The first step in the journey of a CA student is the CA Foundation exam. When it comes to CA Foundation, I have observed that pretty often, students do not follow the right strategies while preparing for the exams, which is largely due to a lack of awareness on their part. Understandably, in most of the cases, they are fresh from school and similar to clay which can be moulded in any shape desired. Hence it is of utmost importance for them to be guided correctly in the init
ial stages, which can save a lot of their time, energy, money, and effort. Unfortunately, not all students are lucky enough to have a mentor or a senior to guide them along their way in the CA course. Some are successful in their first attempt, while many others stumble along their path. Here is a sincere attempt at consolidating the various key aspects that need to be followed to emerge successful in the CA Foundation exams in the first attempt.
1. Preparing a time-table
When it comes to CA, planning your time is of critical significance. This is a self-study course, which means you need to be accountable for the time you spend. A well chalked out timetable which provides for a thorough preparation is the first step in this process. For more guidance on preparing the timetable, you may refer to the Timetable Preparation Techniques.
2. Enrolling for online classes/video lectures / live classes / online resources
There are a lot of classes available today, and you could sign up for a good one after doing some research and checking the reviews. It is especially important to attend classes for accounts and maths, although it is possible to clear the exams without classes. This depends on your capability to study for the course with self-discipline. There are also exhaustive resources available on YouTube to refer to and study.
3. Planning for 3 rounds of revision
You would need to plan your studies in such a way that the full syllabus is covered in 3 or more rounds. This shall be effective in organising your preparation, closing out any deficiencies that you might observe in preparation, and in enabling you to gain expertise with repeated rounds of studies. You should ideally supplement every such round of revision by attempting to solve exam questions along the way.
4. Procuring good reference books for every subject
You could invest in a set of reference books written by a good author for each subject. This should be done with much research. Apart from explaining the topics in a clear and concise manner, these will include discussions of past exam questions and ample practice problems that will step up your confidence levels. Refer to my list of reference books provided separately.
5. Preparation of detailed notes
Well-prepared notes can be a confidence-booster along your way in the foundation course. This needs to be done from the very beginning of their preparation and is required to be completed along with round 1 of their preparation. You could go through the article on this topic covered in Notes Preparation Techniques
6. Preparation of fast track notes
The CA syllabus is very vast and it is impossible to go through the whole book in a day. However, it is essential to revise all the topics before the day of the exam. Hence you would do well to prepare fast track notes that help them revise the whole syllabus at a glance. Such fast track notes can be prepared either in a regular notebook or on a Chart Paper for easy reference. Yous could study the article on Fast Track Notes for more inputs on this topic.
7. Keeping track of time spent every single day
As mentioned before, CA is a self-study course. The success that you taste tomorrow depends wholly on the hard work that you put in today. Every single minute counts, and hence please understand that in order to expect to pass the exam, you need to be extremely disciplined and account for every single moment spent. This not only encompasses following the timetable prepared initially but also amending it whenever required to suit your progress. Moreover, you need to stay focussed and not engage in diversions/entertainment during those 4 months of preparation. Do not forget, all these efforts and sacrifices shall be rewarded at the time of announcement of the results! It will be so fulfilling to read the PASS result on the screen on the day of the results. This thought should be the guiding force behind your efforts.
8. Appear for model exams
You need to appear for at least one set of model exams in each subject before going for their CA Foundation exam. You could either take this exam from the ICAI, or from one of the coaching centres or you could simply pick up a sample question paper or past exam paper and write it at home. If you are taking the paper on your own, please ensure that you attempt the paper under exam conditions, and evaluate your performance thereafter. This not only prepares you for writing and presenting the papers but also boosts your confidence. You also get a feel of the exams and gain knowledge on assembling your thought process during the exam.
9. Presentation skills
In addition to effectively preparing for the exams you also need to efficiently present the paper in a way that conveys your professionalism to the examiner. Unfortunately, the timeline that is given to you for this is a mere 3 hours! Hence it is absolutely important to be equipped with the best possible presentation skills that enable you to put across your knowledge in an appealing and effective manner. We have discussed this topic in more detail in the article Fine Presentation Skills.
By following all of the above strategies, you can not only clear the exams in the first attempt, but can even score an All-India Rank!
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