How to Prepare for CA IPC

If you are reading this post on how to prepare for CA IPC, then either you have cleared CPT examination or taken a direct entry after getting a bachelor’s degree.

You can read this post on how to register for CA IPC

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IPC Exam

IPC Exam is not at all like what you have done in CPT. It is a subjective examination (and that makes it much more difficult then CPT) and has 7 subjects. These 7 subjects are divided in 2 groups:

Group I

1. Accounting

2. Law, Ethics and Communication

3. Cost Accounting

4. Taxation

Group II

5. Advanced Accounting

6. Auditing and Assurance

7. Information Technology and Strategic Management

Single Group or Both Group?

A very important question before you start your preparation is whether to appear for one group or both in a single attempt.

Usually you get 9 to 10 months approximately to prepare for your first IPC Examination and this time is sufficient for both groups i.e. 7 papers for some while insufficient for others. So the question is how do you decide, whether you should take one group or both in a single attempt?

You may use following suggestive indicators to decided this:

1. If you got more than 80% in senior secondary examination and,

2. Cleared CPT in one attempt

then you should give a try for both groups. It doesn’t mean that those who got let than 80% can not try for both groups; if you are determinant that you can work really hard, you should go ahead and appear for both groups.

If you decide for single group, then Ist group should be taken first and then IInd group.

Self Study or Coaching Classes

This is another important decision required for a successful study plan.

Self study is generally good for those students, who are not very used to taking classes or who like to understand things by understanding themselves. However self study for all subjects is not advisable and on the other side class for all subjects is also not advisable..

Important subjects for Classes:

1. Accounts (Group I and II)

2. Cost Accounts

3. Taxation

Other subjects are theoretical and are easy to understand by self study as well.

Important: Students targeting both groups in 9 months should not take classes for all 7 subjects as each class consumes a lot of time and makes it difficult to balance between learning and revision.

How many classes should be taken in at a time

Maximum 2 classes should be taken at a time  as more  than 2 classes will not leave any time for revision. With 2 classes you can take one subject for self study.

Which is the Best Coaching Class?

There is no correct answer for this question.

You should decide your class on the basis of  student reviews and past results. Do remember classes with max. no. of students teaching in auditorium are not always best.

Search for Coaching Classes here

Books to Refer

Though study material issued by ICAI should be considered as a boundary line for course coverage, but students considering self study may refer other books as well.

If you are taking coaching classes, then refer material provided there. In any case do not refer more than one book for concept.

Following is a indicative list of books which can be referred for CA IPC:

1. Accounting

Monitor CA-IPCC: Accounting (Bharat Law House)

CA-IPCC: Accounting (Toppers-Bhagwan Lal)

Buy CA IPCC – Accounting Books on Amazon

2. Law, Ethics and Communication

Monitor CA-IPCC: Law, Ethics & Communication (Bharat Law House)

Padhuka’s Law Ethics & Communication

Law, Ethics & Communication by Munish Bhandari

Buy Law, Ethics & Communication Books on Amazon

3. Cost Accounting

Monitor CA-IPCC: Cost Accounting & Financial Management (Bharat Law House)

CA-IPCC: Cost Accounting (Ashish Kalara)

CA-IPCC: Cost Accounting (Toppers-Bhagwan Lal)

Buy CA IPCC Cost Accounting Books on Amazon

4. Taxation

Monitor CA-IPCC: Taxation (Bharat Law House)

CA-IPCC: Taxation (VK Singhania)

CA-IPCC: Taxation (Girish Ahuja)

Buy CA IPCC Taxation Books on Amazon

Group II

5. Advanced Accounting

Monitor CA-IPCC: Advanced Accounting (Bharat Law House)

Padhuka’s Handbook on Advanced Accounting

Buy CA IPCC Advanced Accounting Books on Amazon

6. Auditing and Assurance

Monitor CA-IPCC: Auditing & Assurance (Bharat Law House)

Padhuka’s handbook on Auditing & Assurance

Auditing & Assurance by Surabhi Bansal

Buy Auditing & Assurance Books on Amazon

7. Information Technology and Strategic Management

Monitor CA-IPCC: ITSM (Bharat Law House)

ITSM by Munish Bhandari

Buy ITSM Books on Amazon

Preparation Guidelines

Learn

First step in your preparation is to start understanding and learning the concepts.

Now what should be your method of studying?

1. First a fast reading of the chapter should be done.. usually one page should not be given more than 5 minutes
2. Second reading should be slower, understanding each topic clearly.
3. Once the reading is done all questions given in the book should be attempted. First attempt all questions without using any answers and then check all questions at the end
4. You should mark your questions in a special way..i.e. the questions which were correct in the first attempt should be crossed and there is no need to attempt these questions again…all other questions which were incorrect should be done on next revision and follow the same steps of crossing the correct questions at that time.

First Reading of each subject should be completed in 20-25 days.

Revise

Revision is a very important part for achieving success in any exam. You remember only 20% of what you read after 24 hours, so multiple quick revisions are very necessary.

Do not forget to study compilations of ICAI. These are compilation of previous year questions and are very helpful. More than 70% of the paper comes from compilations.

Practice

Practice is the most important part of your preparation and should be given 100% focus. Once you have completed your first revision of all subjects, its time to take mock test.. mock test help a lot in preparing you for exam day and also highlight your weak areas.

Read this post on why mock tests are important and this post where CA Final topper tells how mock tests helped her.

Importance of Self Prepared Notes

Syllabus in CA IPC is very extensive and it is difficult to revise from book every time. So it is very important that you start preparing notes on your first reading itself. This may sound like a lot of work but it will then reduce a lot lot of your work at the time of revision.

Study Group

Forming a study group helps in discussing queries and getting a better understanding of the subject. If you have friends taking CA IPC exam then you can form a study group with them or else you join an online forum for forming a discussion Group.

See this post for past results of CA IPC