World's Dumbest Man - 2006

A man who was afraid that someone would take away his slippers when he leaves for the temple, tried a very unique idea. He was awarded the " Dumbest Man of the Year" with a cash prize of "1 Crore" rupees.

Will this approach work for you in CA Final????

Possibly yes, if Lady Luck is in a mood to smile on you ..as the quote goes " Allah meherbaan toh gadha bhi pehelwaan"

But if she is adamant to make to slog it out before you get this CA degree, you've had it dude!!! Fasten your seat belts! Its a tumultous journey ahead!!

To kickstart proceedings, the CNBC style

The information contained in this blog has been cited from sources deemed to be reliable. Please remember that the content is neither all-inclusive nor guaranteed to be totally accurate. Recommendations made reflect my current judgement as regards the ideal strategies for CA Final . The same, however, are subject to change without notice. I have made certain forward looking statements which are based on expectations,estimates and projections . These are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. In the event of the same materialising ,actual results could differ materially from those anticipated.Readers are therefore, in the usual spirit of Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware), advised to exercise due caution in this regard

Dard e Disco

Masoom mohabbat kaa bus itna fasaana hai.
Kagaz ki haveli hai ..baarish ka zamana hai..

Kya shart -e-mohabat hai ?
kya shart-e-zamaana hai ??

Aawaz bhi zakhmi hai aur geet bhi gaana hai !!!!!!!


By the time your four month preparation ends ...and the exam days knock and remind of the urgency with which you got to get your act together.... the above lines could best capture the essence of your emotions

You may start questioning yourself:--

Why was I naive enough to have been sucked into the CA vortex ?

Why did I dare to dream to attain such a Herculean feat ??

Amidst the turbulence caused by the eight monsters .. ...your boat of pipedreams suddenly seems to rock a bit.

And you start doubting your capabilities.
"Pass hoone ka iccha toh hai .. par umeed nahi" becomes your standard refrain. The lamp of hope flickers and flickers and just threatens to get extinguished out ...and you simply can't prevent that from happening.The show must go on!!!!!!!!Pls remember that WINNERS NEVER QUIT AND QUITTERS NEVER WIN!

Trust me this is very normal a reaction to the CA Final course.
If you feel this way ,the chances of your clearing these exams are very high ..
This is because the frustation that has crept in stands testimony to the hard work you've put in your preparation.It proves that you've studied all these days direct Dil Se!!What else does Lady Luck want before deciding to smile on you !!

The bottomline is that although the feeling of desperation does creep in ...don't panic a bit ....it is injurious both to your health as well as the chances of your efforts bearing fruit. So manage your emotions well. Exude positivity in everything you do.

ICAI has deliberately designed the course in such a manner ..we call it a systematically designed bamboo that hits a CA Final aspirant hard,very hard.
The volume of the CA final syllabus is meant to intimitade, dude!!!Infact it should..
That is the only way you can separate the men from the boys...
Subject them to pressure...some will break down..others will break records !!!!!!!

Just thought I'd express what I feel are some essentials to be kept in mind while preparing...at the very outset ...I wanna make it clear that there is actually no standard strategy for these exams ..one man's food may be another's poison..I am simply sharing my version of the story.

Paper 1 : Accountancy

Accountancy in CA Final is relatively a cakewalk ...especially if you compare it with the likes of MAFA and Costing. One does not expect any major surprises...the paper setters generally adhere to an almost standard pattern ...A couple of fireworks will surely be there ...but then they are manageable.

Consolidation, Amalgamation and Valuation of Goodwill & Shares are the three major topics .
Consolidation and Amalgamation are interesting, especially if you've faced the exercise in any of your audit assignments.
Valuation is really crap.It is quite mechanical, with those format-based problems requiring little application of logic.In such sums, one would always tend to commit silly mistakes. I would suggest that you just prepare a list of some golden mechanical rules, for e.g. those pertaining to average capital employed when one computes goodwill, and mug them up. If possible, in the exam hall, try confirming your answer with your friend ..We were advised by seniors and teachers to consult a girl across. Trust me they are awesome at these types of sums!!!

One should not ignore the minor topics like Fund Accounting and Value Added Statement.They are minnows when pitted against consolidation and amalgamtion . There is a likelihood that you may tend to be a bit complacent with them .Don't ignore such innocent looking monsters as the Accountancy paper would offer no choices whatsoever.One has to attempt all questions they have asked.

