Pass CA exam in first attempt

How to prepare your CA exam

Enrolling for the Chartered Accountants program is a big step in your career development and I congratulate you for undertaking this journey.

For those working in the accounting profession, CA is a must have on the resume and will help you accelerate your career development.

“Over the past 10 years I have worked with numerous CA candidates and almost everyone asks me the same question, ‘How do you pass the CA exam with ease?”

Before I go into my top three tips, it is worth calling out that everyone’s studying methods are different and at the end of the day there is not going to be a single “right” method. Instead I would encourage you to think about some of the principals described here and how you can use these to come up with your own method that is comfortable and suitable to your studying style.

 

 

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Lecturer: Economist, ex-CA examiner 

 

Our programs will ensure you are 1) being disciplined ; 2) practicing questions and ; 3) building out the critical file. 

  • Be disciplined– This first principal is obvious but one that is often overlooked. I understand that candidates are busy with their working lives and trying to squeeze time for studying along with family and work commitments can be extremely challenging. The reason why keeping disciplined is important is often because the key learning outcomes are built up over each unit across the module. As an example, for taxation the earlier units introduce the basics of taxation law and the identification of income and deductions. Without this early knowledge it would be difficult to grasp concepts in the later sections. So what can you do to keep a good discipline? My approach to keeping disciplined is to be planned. Often I find that locking up a regular time in the diary, in the morning or evening, even for 30 minutes will keep me on track. Regular review tends to help you retain information so that you are not overwhelmed.
  • Practice questions– This principal is also straightforward but so many candidates miss this point. It is worth remembering the final exam is an applied exam that tends to involve a case study that requires candidate to apply the knowledge in the candidate study guide (CSG). In some modules, it is important to read through the materials and to understand theories and frameworks but it is also equally important to apply these understands to questions as it will help you better structure your thinking and improve your answer. As a tip, for each unit the CSG highlights certain activities in each unit which is a key focus area.
  • Keep a critical file– Some candidates ask me what is a critical file? A critical file is effectively like a cheat sheet that summaries all key learnings, concepts, frameworks and formulas into a single piece of paper. So why do we want to do this? Each CA module is overloaded with information and it is going to be impossible to recall everything. Remember the final exam is an open book exam and flicking through each page is going to eat into your precious writing time. Having a critical file on hand is going to help you consolidate all key points in a single location so that you can focus on the concepts that matter and this will save you time in the final exam. Also, by writing your own critical file this will help you familiarise the key concepts and this will help you your understanding.

At Bingo CA training we understand how to make the CA journey easy and fun. Our unique training program has been designed for the sole purpose of passing the CA exam with ease.

FIN220 


Taster (30 min FREE)
Click Here> Register your interest to join a free session
Lecturer: Economist, ex-CA examiner 

 

So how exactly do we do this? First, we ensure that our candidates keep a critical file for each unit in each module. Recall that a critical file is a summary of the key learning outcomes, formulas, frameworks which acts like a cheat sheet. Having a critical file will ensure that you are able to focus on the major points that will help you steer clear of unnecessary information.

 

 

The next step we focus on is visualisation of the module in the context of the critical files. Here what we try to do is to allow the candidate to see the overarching objectives of the module and to help them appreciate the true purpose behind the various topics. In many cases this often involves looking at past exam questions and to build a mental map of the key issues at hand and where it fits in the context of the broader module. At Bingo we take candidates on this journey by walking through several past exam questions and to instruct candidate on how to look for the relevant information and explain the steps to plan the answer. We go through the logic of the exam question and break it down to steps that candidates can understand.

Another area that we find is worth investing time during the exam preparation period is to do a few mock questions. The reason why we recommend this approach to our candidates is that it better simulates an actual exam environment and the need for strong time management skills. The benefit of doing a mock exam is that it will take the surprise out of the final exam so that candidates are less likely to panic.  Our instructors at Bingo offer a concierge service where we can help candidates review their answers and act as an examiner so that candidates know exactly what they are doing well and areas where they are falling short. Our instructors also provide tailored tips to candidates to improve their exam preparation skills and to improve time management.

In this article we covered some tips that will help candidates prepare for the final exam including 1) preparing your critical file 2) visualise the module and the key learning outcomes and 3) the benefit of practicing mock questions.

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