporate and other laws
  • You cannot miss out the topics like amendments when it comes to corporate laws
  • For papers like taxation, first cover direct taxes before you move on to indirect taxes. Under direct taxes, do not miss the income from various heads
  • Have consistency in your preparation : divide each day in such a manner where you get time to solve a lot of problems as well as to learn the theory as theory part can be scored well
  • Take a lot of mock assessments offered by your CA inter classes and revise your preparation based on the feedback you receive after each assessment
  • CA institutes come up with online webinars and video lectures as a part of their classes which will be of great help to you because you can learn the lessons from your own place at your convenient time
  • As and when you prepare, try taking short notes that you feel are necessary and take a look at these notes when you are in your stage of revision

CA Final:For those who have cleared CA inter, CA final is one of the major milestones as they are very close to their realization of their dream of becoming a CA.

Most of the students would want to clear CA final in their maiden attempt so that they need not wait for a longer duration to start their practise.

With proper planning and seamless efforts, one can clear the CA final papers in their first attempt. The below list of points will help you focus on the preparation strategy for CA final:

  • CA final new syllabus has 8 papers, each paper for 100 marks and the 8 papers are divided into 2 groups with 4 papers in each group
  • Papers like advanced auditing in group 1 have to be given extra time and effort to master the subject
  • Your faculty in CA final classes must be iterating the fact that you need to solve a lot of problems so that understand the pattern of the examination
  • For CA final, practise is the only keyword and this alone will lead you to sure shot success in your examination
  • RTPs and Practice manual have to be downloaded and practised as there will be a lot of direct questions from practice manuals
  • For papers like corporate laws, focus on amendments largely as there will be questions asked based on amendments
  • For theoretical papers, make sure you get the right keywords while you prepare and take smaller notes of them so that they will help you during the revision times
  • There are a lot of chances of being misled in the name of study material and so on. Be smart enough to rely upon the sources that are available in your learning institute

Any exam can be cleared with master preparation strategies and constant efforts. A strong determination will take you a long way. If you are truly passionate about becoming a chartered accountant, nobody can deter you from becoming one. 

Online classes for CA final with updated syllabus

When it comes to CA exams many of the students are concerned about the classes they have enrolled in. there are a lot of reputed coaching institutes that offer online as well as classroom sessions for all the levels of CA exams.

Students at times are worried about online classes because of the credibility issue of the sessions and chances of information mismanagement. If an institute can address both these issues, they can gain a lot of trust among the students and CA aspirants. 

One such CA coaching institute that offers online classes, as well as classroom sessions for CA final classes, is Fundazone. They are the best CA coaching institutes in Chennai that is run by top-notch faculty team who have several years of experience in coaching as well as industrial exposure. 

At Fundazone, students are given utmost priority by the faculty team and it is entirely a student-centric as well as a student-friendly learning institute. They follow a structured course format that provides 100% coverage of the ICAI syllabus and the course curriculum gets updated as and when it has to be.

The online classes are conducted by the faculty team who are well versed in their subject and they make sure the classes are not completed in a rush. Every faculty at Fundazone is available to answer the queries of the CA aspirants and also to share their personal experiences with respect to preparation strategies.

The following features make Fundazone one of the most sought after CA coaching institutes in Chennai:

  1. Highly qualified faculty with several years of professional expertise
  2. Structured framework of updated syllabus as illustrated by the ICAI
  3. Both online classes and classroom sessions made available for the students and they can choose one according to their convenience
  4. Limited batch strength so that overcrowding does not happen
  5. Individual attention to students to focus on their strengths and weaknesses
  6. Mock assessments as regular practice sessions that cover previous question papers 
  7. Constructive feedback provided by the faculty after each assessment is evaluated
  8. Crash courses, online webinars, video classes to support the study from your own place initiative