Pls stick to your tuition teacher's study material. They are enough ...you just need to practice all the sums a couple of times.

As far as accounting standards are concerned, I simply love them.... they are the syntax of our accounting language and I feel any CA student will, by default, develop a genuine interest in them.
Do solve the numerical aspect of AS 3,7,11,19,22,25 and 28.... while most are quite easy, I found the top-down and bottom-up test in impairment quite difficult ...
No one studies the Cash Flow Statement because it was asked in the Inter Exams but you never know when they spring up surprises ...we faced that googly in Nov’07. At least remember the basic format.
Similarly AS 15 on retirement benefits is difficult to comprehend unless you've actually seen the actuarial valuation reports by Watson & Wyatt in your audits . Just carry a basic knowledge of the standard , like what is the applicability , a simple illustration on Liablity for Gratuity a/c solved in class etc .I guess that would be quite sufficient. At least it will be less risky than omitting AS-15 entirely.
While your tuition teacher's study material would be having ample illustrations, there is a book by D S Rawat on accounting standards ...some situations mentioned there are quite exciting ...Similarly the book by G Sekar on Auditing has got loads of solved problems on Accounting Standards and you can have a glance at them,if time permits !!!

It is more important that you remember the relevant text of the accounting standard which is applicable to the problem at hand. Ensure that it constitutes the first part of the answer, before you opine on the situation mentioned . Even if your final opinion is incorrect, you'd get some marks for sure because you have emphasised categorically upon the examiner that you at least know the AS well !!

Guidance Notes are easy.... although I never understood the one on ESOPs ...they would also be quite useful in the Auditing paper also, say the Guidance Notes on treatment of MAT,FBT and Excise Duty.Also prepare short notes on the Human Resource Valuation, Mutual Fund Accounting and the Stock Brokers kind of stuff. These are dealt with in your tuition teacher's study material...

Accountancy is a student's delight ...the return on time employed is highest among all practical oriented papers ...just around a 100-120 odd sums need to be mastered. ...
Performing well is crucial because it is the first paper and if goes well, it could impart enough momentum to see you through Group I. Debut acha hona chahiye naa!!!

Paper 3 : Auditing

Advising someone on how to go about preparing for auditing is a tricky affair as I had adopted a very risky strategy.Luckily the gambit worked for me .But the same may not work for you. Actually it all depends on the question paper.

Audit would always involve some element of guesswork. Invariably, you will be forced to dream up answers in the examination hall.Can't help it dude!!!That is the way things go henceforth.

The chapters to be studied from the book by G Sekar are

Professional Ethics
It would be gr8 if you could cite the applicable clause number in your answers. To remember that ....one can prepare a chart that contains the 32-33 odd clauses. In fact, the author has prepared one page summaries at the beginning of each segment. Even the notifications forming part of the Second Schedule segment on the cap on non-audit fees etc are also worth a read. They are asked very frequently in the exams.

Company Audit I
Company Audit II
Audit Report
From Company Audit, there are a lot of potential case studies that can be asked .
Try mentioning the relevant section , say 227(3)(e) in the paper ..Maybe your effort may not necessarily translate into higher marks but it would certainly show your preparation in good light. Impression always helps a student to be marked on a higher scale by a fussy examiner, in a subjective paper like audit.

You should also try drafting qualifications in Auditors Report.Quite a many of such situations are illustrated in the book.

Questions based on the clauses of CARO are interesting and you will be able to relate them to your practical audit exposure. Also remember the applicability of CARO . Sometimes the questions are based simply on this aspect ...say the "Turnover threshold" of Rs 5 crores ...They test whether you know that turnover includes sale of goods as well as services rendered, whether sales is taken as net of excise or not and stuff.

Accounting Standards and the Guidance Notes will be covered by your Paper 1 preparation.

And there are some 34-35 AAS ..Trust me they would not appeal to you much ...they appear to be kind of esoteric when you read them .......moreover, the sheer volume would irritate. For starters, I think one should try to remember the AAS number and the title.
There is a book by Snow White Publications that captures each AAS in the form of a flowchart/block diagram and the presentation is immensely helpful.
One could go through the ICAI compiler to get a hang of the answering pattern which they expect in a question based on the AAS segment.
Again if your communication skills are good..you can attempt the question to draft stuff like Engagement Letter, with references to the corresponding AAS contents forming an integral part of your answer.

