I am sorry but I am going to make this article really informal cause I know nothing about writing and have never written anything before apart from examination answers :P
Morning/Afternoon/Evening, everyone!
My name is Abhinav Bansal and I am just another IPCC student like you all reading this article. I recently gave my IPCC exams in November and I won't be humble about this but I worked hard. I worked really hard. I haven't worked so hard for all exams in my life combined together. Till 12th,I didn’t care about studies at all, I honestly gave my board exams without studying and scored an 87(not boasting about it in anyway). When you enter a profession like CA, you have got to change your attitude, so if you are reading this and you are like what I used to be in 12th then don’t be shocked if you fail in your CA exams, no offense, cause CA exams are no piece of cake that most of the students assume it to be. I don’t believe clearing these exams is impossible even if you are an average student. An average student could do better than a good student in these exams,HOW? HARD WORK. You do that and it doesn’t matter who you are or what you are, YOU will see some results, my friend.
I solved the exam papers for last 6 years and gave the November attempt and these were the toughest. I laughed while solving May 2013 IPCC exams. I don’t know how many of you would agree with me but I felt November 2013 IPCC exams were extremely tough so I don’t know what to expect from my result but whatever it will be, it can’t beat my will to become a Chartered Accountant. If you are doing CA,you have got to love it. You have got to love each and every minute of it and each and every subject of it. You need to be patient. You have to give up a lot, I know I did. I gave up my PlayStation 3,friends,family,movies(I have a collection of 457 movies :P). Sit at home and study,that’s what CA is mainly about but that is only till you clear IPCC,I believe it gets much better once you start your articleship. It really doesn’t matter how much or what you have to give up because in the end it will be totally worth it. Money,Respect. Money,Respect. That’s what we all want,right?
I don’t even know what I wrote up there and even if it makes sense but if it does,let me know :P
Coming to the main point, HOW TO STUDY?
1) ACCOUNTS- GO FOR COACHING. And only go to Parveen Sharma sir IF you decide to go for coaching. His teaching methods are impeccable and he is actually a God like figure for us CA students. It is the most scoring subject and you should try to aim for at least 90/100.
If you are thinking of leaving Accounting Standards, slap yourself! If that’s not enough,slap yourself again!! I left 2 accounting standards because they were boring and they came in the 20 marks ka compulsory question. Yes,I know they are boring but that’s what hard work is all about, doing what you don’t like and doing something you haven’t done.
Study everything else thoroughly and if you feel like leaving something, leave final accounts wala chapter. It is not so important. It will give you some psychological satisfaction that oh load kam ho gaya :P
Study ONLY AND ONLY from Parveen sir’s book and class notes if you take coaching from him and if not,study from Study material as well as practice manual but then you’ll be really confused that’s why coaching is helpful, you have everything in once place and you have to stick to t like its your bible. It makes the task 10 times easier,TRUST ME!!
2) LAW: If you are not good at mugging up(ratta-fication) like me,don’t be afraid. Law is still okay. Audit and ITSM are nightmares.
Take coaching if you have enough time and patience. I didn’t have any. So what I did was I bought Rajiv Singh sir’s classes on CaClubIndia.com itself. They costed me around 3600 bucks, I watched a few classes that I had doubts in but I wish I had done the entire thing cause he makes you write everything and again you have it all at one place. TASK 10 TIMES EASIER.
If you don’t want to go for coaching then get Munish Bhandari’s book and keep scratching your head on where to start it and where to end it because its HUGE and NO unlike everybody else I do not believe everything is important. Email me at abhinavbansal1294@gmail.com if you need help regarding what’s important and what’s not.
3) Cost-FM: Don’t you dare think of not going for coaching for this subject. I don’t care if you are the most intelligent human being on this planet, this subject can give you sleepless nights. I took coaching from Mohit Jain sir at ETEN for FM and Sumit Rastogi sir at Laxmi Nagar for Costing and I think they were both incredible.
Study FM like it’s oxygen, like you won’t be able to survive without it because it is extremely easy. Study FM first, PLEASE!
Don’t leave anything in FM at all. Everything in it is easy and it is really interesting too!
Costing? I don’t have much to say about it cause it bothered me a lot and I have no idea how I am going to do in it.
Theory in cost fm: you will get 32 marks ki theory in this subject but 16 will be optional as you can leave one question so effectively its just 16 marks theory that you have to work for because most of us aim to score in practical part only. Don’t waste a lot of time on theory because it is a lot. Study past examinations ki theory and that would be more than enough.
4) TAXATION: Service Tax and VAT,these are the two things that will save you. As you all know they are worth 50 marks, you can score 50/50 in these two but for Income Tax, you will have to work really hard. Do the 5 heads of income thoroughly cause they carry around 30-40 marks. Don’t need to do any theory in income tax at all. Do the practical portion well and Service Tax and VAT and you can score 70 easily.
Yes, you should go for coaching for this subject also. Too many provisions to understand and you can not understand them on your own from any book whatsoever. Don’t go to Girish Ahuja sir for Taxation coaching,it will not help you. I did so I am telling you with experience but buy his book!! His book is the best book in the market for income tax. It beats TN Manoharan and VK Singhania like India beats Pakistan in world cup matches.
5) ADVANCED ACCOUNTS: Those who say this subject is easier than first group accounts are probably crazy and should be imprisoned for spreading such false rumours. For starters, you have 10 accounting standards in this subject which could terrorize you but then again, persevere.
Rest of the chapters are quite okay. Company Accounts is easy and it comes for 20-30 marks easily though there was not a single question of company accounts in advanced accounts this time in November which was unfair. Electricity, Banking, Insurance and Liquidation are format based chapters and they have good weightage as well. You will get questions from 3 out of the 4 chapters for sure especially banking and liquidation . Underwriting commission, Buy back, ESOP will also give you 5-8 marks. Branch accounts 16 marks question for sure so don’t leave it.
Yes,you should go for coaching and again go only to PARVEEN SHARMA sir, study from his book and his notes and you are good to go.
Otherwise buy PC Tulsian and keep struggling.
6, 7) AUDIT and ITSM: These subjects were created so that you could fail. DON’T go for coaching for these subjects. For audit buy Surbhi Bansal’s book (IT’S THE BEST). For ITSM buy Dinesh Madan’s book otherwise you could study this subject from study material also.
Those who say Standards on Auditing are important are trying to scare you. They come for 16 marks and that is also optional. Sometimes they come in compulsory question also for 10 marks but its too much to do for 10 marks.
Basically, don’t try to be a hero and try to study on your own, especially the practical subjects. You must take coaching for them if you can afford it. For theory,it is up to you.
I hope this all helps you. If you need help regarding anything else related to IPCC, please feel free to email me at abhinavbansal1294@gmail.com. I check my email daily and will reply to you as soon as possible.
This is the first article I have written in my entire life. Its not even much of an article, its just the way I converse with people in day to day life.
I welcome criticism so please be honest with your views.
Sincerely,
Abhinav Bansal
CAclubindia
