Accounting and business basics¶
Counts for 3 exams in this list (see the overlap map). Prepare it once.
What it covers¶
- Accounting: principles and framework, journal, ledger, trial balance, bank reconciliation, inventories, depreciation, bills of exchange, final accounts of sole proprietors, partnerships and companies; cost accounting basics (CMA).
- Business laws and communication: Indian Contract Act, Sale of Goods Act, Partnership and LLP Acts, Companies Act basics; business correspondence and reporting (CA) / business communication (CMA).
- Business mathematics and statistics: ratio, equations, interest and time value of money, permutations, series; data description, central tendency and dispersion, probability, correlation and regression, index numbers.
- Business economics and management: demand and supply, production and cost, market structures, national income, money and banking, Indian economy; management basics (CMA).
Depth by exam family¶
| Family | What the exam rewards |
|---|---|
| CA Foundation (ICAI) | Deepest: every block here is a full 100-mark paper (Accounting; Business Laws; Quantitative Aptitude; Business Economics) |
| CMA Foundation (ICMAI) | Deepest: four papers covering the same blocks plus cost accounting and management, all objective |
| UPSC EPFO | Shallow: only the general-accounting-principles slice of the recruitment-test syllabus |
Official syllabi¶
- ICAI Foundation syllabus, Papers 1–4 with PDF downloads: https://www.icai.org/post/syllabus-nset-fnd
- ICMAI Foundation Course Curriculum (FBLC, FFCA, FBMS, FBEM): https://www.icmai.in/ClntStudents/Foundation_Course_Curriculum
Free resources¶
- ICAI Board of Studies Knowledge Portal, free study material: https://boslive.icai.org/
- ICAI Digital Learning Hub, free self-paced material: https://learning.icai.org/iDH/icai/
- ICMAI Foundation study material (Syllabus 2022, free): https://icmai.in/ClntStudents/StudyMaterials/1
How to practise¶
Work the ICAI/ICMAI study-material illustrations and official mock/MCQ banks by hand, then timed previous papers. EPFO aspirants: drill accounting MCQs from UPSC previous question papers.