This is the technical stuff that needs to be studied. You can comfortably attempt a substantial part of the paper, if you are well versed with the chapters mentioned above.

The rest of the course is miscellaneous.

Accha there is a topic Banking and Insurance . Honestly speaking, I simply left it .No point doing it .Because most of the times, they spring up new surprises from these topics..like verifying advances to a dotcom company. And all the books like V K Agarwal delve on the past questions. To cover all potential questions , you need to study G Sekar.......Can't comment on whether that's viable/feasible.

Remember the clauses of Form 3CD of Tax Audit.Refer the scanner for what kind of questions can be expected from here.

Get some general gyan on topics like Cost Audit, EDP audit , Stock Exchange, Due Diligence etc from any book you get ....include whatever you know in any answer you frame in the exam . Be smart enough to ensure that you don't convey the impression that you are actually lacking depth in a particular segment.Also your articleship experience will also help in framing logical gupshup.Auditing is one paper where each student's face beams with smiles when he comes out. Because our education system has made us so used to filling pages with general crap.
The examiner also understands that.He's been facing this since ages.

Paper 2 : MAFA

Haste chehre mein gum ko chupao
Try following this maxim while you face the MAFA paper in CA Finals.

Bahut Kuch Bolo Par Kuch Naa Bataao
Strategy to be applied when someone asks you "Exam Kaisa Hua??"

MAFA and Costing are twin sisters in CA Final .
Don't you dare under-estimate their potential to wreak havoc in your life..

I shall make no bones about the fact that MAFA is a difficult paper ..while accountancy often makes you feel that time alloted of 3 hours is too little ..MAFA may make you wonder what to do with them..cartooning ,for a change???
Because ICAI does not often offer you the privilege of solving sums..
The complexity of the questions they sometime ask , often puts you in a kind of Catch-22 situation...

ICAI often uses the MAFA paper to tailor the result to the student's disadvantage.
Remember the May'07 mayhem????????
The question paper wasn't conducive to a decent attempt.
The answer scripts were checked ruthlessly.

However the picture is not as grim as it may sound.
Jokes apart, in the usual course of affairs, MAFA can be managed smartly...
80 % of the paper can be answered in any scenario. When I make that statement, I assume that you are not fussy about perfection and don't mind answering a difficult question partly, eyeing whatever step-marking you can snatch from the examiner. There is an alternative strategy of making some questions, a prestige issue in the examination hall ...In that eventuality, I can certainly guarantee your doom .....
So choose your approach accordingly.

If you have opted for a tuition teacher, I am sure he will make an intensive effort to drill into you the basic concepts. Only then should one go for solving the hi-fi sums.

Capital Budgeting and Forex are two chapters that are demanding in terms of conceptual clarity.They are infact quite interesting and provide a lot of value addition to your personal understanding of finance.
However you must keep one thing in mind. Some questions in these chapters are only meant to instill fear and panic in the student.for e.g. a capital budgeting problem on gold mine that featured as a compulsory question in a particular term. Simply avoid them .Like you ,most will not be in a position to even touch these hi-fi sums .Consequently they do not merit much time waste.

Chapters like Portfolio Management and Valuation of Bonds and Shares are mathematical, involving some formulae or the other.

Mergers and Acquistions is a high sounding term .Given the manner in which this word is buzzing all around these days, one expects something technically difficult here say the EV/EBITDA multiple stuff which is more useful in real life to analyse M&A deals. But CA Final's M&A is a bonus chapter. I think even a kid (I mean ...simply anyone ...) will be able to solve the kind of sums they have asked in recent times.

Leasing is a topic mired in controversy ...because we had the rare opportunity to learn some international concepts like Debt Displaced By Leasing etc etc ......an approach will simply baffles you . But the moment you see the lucid approach in ICAI's MAFA compiler, the topic suddenly seems so manageable.Please remember that its the Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants which will be evaluating your paper and not some International CFA Body.
When in Rome , behave as Romans do ..rite ??? I hope you've got the message!!!

One good strategy would be to prepare a formulae sheet, in order to ensure that you don't get lost in the sea of formulaes scattered across so many chapters. Having them all collected in one single place would facilitate quick revision.Some questions on topics like Black Scholes Model(BSM), test merely whether the candidate remembers the formula .Why lose such a golden opportunity to snatch in an otherwise difficult exam!!

Some miscellaneous topics like factoring of receivables, basic calculations involving repo and reverse repo concepts etc etc are not be ignored although they may appear to be boring.

Finally the theoretical part.It comes to your rescue if the paper setters have turned malafide on the practical sums front. 20-30 marks of theory can always be attempted in the worst case scenario. For that simply go through the Compiler and the Revision Test Papers (RTPs). You can also try Mr Sudarshan Agrawal's MAFA mat for the theory. Some basic awareness of current issues is an added advantage .In that case you will be able to attempt even questions you've got no clue about..say application of DTAA in promoting GDRs. Who knows .....it may so happen that anything structured logically actually fetches you 1-2 marks.

Also please remember to revise SEBI Gudelines from your law book even on MAFA exam eve. In Nov 07, we got a question on Greenshoe Option. Luckily I had discussed it with a friend of mine..otherwise without revision, there remains only a hazy picture of any technical portion of CA Final.

Hope you scrape through MAFA..infact with a good score.

Paper 4 : Law oops CLSP

There is no special strategy needed to prepare for Law. The book authored by Munish Bhandari simply rocks. Its awesome with its most striking feature being that it is exactly exam-oriented. The answers are drafted in the exact fashion expected by the ICAI examiner. You are not required to even touch the scanner. Past 10 year Problems from CA Examinations have been solved entirely here.
I am not singing sonnets in praise of the writer but i simply acknowledge the fact that by adopting a student-friendly approach,he has has made life a lot easier for us.

Pls remember that the most challenging aspect of the Law syllabus is the sheer volume..it is indeed very interesting .But handling so many Acts , given the time constraint we face , invariably becomes difficult at times . Studying during the 4 mnths/Revising all of them on the eve of the examination becomes a Herculean task. One needs to therefore plan accordingly.
I had made the mistake of spending too much time on Directors . Consequently, I couldn't revise SEBI, SCRA and Producer Companies.
On top of that, in Nov'07, they had goofed us by asking questions on Foreign Companies (after 8 years) , Sole Selling Agents and Miscellaneous Provisions of the Companies Act (never asked before). These were topics that I had left entirely. Questions were there on drafting resolutions pertaining to Managerial Remuneration also. So do have a glance at the Problems from Secretarial Segment also given in Munish Bhandari right at the end of each chapter.
The lesson I learnt was that you need to ensure that the whole syllabus is covered thoroughly and can't take wild risks.

In the topic on Directors , some sections , needless to mention, are very important :- 295,297,299,300 .Mastering the topic well , requires an integrated approach to be followed while studying.
One challenge that you will face is the confusion as regards the applicability of each section. While private companies are excluded from the ambit of quite a many provisions, it is important that you understand the technicalities, in case the question is cunningly based on this particular fineprint. Prepare a chart if you can . The appendix of Munish Bhandari is also quite useful.

Anything that is apparently insignificant, will assume catastrophic proportions in the examination hall. Intricacies like the definition of a calendar year as per the Companies Act mentioned in the chapter on Accounts and Audit ,need to be understood .Why lose unnecessary lose marks!

Again SEBI Guidelines are tough to remember over a long span of time . Try to study the chapter towards the end. Plus even if you can't remember it totally, try as much as you can .One gets step marking even in theory papers.

SCRA is crap. It is too boring .Demutualisation and Corporatisation of stock exchanges are relevant concepts. But since this chapter is totally procedure based, it really does not excite. Try preparing flowcharts for depicting the flow of documents
(Stock Exchange ---------------> SEBI------------------------> Broker)
application / opportunity to be heard

Topics like Competition Act need to be studied only to the extent notified by the Central Government...The applicable clauses are generally mentioned in the footnote on page 1 of this chapter in Munish Bhandari.

Interpretation of Statutes is a cakewalk . You get a sureshot 8 marks question from that. The topic is interesting .It will help you in Direct Taxation interpretations also ...e.g. the subtle distinction between 'and' vis a vis 'or'.....'shall' vis a vis 'must'. I don't think that one needs to mug up the Latin terms. Just develop a basic familiarity with them , in case the question is drafted that way.